Politicians can march in parade, but not in a partisan way, says Pride P.E.I.

Pride P.E.I. is clarifying who is and who isn't welcome to march in the annual Pride Parade through Charlottetown on July 29.

The organizationsaid in March that it no longer wanted politiciansand political leadersto participate, in the wake of some audio that emerged of Premier Dennis King while he was on the campaign trial.

Prompted by a question from an unknown second person on the voice track, King said that, in an ideal world, people would agree to disagree about things like drag storytime events.

"You don't gotta drive everythingdown everybody's throat," he could be heard saying. The premier later apologized.

In an interview with CBC News on Thursday, a Pride P.E.I. spokesperson said the group's position is that politicians won't be invited to march this year because theyneed time to put allyship into action, and Pride P.E.I. needs time to work with the broader LGBTQ+ community on what it wants to see moving forward.

A statement from Pride P.E.I. on Friday said the group's board "wishes to clarify their position" on politicians joining the parade.

While individual politicians havetaken action to be abetter ally, partisan political parties still have much work to do.Statement from Pride P.E.I.

"In fact, they will be able to march alongside our community, however, only in anon-partisan fashion," the statement said.

"We understand the significance, in light of recentevents across the country and the world, to see elected officials visibly demonstrate support for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, but we alsoacknowledge that while individual politicians havetaken action to be abetter ally, partisan political parties still have much work to do to becomeinclusive organizations that reflect the diverse population of Epekwitk/P.E.I."

Pride P.E.I. said it was urging all political parties with a presence on the Island "to take a first step andprovide diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainingfor their elected officials, senior staff, andprovincialgoverningbodies."