Anti-NYPD activists in the LGBT community are planning an alternative Pride parade that will exclude cops.
The Reclaim Pride Coalition plans to hold the first Queer Liberation March on June 30, the same day as the city’s traditional Pride parade.
“The NYPD is just as bad as it ever was, even if it’s better for some of its employees on the inside,” said Reclaim Pride Coalition co-founder Natalie James. “So to me that means the NYPD should not be recognized at Pride.”
Organizers cited alleged violence against people of color and LGBT people at the hands of authorities as the reasons for excluding cops. James pointed to the case of Layleen Polanco — a transgender woman of Dominican descent who died June 7 on Rikers Island — as an example.
Officers planning to join the Pride Parade won’t alter their route in response to the rival march, said Brian Downey, president of the Gay Officers Action League’s New York City chapter.
“We’re gonna continue to work to build trust with the LGBTQ community. We’re gonna continue to come into the criminal justice system and rock the institution and put those uniforms on and make them deal with us as we have for the last 37 years,” said Downey, an NYPD officer.