Officers marching in Calgary’s annual Pride Parade are being asked to leave their uniforms at home—a decision the Calgary Police Service says it respects.
“We are obviously disappointed with the decision that police will not be allowed to march in uniform, but we are not going to allow it to undo decades of progress between law enforcement and the LGBTQ community in Calgary,” Chief Roger Chaffin said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“We have a far better relationship with the LGBTQ community now than we did even 10 years ago and we want to keep that momentum going forward.”
WATCH: Calgary Pride president Jason Kingsley joins Global Calgary with details on what’s new for this year’s Calgary Pride Festival, including a new parade route and wrap up celebration.
Calgary Pride said Wednesday it has a good relationship with the Calgary Police Service (CPS) and other law enforcement agencies, but said it needs to also consider “marginalized” voices in the community.
A spokesperson for Pride said firearms, police cruisers and other forms of “institutional representation” are also off limits. However, he said a T-shirt, for example, that was marked “Calgary Police” would be acceptable.
The decision by Calgary Pride has divided the city’s LGBTQ community.
Greg Johansen, a member of the community who regularly attends the parade, says he won’t be going this year.
“I go every year, but this year I don’t really feel like going, because it sends the wrong message,” he said. “Once you are going to start excluding people, then the whole message of inclusivity is thrown out the window. It’s garbage.”
Outspoken LGBTQ activist Mike Morrison said he recognizes that some in the community may have interactions with the police that have been different from his own.
“If certain people don’t feel safe around the Calgary police force or any police officers, it’s not for me to say, ‘You’re wrong.’ You should feel safe,” he said.
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The organization also said the senior executive team on the CPS would have to undergo diversity and inclusion training before “displaying institutional representation” in future Pride events.
“We wanted to acknowledge that there has been a historical oppression and institutionalized racism that have faced queer and trans people of colour,” said Jason Kingsley, president of Calgary Pride and executive producer of the Pride Parade. “And, at the same time, we also wanted to acknowledge members of law enforcement are also part of the gender and sexually diverse community.”
The statement from CPS said its new recruits already receive training on sensitivity and “bias-free policing” and that officers also have the option of additional diversity training, with members of different communities taking part.
The service meets regularly with two LGBTQ advisory boards and has an entire unit of officers dedicated to building relationship with diverse communities, according to the statement.
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“We have shown a commitment as a service to engaging people in our community who may feel marginalized and that commitment will not change,” Chaffin said.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he’s disappointed by the move to ban uniformed police.
“I really do want to ensure that we are always champions in this community for diversity and inclusion in all of its forms,” he said. “And I get very nervous when you start to penalize people today for historical things previous people might have done.”
Kingsley said discussions about the role law enforcement agencies and officers will play in Pride events have been happening across the country. The decision from Calgary Pride comes after Toronto police were also told uniforms and the Toronto police float weren’t welcome at this year’s parade.
The issue was highlighted at last year’s Toronto Pride Parade when the anti-racism group Black Lives Matter staged a sit-in and stopped the march until organizers agreed to their list of conditions.
They argued allowing uniformed officers to participate could discourage marginalized communities from attending.
Kingsley said the group came to the decision after discussions with Calgary police and other organizations in Calgary’s LGBTQ community.
“We understand that the community in Toronto and the relationship that Toronto potentially has with Toronto police may be very different than here in Calgary,” Kingsley said. “So, we need to make sure that we’re looking at it through a local lense and that we’re being representative of our local communities.”
VOICES, an organization which represents two-spirited and other minority voices in the LGBTQ community, said the collaborative decision to remove police uniforms from the parade is a symbolic step towards creating a safe community that includes minority voices.
VOICES addressed people who “don’t understand” in a statement on their Facebook page, saying: “If CPS can exhibit this support now, why can’t you?”
“For those of you who have different levels of privileges within our community, it is now your turn to show support to the ‘smaller few’ amongst you. To show that you yourselves know how to listen and act in solidarity to those that face other challenges and other forms of oppression,” the statement read.
The Calgary Pride Parade will be on Sept. 3
With files from the Canadian Press
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