Uniformed police will not be allowed to march in the Vancouver Pride Society’s Pride Parade this coming summer, says the society’s executive director Andrea Arnot.
Reached by phone on Wednesday evening, Arnot said that non-uniformed officers will still be permitted, and credited Black Lives Matter chapters for initiating the conversations that led to the decision. Furthermore, during community consultations, people from several marginalized groups frequently spoke up about not wanting police at Vancouver’s Pride Parade.
“We engaged in a fairly extensive community consultation after our 2016 season, and police participation was one of the topics that [came] up often... we heard from queer people of colour, the trans community... and Indigenous people, who felt the same kinds of things Black Lives Matter was talking about in the media, so we took that information in and talked to many people on all sides of the issue,” she said.
However, despite this latest decision, the consultations that Arnot refers to did not initially result in the Vancouver Pride Society banning uniformed police officers and they were permitted to march in the 2017 Pride Parade. As a result, some community groups boycotted it.
Black Lives Matter Vancouver refused to attend, saying their membership did not feel comfortable with uniformed police officers marching in the parade due to Canada’s current and historic police brutality against queer, trans, Black, and Indigenous people, as well as people of colour.
The LGBTQ+ refugee support organization Rainbow Refugee joined Black Lives Matter in its boycott against the 2017 Pride Parade. In an open letter, organizers of Rainbow Refugee explained that some of their members had a “deep fear and mistrust of police” due to ongoing “systemic racism, discrimination and abuse” at the hands of police.
With 2017 drawing to a close, plans for the 2018 Pride Parade are under way and Rainbow Refugee spokesperson Chris Morrissey is pleased that uniformed officers won't be marching this year.
“We support the decision that they [the Vancouver Pride Society] have made," she says. "And we certainly hope that the Vancouver Police respect that decision and continue to march, but without the uniforms.”
Morrissey says she thinks it’s likely that Rainbow Refugee will participate in the 2018 Pride Parade, and that not participating in 2017 was difficult, because its membership was divided. Some of its members didn’t fear the police and, as recent immigrants, felt strongly about marching in the parade and openly expressing their sexual orientation or gender. Meanwhile, others felt triggered by seeing uniformed police, as they had experienced police brutality either in Canada or abroad.
Ultimately, Arnot says the VPS’ ban on uniformed police officers is because it wants everyone in the LGBTQ+ community to feel safe attending the parade.
“We want everyone to feel safe and comfortable to participate in the Pride Parade, and we also want to maintain our relationship with the Vancouver Police – we work with them to put on all of our events, and so we've worked with Vancouver Police Department so they can participate in a different way.”
Westender reached out to the Vancouver Police Department for an interview, did not immediately hear back.
Arnot reiterated, however, that non-uniformed officers are still welcome to participate in the parade.
“They are totally invited to be in the parade,” Arnot said. “VPD has been part of the City of Vancouver’s entry for many years, so they are welcome to be part of that entry, just not in uniform, and, as per last year, we had no police vehicles in the parade, so that will continue as well.”
The decision was made at a VPS meeting in September and was not announced publicly, however local reporter Derek Bedry broke the news after it was announced at the VPS’ annual general meeting on Nov. 25, which he attended.
Arnot said the decision to keep the news quiet was part of a community-building effort.
“We did not announce it publicly, my plan...was to personally reach out to individuals and groups who wrote us open letters last year or who didn't participate in the parade [because of police presence]…so I could have open conversations with them, in a gesture of bridge-building and bringing people to the table.”
For the most part, Arnot said she was successful in meeting with groups, and Rainbow Refugee says its members were notified before the news broke publicly. However, Arnot says she has not yet met with members of Black Lives Matter Vancouver, despite reaching out for a meeting.
Black Lives Matter has been on hiatus over the past few months while its members regroup. Westender has contacted Black Lives Matter for an interview and will update this story if we hear back.
Asked how she feels about the decision, Arnot said she is relieved.
“For me personally I’m happy this is the point that we’ve reached. Our community consultation process was long and uncomfortable at times, so it’s nice for us to reach this decision early in the season…so our staff can focus on planning events."
This story has been updated since it was originally published.
