St. John's Pride made wrong call on excluding uniformed cops, ex-president says

A former president of St. John's Pride says the organization made the wrong call by telling police officers they are not welcome to march in uniform at this weekend's parade.

In a recentFacebookpost, Pride organizers asked Royal Newfoundland Constabularyofficers who are not on duty and would like to march in Sunday's paradenot to wear their uniforms.

• St. John's Pride Parade asks for police officers not to walk in uniform

Noah Davis-Power, a former president of St. John's Pride,told CBC News thatapolice presence has not beenan issue in previous years.

"Unfortunately I think it is a step backwards, where the RNC have been very supportive of the community in St. John's," he said.

"I think that instead of arbitrarily saying that one group can or cannot march, that if there are complaints and concerns from the community, that the Pride organization has a responsibility to consult the community and actually put in place a process...a dispute resolution process,instead of arbitrarily handing down a judgement," Davis-Power said in an interview with Here & Now.

"What I can only infer this year is that St. John's Pride is trying to show some sort of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, especiallythe demonstration that they held at the Toronto Pride Paradelast week," he said.

Black Lives Matter temporarily shut down the Toronto parade, which resumed after organizers initiallyagreed with a demand to exclude police from events.

• Black Lives Matter Toronto stalls Pride parade

Davis-Power criticized St. John's Pride for not being forthcoming about their reasoning behind the request.

He said telling officers what they can or cannot wear is inverted irony, and addedthe RNC hascontributed to the organization and the celebration annually for a number of years

"They've been very supportive of St. John's Pride itself, both financially and morally."

So far, St. John's Pride organizers have refused to explain its decision regarding uniformed police officers.

On the weekend,Const.Mike Ghaneywrote an open letter criticizing St. John's Pride for making an inclusive event exclusive.

St. John's Pride board member Chris Mallay told CBC Radio'sSt. John's Morning Show that the boardcannot comment on the issue.

"We made a statement on our Facebook about it and it's a decision that we're standing by and we can't really say anything else about it right now," Mallay said.

TJ Jones, another board member, added: "We requested a reduced uniformed presence, as opposed to police presence, that was it."

St. John's Pride did not get back to CBC as of Monday nighton requests for interviews or further comments.

Police dress should be 'non-violent': activist

A flag-raising ceremony of the Pride and Trans flags was held Monday at Memorial University to launchcampuscelebrations of Pride Week.

Brittany Lennox, MUN student union executive director of external affairs, communications & research, identifies as queer and gave a speech about the importance of Pride getting back to its political basics.

Lennoxsaidmarginalizedgroups within theLGBTQcommunity namely black and Indigenous people should be heard and respected.

"While police are very important and police should be there, if they're off-duty maybe they should dress in a way that is non-violent and non-threatening to groups of people that this parade is for," she said.

"And if they feel that they still need to wear their police uniform to feel included and to feel like that parade is for them, then they should do that, but I think all that St. John's Pride was doing was suggesting that they reflect on that decision."