Sudbury Pride cancels annual march due to mandatory police presence

Fiert Sudbury Pride is cancelling its annual Pride march on Saturday because the organization says in order to get a permit from the city, police would have to be present.

Pride co-chair Laur O'Gorman told CBC News many members of the LGBTQ community in Sudbury, Ont. wouldn't feel safe if police officers were present at the march to direct traffic.

"People who have had contact with the criminal justice system, survivors of violence that felt that things were not very well handled by police, a lot of groups of people felt like Pride wasn't for them, and that's a problem," O'Gorman said.

"It's very much a problem if there are queer people who think that Pride isn't for them."

O'Gorman said Sudbury Pride's relationship with Black Lives Matter (BLM) Sudbury, which opposes having police at its own events, was what pushed the organization to take a stronger stance this year and cancel the march.

"It was a statement from BLM that was kind of our kick in the pants to keep doing this work," O'Gorman said.

But O'Gorman added that the presence of police at Pride events has been an important topic for years, and they were already in discussions with Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre to find ways to get a permit from the city without needing a police escort for the march.

O'Gorman said police are welcome at Pride events if they are out of uniform, unarmed, and open to listening and learning from the city's LGBTQ community.

'Repairing strained relationships'

In an email statement to CBC News, the Greater Sudbury Police Service (GSPS) said it respects Sudbury Pride's decision to cancel the parade, and "will continue to work towards repairing and creating relationships built on mutual respect and understanding."

"Through our Authentic Inclusion and Anti-racism reframing policing working groups comprised of GSPS members and external members of diverse communities including 2SLGBTQ+ and BIPOC, we continue to work towards repairing strained relationships with organizations, agencies and diverse communities in Greater Sudbury," the statement added.

But O'Gorman said the police service cut its equity diversity and inclusion officer position recently, and has announced it plans to hire 10 additional officers for law enforcement.

They said policing is fundamentally incompatible with Pride.

"There are 64 countries where police are arresting queer people just for being queer," O'Gorman said.

"In the U.S., it's police who are arresting trans people with respect to all of the anti trans legislation such as the bathroom bills. And if the legislation comes here, it's going to be the police whose job is to enforce those too."

Marching without a permit

Gary Kinsman, a former Laurentian University professor and member of the No Pride in Policing coalition in Toronto, applauded Sudbury Pride's decision to cancel the march.

But Kinsman said it was a mistake for the organization to get a permit from the city in the first place.

"I was involved in the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty," he said.

"We always would organize our marches without official city permits and without the police presence, and we were always able to conduct those marches safely."

O'Gorman said they are concerned marching without a permit would jeopardize Sudbury Pride's status as a non-profit organization, though.

Instead of the march, Sudbury Pride plans to have its Pride Day in the Park event downtown.

O'Gorman added they have a full slate of events planned all week, including a Youth Pride Prom, and a drag night and variety show.