Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
June 28, 2018 - 6:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - This year marks the second annual Kamloops Pride Parade and despite conversations between Kamloops Pride and Kamloops RCMP, the police force won't be part of the event.
President of Kamloops Pride, Kristin McLaughlin, says it was a mutual decision between both organizations that came after more than one year of discussions.
McLaughlin says the presence of police at pride festivals has been a polarizing issue across North America, including Canada, however the RCMP has committed to having a permanent liaison between the force and Kamloops Pride.
"For this year, the sentiment between us and the RCMP was that we’re really in the infancy of this work and we need this dialogue to continue," she says. "The challenge I find as a pride organization is really eliciting the voices of the queer community who feel further marginalized (by police).”
The Edmonton Pride Parade earlier this year was halted when protestors became upset with police officers marching in the parade. Toronto's police force was first barred from that city's pride parade in 2016.
McLaughlin says the discussions about the relationship RCMP has with the queer community is a constant dialogue that needs to happen year-round, and shouldn't centre around whether or not the force marches in the parade.
She points to the trans community and queer people of colour in particular who may feel marginalized by police, and McLaughlin says it's the organization's job to ensure these people have safe spaces, adding the RCMP has been receptive to the conversations that have happened over the past year.
Kamloops RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jodi Shelkie says in an email statement to iNFOnews.ca police will still have a presence at the parade, and echoes McLaughlin's sentiment regarding marginalized people in the LGBTQ2+ community.
"At our last meeting we discussed the turmoil that happened in Edmonton and Toronto with the local police departments being asked to not participate (in the case of Edmonton, at the last minute)," Shelkie says. "As there might be some people in the local Kamloops LGBTQ2+ community who would not want the police to participate in an event that celebrates their community, we decided it would be best to not actively participate in the parade this year."
Shelkie adds the detachment strongly supports members who have participated and continue to participate in pride events.
Registration to march in the Kamloops Pride Parade is now open, and you can learn more about it here. The parade will take place Aug. 26 at Riverside Park.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Ashley Legassic or call 250-319-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2018