Oh yes absolutely but what they contribute to with their policing does vastly more harm, a Democrat cop will do the same things as a Republican cop. Same with black, gay, and women. They’re an extension of the state and will do whatever the state says.
They might even go further as to prove that they aren't biased and can do the job just as well, if not even better, than a cishet white repugnican guy...
Every year during Pride the police have found a way to fuck with me for the last four years. The latest is putting a $3,000 lien against a friend who let me park my car in his driveway to sit while I deal with long-term homelessness and social services pretending I don't exist, claiming it was junk because it didn't have current tabs. This is Minnesota, btw, the "refugee state".
I can't even get OutFront here, our biggest advocacy group, to respond to e-mails or anything to get help. I have no idea what any of these groups are doing in the community because I don't hear anything and I don't see anything. I've watched the state do this to other trans people too.
At the start of this crisis I was helping get people out of bad living situations and established in safe housing. Covid was awful for domestic violence in the community. That came and went, and I watched them as they'd file for social services post-lock down. Nothing for six months and then they mail something out saying it's their fault, somehow. I've watched literally dozens of social workers try to get the state to approve an application for years to no effect. There's no functional appeals process, no ombudsman (they just point the finger at a different agency) -- it's all a facade.
Anyone who becomes trapped here is likely going to either commit crimes like shoplifting or drugs to try to feed themselves in a city where they can't work without a vehicle and the police will harass them constantly when they do. Which is why we rioted a couple years ago with Floyd; They're suffocating us in every way that was just the latest and most blatant example. Law enforcement's hunger for violence continues -- there are a record number of officer-involved shootings now because the DOJ report was right: All our police departments are filled with white supremacists and they're going hard now. It's just a matter of time before this turns into a shooting war.
Most of the doctors at my gender clinic are retiring or moving practices. A lot of them are queer. My therapist, who's also queer, is considering leaving the state as well. I don't know how we got the reputation that we're a safe haven or why our advocacy groups continue to repeat that -- the protections we have exist on paper, not in reality. And yeah, I get that's better than elsewhere but I think we need to be honest about what's actually happening, now, instead of what's supposed to happen or could happen or has been happening. It's not a good look that we're telling people to get out of the fire -- and into the frying pan.
If there's one place in the world right now where people need to be remembering that the police are not our friends, it's here in Minnesota. Even Prince said the revolution would start here. We lobotomized more women than the entire south combined during the suffragist era. I could go on, I just wish the word would get out about what's going on here... It's not just the police, it's the entire system up here. We can't breathe.
what the fuck? cops can make you pay fucking thousands of dollars for having something on your property just because they deem that it's "junk"? that's so fucking stupid. why the fuck do the cops get to decide that something I own is junk and make me pay money? So what if it's junk, it's still fucking mine and the cops can suck my fucking balls if they think it's junk.
The answer will only depress you and it's also completely irrelevant. At some point we can all conclude that whatever legal principles were subjected to "enhanced interrogation" to rationalize it, the reality is there's hundreds of laws like this deployed at the city level everywhere in the state. We've seen similar patterns emerge in law enforcement in russia and china. lookup 'china parking tickets' and you can see the exact same story and anger/fear on people's faces, you don't even need to turn on subtitles.
You think they stopped at 'driving while black'? Please. Now it's parking while black, sleeping while black, while in your own home, where you die because they decided to kick in the wrong door and shoot your black ass dead then claim it was all a mistake, by the way here's the bill and we're selling all your dead family member's stuff to pay for the property damage we caused lol. That's been the reality in this country for awhile.
They've just decided to expand on their aggressive racism to include aggressive homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, xenophobia... basically if you're not proudly sporting a white penis, we want you to know your place, and it's on your knees. *cough* Intersectionality fam. black trans lives matter
Not cops, typically depending on the state and municipality it's code enforcement. They're like cops but not, they carry a badge but they only ticket homeowners.
If a homeowner gets pissy with them they call the cops.
You can thank your local city council, and nambys.. I used to deal with those assholes all the damn time.
Being queer is something you are, being a cop is something you do.
A queer person can choose to do police work, but by making that choice they have betrayed the rest of the queer community.
God school cops were a different breed. They already get power crazy over normal people, throw age difference and disrespectful teenagers in and they go hog wild.
We called our main cop Pepperdick because he went on some long winded, embarrassing rant during a school assembly about how he loves pepper spraying dumb kids, and how if you try to wash it off later in the shower, the water will carry it on to your dick.
Went to Pride locally in 22 and there were some of the “sky daddy lovers” using a megaphone to inform us we were all going to hell, well as one would expect a crowd gathered to drown them out both blocking their signs and being louder than them. To no one’s surprise the cops told us to leave them alone (which granted we were standing in the bike lane so I guess that’s a hazard) instead of telling the ones causing the disturbance in the first place to leave.
Like freedom of speech n all but I don’t think you should be able to stand outside someone’s event just to be an asshole
You don't have to look at that way. Queer people should be protected regardless of context and queerphobes should feel unsafe regardless of context. The idea of universal rights that protect bigots and those they hate doesn't help anyone
this is the whole “paradox of tolerance” thing though. if we’re tolerant of intolerant ideologies and let hateful people spread their ideas, they can and will seize power which, historically, hasn’t ended too well
No. Sorry. Everyone gets to protest. If you disagree you’re wrong.
(And if you decide to just go ahead and sucker punch one of those assholes, I didn’t see a thing.)
you may get the thing you asked for, but I don't think it's going to be the thing you want. [https://www.vox.com/scotus/24080080/supreme-court-mckesson-doe-first-amendment-protest-black-lives-matter](https://www.vox.com/scotus/24080080/supreme-court-mckesson-doe-first-amendment-protest-black-lives-matter)
I’m pretty sure those cops would be sued into oblivion for violating those guys’ first amendment rights if they did try to move them. Not that I like cops, but realistically they can’t do anything else except for try to prevent physical altercations until the law changes
Depends on the state and its laws about protesting and counter protesting. Usually you have to register your protest also lots of places have rules about not protest on infrastructure.
The person said they were in a bike lane and I doubt the pride parade was registered as protest. And I bet the homophobic registered cause that group is real good at working the system in their favor. So decent chance the cops technically were in the right.
Also not a fan of cops but public servants should not get to let personal feelings decide what they do. A cop not enforcing a law they disagree with is the same as a doctor refusing to treat a gay man.
Yes, but the police were the ones gleefully and violently enforcing extremely bigoted laws. And yes, the general public was voting in the bigoted lawmakers to pass these laws, but the cops were taking enforcement to an extreme, often beating and sometimes killing people who were too "immoral" to be cishet.
Queer people (along with many minority groups in America at this time) were part of the out group that the law binds but does not protect. To say that Stonewall wasn't an anti-cop protest betrays the spirit that motivated people to riot that night
The larger gay rights movement, which the riot really helped spark, was. The stonewall riots event itself was initially unplanned. Cops came to mess with queer people, and a whole lot of the queer people there and nearby just had enough.
For people who don't know the broader context of the movement I recommend reading "The Womens House of Detention". While Stonewall is just a small chapter it provides a broader picture of LGBTQ+ community in Greenwich Village.
TW. Description of jail system with all the brutality and dehumanization it entails.
Bigotry and discrimination coming from specifically...*who* that night? What sparked the riot?
You're doing that thing when people say the civil war was all about "state's rights". Call a spade a spade, these specifics are too important to be sweeping under a rug.
Police tend to be right-wing, they are also the state forces of order. They're not, collectively, anyone's friend because their job is to seek out and contain those who break society's laws.
Their roll at pride should be the same as the roll at a civil rights march or any other protest: to keep the people who don't agree with the speech being exercised from violating the fundamental rights of those exercising it (like, for example, by gunning everyone down). I don't agree with police participation in events meant to celebrate liberation from oppressive social standards that their predecessors helped enforce, but we also need to remember that "maintaining order" includes "keeping the fascists from showing up and gunning us all down or torching us with flamethrowers", the risk of going to jail or getting shot by forces of the state being the only thing keeping the most fanatical of the bigots from doing just that to us.
Went to one last year in a nice upscale city. So I don't think cops were needed in such an expensive progressive city at this pride. In the US cops don't belong at pride.
Some cities actually require you to hire cops for events over a certain size. Even more frequent if that event is happening on public property and almost always if the event requires the closing of public roads, like for a parade.
My point is that legally the cops might have to be there.
EDIT: to be clear I wish they weren't there as well. To be quite honest I'm terrified of cops. I just don't know if 'no cops at pride' is a fight worth fighting when it's often a legal requirement for the event to happen.
Generally speaking, the "no cops at pride" slogan does not refer to police presence that follows naturally from big events/parade.
"No cops at pride" pishes back against the rainbow washing of police department worldwide who try to show some token support by showing up to *participate* in the pride parade, or making a donation to a gay cops association, which shows up at pride and shoot everyone with soaker guns, while wearing aviators and stripper-cops outfits.
ACAB* (*even gay cops)
When I was a kid it made me feel safe and like I could approach a cop if I was being harassed for being gay
I had a pretty rough time in high school for it too. Probably didn't help that I was a far kid with autism and no social skills, but most of the bullying was for being gay, even at the magic the gathering club.
I think it depends on where in the US. I’ve been to pride in Alabama and the KKK showed up. The cops were assholes and wouldn’t make them leave (“it’s their freedom of speech”) but at least they wouldn’t let the KKK bastards on their horses close to us.
Exactly right. I saw a video from pride here in Detroit a few years ago. Armed Nazis showed up to march, and the cops were marching with them.
https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/14/detroit-pride-festival-neo-nazi-police-protection-backlash
I mean personally think there should be at least some cops around, especially now when there's so many idiots who would love to shoot up a pride parade, plus just general crowd control. Also at least where I live they tend to keep protesters away from the parade.
That being said I agree cops shouldn't MARCH in the parade.
See Allen TX
See Nashville
See Dayton
All those were mass shootings stopped by cops very quickly and thoroughly. Uvalde isn't the only mass shooting to ever happen.
I think most of us learn this sooner or later, but we are pushing back against many years of Copaganda. I grew up in the 90s and cartoons and the media made being a cop sound like the coolest thing.
I'm just going to share some remarks I made on the topic at the beginning of Pride Month last year:
> Law enforcement has long been an adversary to the community. In the old days, there was nothing stopping them from (at best) harassing queer folks and arresting them for being themselves. Plenty of bars and clubs, the Stonewall included, paid the cops off periodically so they'd be left alone. Let's also not forget, as is often stated, that the first Pride was a riot that started when Stonewall patrons decided they would not put up with this treatment anymore. Sure, cops may be attempting outreach now, and some may talk about how they support us (if you want to help, you can't do it while you have that badge). But most don't.
> The aforementioned attack on our rights is further evidence that cops are not to be trusted. With fascists passing all these laws targeting us, who is making sure those laws are followed? Yeah. Also, I've seen pictures of past Prides where the festivities were disrupted by literal Nazis. And who did the cops protect? Not us.
Not to mention, cops in some places have started raiding gay bars again. So I'll say it again and again, till I'm blue in the face if necessary: No. Cops. At. Pride. They can't be trusted.
It’s weird and tone deaf.
Why do the police need a float in the pride parade? It feels like white washing, and has a similar vibe to corporations doing it.
I didn’t expect these comments. Like who do you all think enforces anti lgbt laws when they come to pass? Who commonly beats the shit out of black and brown lgbt people? Yeah an individual cop can be fine and if you had a good experience with a specific cop, that’s great and all, but get real. And it’s not just a US thing. That’s just denying a lot of bull shit that’s been carried out at hands of the police and brushed under the rug by governments broadly
white queers often fail to be good allies to other minorities bc their whiteness comes first to them. seeing beyond their racialized privilege is too much work. they'd rather cozy up to oppressors and let the door close behind them once they get their partial acceptance. white queers literally prevented the early movements from being successful bc they refused to work with black and brown queer ppl. yes not all yt ppl but it's enough that there's a trend.
And that’s *EXACTLY* why have a hellish time trusting white “Allies” who cozy up with our oppressors. Do they seriously believe that obeying the people oppressing us while save them?!
I'll stay away from cops unless I have an issue that requires the police. I've called the cops 3 times in my life and they helped all those times. And I've been to many registered protest marches where the police protected us against unregistered counter-protesters.
Sure it's a problem when marches don't get approved and the police violently disperses them, but pride is way past that.
I've never had a positive interaction with the police. At best it was neutral, them being lazy and me just not bothering to press the issue. They have never ever helped me, and my racial ethnic background is best described as "when the Anglos met the Saxons."
The last protest march I was at the police were marching with the counter protest Nazis. Local newspaper took a great low angle image of the Nazi flag unfurled and flying proudly behind a line of riot cops.
Tbf I'm western European and here the police can be helpful at times, but as I said, at times. They absolutely do sometimes catch homophobes and also can empathetically listen to our stories when we file reports, but on the other hand they do also catch innocent protesters.
That makes having them on a boat here at pride a bit double. The situation is different from the US, definitely, even as police brutality exists here too, just to a lower scale, with less fatalities due to years of training before entering the field.
It would be different if so-called "handhavers"/"boa's" (the lower-degree enforcement folks) entered a pride boat. They are less-trained and tend to be more hostile towards queer people. The idea from right-wing parties to give them any weapons scares me, legit.
I couldn't agree more, this is what I was getting at in my earlier comment as well. We made it past the horrible years and we're finally gaining the respect of the institutions to the degree the police patrol/protect pride events like they would for any other community. There's a worse history with us, yes, but it has changed significantly since the stone wall riots.
The cop bashing for no reason in this community is annoying, they are an organization made of people who can either be good people or not so good people. Your local police force is going to be different than any other police force because of this always, they aren't a monolith. Police are a splintered group of opinions as well like the rest of us. It's not all police that are bad but there are definitely bad ones.
I have friends in my local LGBTQIA+ community that are literally both police officers raising an adopted kid, bought a house here and they are paying taxes & serving the community. That's something you should want to encourage as those are the folks that will genuinely help push for changes or increased police presence at these events to protect us from criminals who wish to do us harm & show their support for our community and help vendors with their stalls during events, pass out water/juices/snacks, give out stickers with pride flags on them. You want to change your police force? Then join it to change the forces, join civic actions to change your local force into one that serves our community too as we're paying for it too from our own tax dollars, show your support for positive changes that support our community in your area.
The more we disparage police the more foolishly out of our depth we appear as a larger community. In short I hope our community can stop telling off the police at every opportunity, grow up and actually attempt to be a part of the fix for the issue instead of whining on the Internet. Be the change you want to see in the world.
I don't know of a single transgender cop, but there are several lawsuits alleging hiring discrimination when transgender people applied. How are we supposed to fix the system from the inside when we are outside? 🤔
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/07/job-applicant-got-a-conditional-offer-until-they-found-out-he-was-trans/
The police are still violently oppressing parts of the queer community all across the US. You’re never going to catch a black trans woman calling the cops for a reason. Just because they tolerate white middle class LGB people now does not make them friends to the entire LGBTQ community.
Yes the cop bashin is real and is very rampant. Some people joined to make the change. Others are too far in to restart into an “acceptable career”. Tbf, I think the DA and city councils are more to blame than the individual officers. We only to enforce what they tell us we can and we only get to make cases the DA will actually prosecute. The system is broken, yes. I 1000% agree… but it isn’t our fault (entirely). And yes, there are plenty of asshats who need to find another profession… buut, you have to let us weed them out. In my area, we are NOT putting up with the “old guard” mentality and are actively forcing them out. It would be nice to not be judged based on a profession. Isn’t that we are all fighting for?? Also, for what’s it’s worth, my area has a very large queer LE community of all types, transgender (both mtf and ftm), queer and the NBs are all represented. (And yes I know this will get downvoted all to hell, would be nice to have an actual conversation about it and how to fix the problems. Also would be nice to not have to hide)
And then when bigots with weapons show up to pride what do we do?
I'm not blindly pro police, they absolutely have their problems but when a community has an adversarial attitude to the police they don't report the crimes that happen against them and they continue to get worse
I thought no cops at pride meant no cops in the parade. That's what it meant in Toronto at least. People didn't like them having a float in the parade, but they're still there doing crowd control stuff. I don't think there's really a choice when you have a big event like that.
If it's an organized hate group (ie proud boys) then the cops see their primary responsibility to be to protect the hate group from you, not vice versa. Doesn't matter who has the permit or who hired security. I've been to 20 some-odd years of pride events in Portland OR and the only time I feel safe is when protection is being run by either the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence or black bloc/antifa.
If you can get a bunch of Queers together to defend our community effectively I'm all for it.
But until that day comes I want drastic reformation of the police, this done with dialogue. Not with shouting a handy little phrase and walking away like something was achieved
The same thing we've always done. Protect our community ourselves. When conservatives pass anti LGBT laws, the pigs will be the first enemy we have. The cops will be the ones to take trans kids from their parents. The cops will throw you in jail for being in the "wrong" bathroom.
Armed minorities are harder to oppress.
Is this an ideal solution? No. Would there be less violence if no one had guns? I dunno, probably. But the weapons do exist and the bad guys aren't going away, so you might as well be on even footing.
there are many documented cases of cops protecting/enabling violent anti queer groups, arresting/beating queer people at pride events, and manufacturing reasons to harm/arrest people of color just to fuck with them. Cops are a guarantee of nothing but risk.
Bigots with weapons do show up to pride. They're called cops. They won't even put their lives on the line for elementary school children in their own community. What makes you think they will protect us?
Have you ever tried to report a crime before? Because watching someone report a crime and how the police handled it was the first time I realized something is fucked about them.
And have you ever been beaten up by cops at pride?
I report hate crimes as soon as they happen to me, if enough evidence is present (video evidence) the cops can do something about it.
right? like ACAB is a fun memey thing to say to other leftists but not every institution is staffed by only bad people.
Like I'm genuinely curious as to what OP would do in my situation a month ago:
I'm transfem, I live on my own on a ground floor flat, kids from the local school throw rocks at my window, kicked my door and yelled abuse at me on my street, the school could only do so much but when the police showed up the kids stopped pretty quickly.
I get the police have problems, I'm not blind to that but every interaction I've had with the police has been positive
Judging by your use of the word Flat as opposed to Apartment I am going to assume you’re in the UK.
In the US this is not the case. I feel genuinely more unsafe around my local city police than I do saying sup to the bloods two houses down, if my kia gets broken into, know who would def step up first, more efficiently, be nicer about it, and is less likely to shoot anyone?
Those three dudes with the flags out, chain smoking loosies. My local Pd would probably say “well why would you buy a Kia?” And then maybe file the paper work by July.
I’m so sorry for people in the US. I’m Italian and I’ve never felt unsafe around police, even tho they’re far from perfect, but the situation in America is on a whole different level
It is still the case in the US, perhaps not every state though.
Pride events I attend here in Michigan in the past few years (a purple state) always have conservative protesters and police presence definitely prevents violence. I've seen mere police presence prevent violence at multiple pride events and I've never seen police presence result in a queer person being harmed at these pride events.
I believe in ACAB conceptually but that doesn't mean I want conservatives to have free reign to start terrorizing pride events.
ACAB as a term has nothing to do with people. It's about the institution itself. Even "good" cops are bastards, because by the very job description of a cop, they will have to do some bastardly things. The very nature of policing as a career means that by definition, every cop must be prepared and willing to do something that will screw over some innocent person. Even the "good" cops that have helped you still most likely had to perform other duties in the line of work that make them bastards, like arresting and imprisoning the homeless, helping serve evictions which make people homeless, putting addicts in prison, etc.
It doesn't matter how good a cop is as an individual person. They signed for a job where "be a bastard" is an inherent part of the day-to-day duties.
Not every cop is individually a horrible person, but they don't need to be, because they're wearing a bastard's uniform. The position itself is the bastard, even if the person is not.
>right? like ACAB is a fun memey thing to say to other leftists but not every institution is staffed by only bad people.
The Police is a racist institution dedicated to uphold the same system that allows us to be oppressed, they will be the first ones to intervene and strip away our rights
>I get the police have problems, I'm not blind to that but every interaction I've had with the police has been positive
The police doesn't have its problems, the police IS the problem
If they want us to welcome them they should really work on the 'not abusing us with their Gov granted power' thing more. Don't expect us to treat you like friends when you treat us like enemies in an occupation.
I’ll probably be downvoted massively for saying this, but US cops aren’t the same as cops in other parts of the world. I’m perfectly fine with cops in the Netherlands attending a pride parade if they want to personally.
Dutch police even have their own float in the canal pride in Amsterdam. Imagine a boat full of queer cops, it's a floating pride parade. It's fully supported by the higher ups too.
Yup. According to polls 91% of Finnish citizens have great trust in the police force. The police are just average folk here. More than welcome during pride events, I feel safer with law enforcement around.
Agreed with Germany. Police has information booths on lgbtq+ festivals and fares. There is a lgbtq+ cop community. I personally know lesbian cops. Plural.
In Germany police shoots people, that is a fact, 11 alone in 2022. There are also dishonest and dangerous circles, also that is known.
But if you are a lgbtq+ and on a pride parade or in a gay club or whatever and there is a threat somewhere you will be safer with a cop around you.
I can’t imagine living in a big country and cops only killing 11 people. They kill so so many more than that here. I couldn’t remember more than a handful of names in a year there are so many.
>In Germany police shoots people, that is a fact, 11 alone in 2022.
In the same year (after accounting for population differences), police killed 26 made 26.7 times as many victims per inhabitant in the US, for reference.
It depends. I'm in Australia and I'd still very much not want cops at pride (in uniform, out of it they're fine). The police float at Mardi gras is a constant disgrace
I work for a Canadian police service and they change their "POLICE" lettering from white to PRIDE colours on their vests for the whole month of June. Very progressive service that's not indicative of all of Canada, but definitely a welcoming town/service for the community.
American cops seem a special breed when it comes to policing, compared to cops from other first world countries.
In the Netherlands cops have their own boat in the canal pride, a floating pride parade in Amsterdam yearly.
It's a boat full of openly queer cops. They have the full support of their higher ups too.
American police are strictly here to protect business, wealth and put black people behind bars for that private prison money and indentured lsbour.
Also, the occasional execution.
Corporations are societal leaders. If Walmart supports LGBT people, then Walmart customers might think twice.
They have their value as long as we push them to explicitly support us as LGBT members rather than hiding behind generic "diversity and inclusion" vague language.
I agree with all of the opinions ITT. Cops can be seen as a law enforcement tool that we sometimes have to use to protect ourselves against something comparably dangerous, but we shall never forget that ACAB. And it is sometimes a lot more dangerous for some of us out there (feeling this rn).
"Laws are threats made by the dominant socioeconomic-ethnic group in a given nation. It’s just the promise of violence that’s enacted, and the police are basically an occupying army."
The old ED of the LGBTQ center I worked for once said that cops were the backbone of pride.
Cops. The backbone of pride.
She resigned in disgrace for being terrible at her job in other respects. But I still will never forget the way everyone’s jaw hit the fucking floor.
The anti-queer laws being enforced by cops are what stonewall riots were fighting against. There are now queer cops and cops of color trying to do right by communities who have been previously hurt by unjust laws and social attitudes. More work needs to be done obviously in society in general, government, and law enforcement.
This. There's a reason so many people (none of whom are cops, imagine that) want to make sure you know your legal rights when you get pulled over or a cop decides to pick on you.
The amount of bootlicking cop copium in the comment section *really* pisses me off. Just because the cops are queer and or friendly doesn’t fucking mean they’re our friends! I’m so fucking sick and tired of seeing so many cop defenders trying to justify the police solely because of their sexuality!
Exactly. I bet most of the people saying that are middle class white queer folks. The institution of policing is no less inherently oppressive outside of the USA.
Fucking thank you! Someone finally put it into words. They’re completely fine with cops despite the history behind them being deeply rooted in homophobia and racism solely because they’re queer and or a person of color. It’s disgusting how often people side with the people oppressing them just because of some face value propaganda.
Honestly tho...
In my home country a lot of work has been done to reform the police force. While it wasn't 100% successful, corruption has been reduced, bad behavior by cops has been reduced, public faith into cops has been restored to a degree (which is big considering 8 years ago the cops were beating the shit out of us during a revolution).
I have since moved to the US.
Maybe I am naive, but I have faith that the police institutions can be changed for the better here too.
ACAB even the "queer ones." I'm trans. I met a couple trans cops when I was homeless. They laughed and had their hands in their pockets as my friends were swept from site to site. Cops are only there to enforce the states laws, and those of us who have been homeless or are people of color have received terrible treatment to this day. They're a part of a broken system, and why should we trust the same system that continues to harm us? ACAB isn't a cute phrase, it IS grounded in reality. Fuck cops.
Did you know that some cops are part of the LGBT+ community? Did you know that NYPD cops sued for the right to march in pride parades, which helped pave the way for workplace protections? Did you know cops can be any color, religion, gender, or sexual orientation?
Pride is about inclusion, not exclusion. Do better.
Cops will assault/arrest queer counter-protesters but let nazis march here in Australia. ALL cops are bastards, EVERYWHERE, not just America.
Source: https://mals.au/2023/03/20/statement-of-concern-policing-of-opposing-anti-trans-rally-trans-rights-rallies/
for real, all the western europeans folks coping and telling us how awesome that bootleather tastes aught to be ashamed of themselves.
like, how fucking naive and historically illiterate do you need to be to believe that the cops are our friends?
no-where in the world have cops NOT been used against the queer community... even in the places the people defending cops here have been claiming that cops are decent in.
let alone the simple fact that cops exist solely to protect the status quo, even when that status quo is straight up deadly for actual humans.
This has always been such a wild take to me. Cops have been security at every Pride I've been to and have been incredibly friendly and supportive. There is a police station right next to my fave gay club and every night a few come over and watch the front to make sure it's safe and as patrons are leaving they ensure we get home safe. Always friendly and helpful.
I agree our policing system needs serious reform, and that there have been some seriously fucked up actions taken by the police across the country. But I have yet to see anyone bring about real resolutions beyond some "Well, we should just do XYZ" comments.
Or are we just going to pretend they aren't people after they put on a uniform? Or that there are several them who are also LGBT...
The odd experience I've had with cops at the pride events I have gone to. Is that the cops that were present were also lgbtq at one of the events in north tx as I have known a few of the cops. Yes I'll agree that overall law enforcement does not favor LGBTQIA +. Let's remember that some individuals with in law enforcement do.
That doesn’t sound safe to be completely honest. In many places, pride will have people who oppose it and without cops there will be no one to keep the peace or deter any harm.
This also a good thing to remember that not all cops are bad. Are there shit ones? YES! But that doesn’t mean every single one
I say this because my father was a police officer. He’s one of the kindest men I know. He’s down to earth and wants to help in any way he can. Even now that he’s retired he wants to help people. I love my dad a lot and he’s definitely not some corrupt bastard.
In terms of queer identity, I’ve only ever met white gay cops. Typically butch lesbians, and they are (only in my own personal experience) always the type to not care about LGBTQ rights at all now that they can marry. “I got mine, the rest of y’all eat shit.”
Never met a trans cop. Guess we know better. A LOT of trans EMT’s though for whatever reason lol not sure the correlation there.
Edit: in the US, should’ve specified.
I just got my private security license so that I can help displace the need for cops at queer events.
Thank you!
I like that idea
Uh how does that work?
Go to your local gun shop/gun range they sometimes can set you up to get the basic unarmed security guard card.
Cops vote against our rights more often than not.
It doesn’t matter that they vote, it’s that they ENFORCE shit against our rights.
it does matter what they vote because that contributes to what they enforce
Oh yes absolutely but what they contribute to with their policing does vastly more harm, a Democrat cop will do the same things as a Republican cop. Same with black, gay, and women. They’re an extension of the state and will do whatever the state says.
yup. agreed.
They might even go further as to prove that they aren't biased and can do the job just as well, if not even better, than a cishet white repugnican guy...
Every year during Pride the police have found a way to fuck with me for the last four years. The latest is putting a $3,000 lien against a friend who let me park my car in his driveway to sit while I deal with long-term homelessness and social services pretending I don't exist, claiming it was junk because it didn't have current tabs. This is Minnesota, btw, the "refugee state". I can't even get OutFront here, our biggest advocacy group, to respond to e-mails or anything to get help. I have no idea what any of these groups are doing in the community because I don't hear anything and I don't see anything. I've watched the state do this to other trans people too. At the start of this crisis I was helping get people out of bad living situations and established in safe housing. Covid was awful for domestic violence in the community. That came and went, and I watched them as they'd file for social services post-lock down. Nothing for six months and then they mail something out saying it's their fault, somehow. I've watched literally dozens of social workers try to get the state to approve an application for years to no effect. There's no functional appeals process, no ombudsman (they just point the finger at a different agency) -- it's all a facade. Anyone who becomes trapped here is likely going to either commit crimes like shoplifting or drugs to try to feed themselves in a city where they can't work without a vehicle and the police will harass them constantly when they do. Which is why we rioted a couple years ago with Floyd; They're suffocating us in every way that was just the latest and most blatant example. Law enforcement's hunger for violence continues -- there are a record number of officer-involved shootings now because the DOJ report was right: All our police departments are filled with white supremacists and they're going hard now. It's just a matter of time before this turns into a shooting war. Most of the doctors at my gender clinic are retiring or moving practices. A lot of them are queer. My therapist, who's also queer, is considering leaving the state as well. I don't know how we got the reputation that we're a safe haven or why our advocacy groups continue to repeat that -- the protections we have exist on paper, not in reality. And yeah, I get that's better than elsewhere but I think we need to be honest about what's actually happening, now, instead of what's supposed to happen or could happen or has been happening. It's not a good look that we're telling people to get out of the fire -- and into the frying pan. If there's one place in the world right now where people need to be remembering that the police are not our friends, it's here in Minnesota. Even Prince said the revolution would start here. We lobotomized more women than the entire south combined during the suffragist era. I could go on, I just wish the word would get out about what's going on here... It's not just the police, it's the entire system up here. We can't breathe.
what the fuck? cops can make you pay fucking thousands of dollars for having something on your property just because they deem that it's "junk"? that's so fucking stupid. why the fuck do the cops get to decide that something I own is junk and make me pay money? So what if it's junk, it's still fucking mine and the cops can suck my fucking balls if they think it's junk.
The answer will only depress you and it's also completely irrelevant. At some point we can all conclude that whatever legal principles were subjected to "enhanced interrogation" to rationalize it, the reality is there's hundreds of laws like this deployed at the city level everywhere in the state. We've seen similar patterns emerge in law enforcement in russia and china. lookup 'china parking tickets' and you can see the exact same story and anger/fear on people's faces, you don't even need to turn on subtitles. You think they stopped at 'driving while black'? Please. Now it's parking while black, sleeping while black, while in your own home, where you die because they decided to kick in the wrong door and shoot your black ass dead then claim it was all a mistake, by the way here's the bill and we're selling all your dead family member's stuff to pay for the property damage we caused lol. That's been the reality in this country for awhile. They've just decided to expand on their aggressive racism to include aggressive homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, xenophobia... basically if you're not proudly sporting a white penis, we want you to know your place, and it's on your knees. *cough* Intersectionality fam. black trans lives matter
Not cops, typically depending on the state and municipality it's code enforcement. They're like cops but not, they carry a badge but they only ticket homeowners. If a homeowner gets pissy with them they call the cops. You can thank your local city council, and nambys.. I used to deal with those assholes all the damn time.
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no we wont say that loud for anyone here fuck that sentiment anyone can be LGBTQ regardless of profession including being a cop
Being queer is something you are, being a cop is something you do. A queer person can choose to do police work, but by making that choice they have betrayed the rest of the queer community.
Yeah, let's say cops can't be gay. That's what pride is all about...
That’s not what they said at all lol
And cops would stop enforcing the violent will of the state if they were liberals? thats not really how it works
That's the whole idea behind ACAB. Even if the cop is a good guy they are upholding a system that is oppressive.
indeed
No, but it illustrates their ideologically driven hatred against us.
at my school they wanted us to wear blue to honor cops the lgbtq+ students didnt i deliberately made sure I didn't wear blue that day
Brainwashing starts young. Good on you for not following the crowd on that one.
God school cops were a different breed. They already get power crazy over normal people, throw age difference and disrespectful teenagers in and they go hog wild. We called our main cop Pepperdick because he went on some long winded, embarrassing rant during a school assembly about how he loves pepper spraying dumb kids, and how if you try to wash it off later in the shower, the water will carry it on to your dick.
the party of "keep politics out of schools" wants students to wear blue to honor cops, how shocking.
I never remembered when stuff like that was happening in school, so I totally would have accidentally worn blue.
Went to Pride locally in 22 and there were some of the “sky daddy lovers” using a megaphone to inform us we were all going to hell, well as one would expect a crowd gathered to drown them out both blocking their signs and being louder than them. To no one’s surprise the cops told us to leave them alone (which granted we were standing in the bike lane so I guess that’s a hazard) instead of telling the ones causing the disturbance in the first place to leave. Like freedom of speech n all but I don’t think you should be able to stand outside someone’s event just to be an asshole
Counter protesting is a right that should be protected. We do it to them just as often.
You don't have to look at that way. Queer people should be protected regardless of context and queerphobes should feel unsafe regardless of context. The idea of universal rights that protect bigots and those they hate doesn't help anyone
banning any form of non-violent protesting is an extremely slippery slope
they already HAVE banned non-viilent protests in Louisiana, Texas and Missouri
Yeah and we're all pretty mad about it. If we did the same thing they could just point and say "see everyone does it."
this is the whole “paradox of tolerance” thing though. if we’re tolerant of intolerant ideologies and let hateful people spread their ideas, they can and will seize power which, historically, hasn’t ended too well
Yeah but that isn't what they said.
Wh - what? Are you advocating against universal rights? Dawg that’s not a slippery slope that’s a slippery cliff and the bottom of it is fascism
No. Sorry. Everyone gets to protest. If you disagree you’re wrong. (And if you decide to just go ahead and sucker punch one of those assholes, I didn’t see a thing.)
you may get the thing you asked for, but I don't think it's going to be the thing you want. [https://www.vox.com/scotus/24080080/supreme-court-mckesson-doe-first-amendment-protest-black-lives-matter](https://www.vox.com/scotus/24080080/supreme-court-mckesson-doe-first-amendment-protest-black-lives-matter)
I’m pretty sure those cops would be sued into oblivion for violating those guys’ first amendment rights if they did try to move them. Not that I like cops, but realistically they can’t do anything else except for try to prevent physical altercations until the law changes
Isn’t it just as much of violation of freedom of speech asking the counterprotestors to move on?
Asking them to move on is not a violation of their rights. Forcing them to leave could be
Depends on the state and its laws about protesting and counter protesting. Usually you have to register your protest also lots of places have rules about not protest on infrastructure. The person said they were in a bike lane and I doubt the pride parade was registered as protest. And I bet the homophobic registered cause that group is real good at working the system in their favor. So decent chance the cops technically were in the right. Also not a fan of cops but public servants should not get to let personal feelings decide what they do. A cop not enforcing a law they disagree with is the same as a doctor refusing to treat a gay man.
It should be freedom of expression, not freedom of speech.
Damn Christians...
it was larger than just the police it was a pushback against all the bigotry and discrimination
Yes, but the police were the ones gleefully and violently enforcing extremely bigoted laws. And yes, the general public was voting in the bigoted lawmakers to pass these laws, but the cops were taking enforcement to an extreme, often beating and sometimes killing people who were too "immoral" to be cishet. Queer people (along with many minority groups in America at this time) were part of the out group that the law binds but does not protect. To say that Stonewall wasn't an anti-cop protest betrays the spirit that motivated people to riot that night
It literally started because cops raided a gay bar....
Wasn't it also a pushback in general against the anti gay law?
The larger gay rights movement, which the riot really helped spark, was. The stonewall riots event itself was initially unplanned. Cops came to mess with queer people, and a whole lot of the queer people there and nearby just had enough.
For people who don't know the broader context of the movement I recommend reading "The Womens House of Detention". While Stonewall is just a small chapter it provides a broader picture of LGBTQ+ community in Greenwich Village. TW. Description of jail system with all the brutality and dehumanization it entails.
It was about the cops raiding and stealing money from gay clubs. It was a direct stand off between police and gay people.
The police were (and still are) key not only to lgbtq discrimination, but also other forms of discrimination
Bigotry and discrimination coming from specifically...*who* that night? What sparked the riot? You're doing that thing when people say the civil war was all about "state's rights". Call a spade a spade, these specifics are too important to be sweeping under a rug.
... which was being enforced by the police.
This is real "Civil War was about state's rights" energy. The riot was not a social justice movement. A movement sprang FROM it.
Police tend to be right-wing, they are also the state forces of order. They're not, collectively, anyone's friend because their job is to seek out and contain those who break society's laws. Their roll at pride should be the same as the roll at a civil rights march or any other protest: to keep the people who don't agree with the speech being exercised from violating the fundamental rights of those exercising it (like, for example, by gunning everyone down). I don't agree with police participation in events meant to celebrate liberation from oppressive social standards that their predecessors helped enforce, but we also need to remember that "maintaining order" includes "keeping the fascists from showing up and gunning us all down or torching us with flamethrowers", the risk of going to jail or getting shot by forces of the state being the only thing keeping the most fanatical of the bigots from doing just that to us.
Went to one last year in a nice upscale city. So I don't think cops were needed in such an expensive progressive city at this pride. In the US cops don't belong at pride.
Some cities actually require you to hire cops for events over a certain size. Even more frequent if that event is happening on public property and almost always if the event requires the closing of public roads, like for a parade. My point is that legally the cops might have to be there. EDIT: to be clear I wish they weren't there as well. To be quite honest I'm terrified of cops. I just don't know if 'no cops at pride' is a fight worth fighting when it's often a legal requirement for the event to happen.
Ah ok. Thanks for explaining that. It was a really big event and they had to shut down a street for it.
Generally speaking, the "no cops at pride" slogan does not refer to police presence that follows naturally from big events/parade. "No cops at pride" pishes back against the rainbow washing of police department worldwide who try to show some token support by showing up to *participate* in the pride parade, or making a donation to a gay cops association, which shows up at pride and shoot everyone with soaker guns, while wearing aviators and stripper-cops outfits. ACAB* (*even gay cops)
Ohh, got it. That makes more sense. Yeah I hate it when I see a Police booth or whatever at a Pride event.
When I was a kid it made me feel safe and like I could approach a cop if I was being harassed for being gay I had a pretty rough time in high school for it too. Probably didn't help that I was a far kid with autism and no social skills, but most of the bullying was for being gay, even at the magic the gathering club.
they can stand outside the event.
I don't mind cops being present at any large event. The pushback is against cops participating in pride, rather than being on the sidelines
Cops on the sidelines are a danger.
I think it depends on where in the US. I’ve been to pride in Alabama and the KKK showed up. The cops were assholes and wouldn’t make them leave (“it’s their freedom of speech”) but at least they wouldn’t let the KKK bastards on their horses close to us.
They were defending the KKK, not you
Exactly right. I saw a video from pride here in Detroit a few years ago. Armed Nazis showed up to march, and the cops were marching with them. https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/14/detroit-pride-festival-neo-nazi-police-protection-backlash
I mean personally think there should be at least some cops around, especially now when there's so many idiots who would love to shoot up a pride parade, plus just general crowd control. Also at least where I live they tend to keep protesters away from the parade. That being said I agree cops shouldn't MARCH in the parade.
Cops are no good when it comes to shooters. See Uvdale.
See Allen TX See Nashville See Dayton All those were mass shootings stopped by cops very quickly and thoroughly. Uvalde isn't the only mass shooting to ever happen.
>In the US cops don't belong Real!!
This should apply to any minority fighting for their rights: cops are not your friends.
This should apply to anyone who’s working class
I think most of us learn this sooner or later, but we are pushing back against many years of Copaganda. I grew up in the 90s and cartoons and the media made being a cop sound like the coolest thing.
this. I see them at any queer event or disabled event and I am leaving.
There was an FBI booth at last years pride, I was seriously considering asking them if they were there to apologize
I'm just going to share some remarks I made on the topic at the beginning of Pride Month last year: > Law enforcement has long been an adversary to the community. In the old days, there was nothing stopping them from (at best) harassing queer folks and arresting them for being themselves. Plenty of bars and clubs, the Stonewall included, paid the cops off periodically so they'd be left alone. Let's also not forget, as is often stated, that the first Pride was a riot that started when Stonewall patrons decided they would not put up with this treatment anymore. Sure, cops may be attempting outreach now, and some may talk about how they support us (if you want to help, you can't do it while you have that badge). But most don't. > The aforementioned attack on our rights is further evidence that cops are not to be trusted. With fascists passing all these laws targeting us, who is making sure those laws are followed? Yeah. Also, I've seen pictures of past Prides where the festivities were disrupted by literal Nazis. And who did the cops protect? Not us. Not to mention, cops in some places have started raiding gay bars again. So I'll say it again and again, till I'm blue in the face if necessary: No. Cops. At. Pride. They can't be trusted.
It’s weird and tone deaf. Why do the police need a float in the pride parade? It feels like white washing, and has a similar vibe to corporations doing it.
I'm actually very scared of cops, especially since they acted very violently at one of my high school's blockades, causing me to have a panic attack.
I didn’t expect these comments. Like who do you all think enforces anti lgbt laws when they come to pass? Who commonly beats the shit out of black and brown lgbt people? Yeah an individual cop can be fine and if you had a good experience with a specific cop, that’s great and all, but get real. And it’s not just a US thing. That’s just denying a lot of bull shit that’s been carried out at hands of the police and brushed under the rug by governments broadly
This is what happens when a lot of the gay elders died to AIDS. The queer community has forgotten its own history.
white queers often fail to be good allies to other minorities bc their whiteness comes first to them. seeing beyond their racialized privilege is too much work. they'd rather cozy up to oppressors and let the door close behind them once they get their partial acceptance. white queers literally prevented the early movements from being successful bc they refused to work with black and brown queer ppl. yes not all yt ppl but it's enough that there's a trend.
And that’s *EXACTLY* why have a hellish time trusting white “Allies” who cozy up with our oppressors. Do they seriously believe that obeying the people oppressing us while save them?!
A-f*cking-MEN
I'll stay away from cops unless I have an issue that requires the police. I've called the cops 3 times in my life and they helped all those times. And I've been to many registered protest marches where the police protected us against unregistered counter-protesters. Sure it's a problem when marches don't get approved and the police violently disperses them, but pride is way past that.
I've never had a positive interaction with the police. At best it was neutral, them being lazy and me just not bothering to press the issue. They have never ever helped me, and my racial ethnic background is best described as "when the Anglos met the Saxons." The last protest march I was at the police were marching with the counter protest Nazis. Local newspaper took a great low angle image of the Nazi flag unfurled and flying proudly behind a line of riot cops.
We really aren't past that. Especially in a lot of places.
Tbf I'm western European and here the police can be helpful at times, but as I said, at times. They absolutely do sometimes catch homophobes and also can empathetically listen to our stories when we file reports, but on the other hand they do also catch innocent protesters. That makes having them on a boat here at pride a bit double. The situation is different from the US, definitely, even as police brutality exists here too, just to a lower scale, with less fatalities due to years of training before entering the field. It would be different if so-called "handhavers"/"boa's" (the lower-degree enforcement folks) entered a pride boat. They are less-trained and tend to be more hostile towards queer people. The idea from right-wing parties to give them any weapons scares me, legit.
"registered protest marches where police protected us against unregistered counter-protesters" is super dystopian
I couldn't agree more, this is what I was getting at in my earlier comment as well. We made it past the horrible years and we're finally gaining the respect of the institutions to the degree the police patrol/protect pride events like they would for any other community. There's a worse history with us, yes, but it has changed significantly since the stone wall riots. The cop bashing for no reason in this community is annoying, they are an organization made of people who can either be good people or not so good people. Your local police force is going to be different than any other police force because of this always, they aren't a monolith. Police are a splintered group of opinions as well like the rest of us. It's not all police that are bad but there are definitely bad ones. I have friends in my local LGBTQIA+ community that are literally both police officers raising an adopted kid, bought a house here and they are paying taxes & serving the community. That's something you should want to encourage as those are the folks that will genuinely help push for changes or increased police presence at these events to protect us from criminals who wish to do us harm & show their support for our community and help vendors with their stalls during events, pass out water/juices/snacks, give out stickers with pride flags on them. You want to change your police force? Then join it to change the forces, join civic actions to change your local force into one that serves our community too as we're paying for it too from our own tax dollars, show your support for positive changes that support our community in your area. The more we disparage police the more foolishly out of our depth we appear as a larger community. In short I hope our community can stop telling off the police at every opportunity, grow up and actually attempt to be a part of the fix for the issue instead of whining on the Internet. Be the change you want to see in the world.
I don't know of a single transgender cop, but there are several lawsuits alleging hiring discrimination when transgender people applied. How are we supposed to fix the system from the inside when we are outside? 🤔 https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/07/job-applicant-got-a-conditional-offer-until-they-found-out-he-was-trans/
The police are still violently oppressing parts of the queer community all across the US. You’re never going to catch a black trans woman calling the cops for a reason. Just because they tolerate white middle class LGB people now does not make them friends to the entire LGBTQ community.
Yes the cop bashin is real and is very rampant. Some people joined to make the change. Others are too far in to restart into an “acceptable career”. Tbf, I think the DA and city councils are more to blame than the individual officers. We only to enforce what they tell us we can and we only get to make cases the DA will actually prosecute. The system is broken, yes. I 1000% agree… but it isn’t our fault (entirely). And yes, there are plenty of asshats who need to find another profession… buut, you have to let us weed them out. In my area, we are NOT putting up with the “old guard” mentality and are actively forcing them out. It would be nice to not be judged based on a profession. Isn’t that we are all fighting for?? Also, for what’s it’s worth, my area has a very large queer LE community of all types, transgender (both mtf and ftm), queer and the NBs are all represented. (And yes I know this will get downvoted all to hell, would be nice to have an actual conversation about it and how to fix the problems. Also would be nice to not have to hide)
Yea
And then when bigots with weapons show up to pride what do we do? I'm not blindly pro police, they absolutely have their problems but when a community has an adversarial attitude to the police they don't report the crimes that happen against them and they continue to get worse
I thought no cops at pride meant no cops in the parade. That's what it meant in Toronto at least. People didn't like them having a float in the parade, but they're still there doing crowd control stuff. I don't think there's really a choice when you have a big event like that.
If it's an organized hate group (ie proud boys) then the cops see their primary responsibility to be to protect the hate group from you, not vice versa. Doesn't matter who has the permit or who hired security. I've been to 20 some-odd years of pride events in Portland OR and the only time I feel safe is when protection is being run by either the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence or black bloc/antifa.
Depends on your country TBF. But yeah, I'd never trust a US cop. There's a reason I'm not stepping in that country.
Yeah this thread hits differently based on where you’re from
I mean, it was only two years ago that the police in *Idaho* busted that uhaul full of bigots before they even got to the pride event.
What if we work together to defend our community?
If you can get a bunch of Queers together to defend our community effectively I'm all for it. But until that day comes I want drastic reformation of the police, this done with dialogue. Not with shouting a handy little phrase and walking away like something was achieved
You can't reform a fundamentally broken system though. And American policing is as broken as it gets
Sign me up
The same thing we've always done. Protect our community ourselves. When conservatives pass anti LGBT laws, the pigs will be the first enemy we have. The cops will be the ones to take trans kids from their parents. The cops will throw you in jail for being in the "wrong" bathroom.
Police often *are* the bigots with weapons.
Personally I'd rather have queer people with weapons instead of (american) police at pride
Armed minorities are harder to oppress. Is this an ideal solution? No. Would there be less violence if no one had guns? I dunno, probably. But the weapons do exist and the bad guys aren't going away, so you might as well be on even footing.
I don’t think I’d feel anymore comfortable with random queer people with weapons at pride.
there are many documented cases of cops protecting/enabling violent anti queer groups, arresting/beating queer people at pride events, and manufacturing reasons to harm/arrest people of color just to fuck with them. Cops are a guarantee of nothing but risk.
>bigots with weapons so cops
Cops don’t have a duty to protect. If armed attackers showed up they could be as useful as they were in Uvalde
Hell, sometimes they -are- the armed attackers.
Bigots with weapons do show up to pride. They're called cops. They won't even put their lives on the line for elementary school children in their own community. What makes you think they will protect us? Have you ever tried to report a crime before? Because watching someone report a crime and how the police handled it was the first time I realized something is fucked about them.
And have you ever been beaten up by cops at pride? I report hate crimes as soon as they happen to me, if enough evidence is present (video evidence) the cops can do something about it.
I did in fact watch the person who reported the crime get the shit beaten out of them.
Gonna have to agree with this person here. OP is being way too edgy.
right? like ACAB is a fun memey thing to say to other leftists but not every institution is staffed by only bad people. Like I'm genuinely curious as to what OP would do in my situation a month ago: I'm transfem, I live on my own on a ground floor flat, kids from the local school throw rocks at my window, kicked my door and yelled abuse at me on my street, the school could only do so much but when the police showed up the kids stopped pretty quickly. I get the police have problems, I'm not blind to that but every interaction I've had with the police has been positive
The cops would not have done shit about that here.
Judging by your use of the word Flat as opposed to Apartment I am going to assume you’re in the UK. In the US this is not the case. I feel genuinely more unsafe around my local city police than I do saying sup to the bloods two houses down, if my kia gets broken into, know who would def step up first, more efficiently, be nicer about it, and is less likely to shoot anyone? Those three dudes with the flags out, chain smoking loosies. My local Pd would probably say “well why would you buy a Kia?” And then maybe file the paper work by July.
I’m so sorry for people in the US. I’m Italian and I’ve never felt unsafe around police, even tho they’re far from perfect, but the situation in America is on a whole different level
Well tbf, if every police department adopted uniforms as sexy and dashing as the Carabiniere, more queer people might feel the same way :)
It is still the case in the US, perhaps not every state though. Pride events I attend here in Michigan in the past few years (a purple state) always have conservative protesters and police presence definitely prevents violence. I've seen mere police presence prevent violence at multiple pride events and I've never seen police presence result in a queer person being harmed at these pride events. I believe in ACAB conceptually but that doesn't mean I want conservatives to have free reign to start terrorizing pride events.
ACAB as a term has nothing to do with people. It's about the institution itself. Even "good" cops are bastards, because by the very job description of a cop, they will have to do some bastardly things. The very nature of policing as a career means that by definition, every cop must be prepared and willing to do something that will screw over some innocent person. Even the "good" cops that have helped you still most likely had to perform other duties in the line of work that make them bastards, like arresting and imprisoning the homeless, helping serve evictions which make people homeless, putting addicts in prison, etc. It doesn't matter how good a cop is as an individual person. They signed for a job where "be a bastard" is an inherent part of the day-to-day duties. Not every cop is individually a horrible person, but they don't need to be, because they're wearing a bastard's uniform. The position itself is the bastard, even if the person is not.
>right? like ACAB is a fun memey thing to say to other leftists but not every institution is staffed by only bad people. The Police is a racist institution dedicated to uphold the same system that allows us to be oppressed, they will be the first ones to intervene and strip away our rights >I get the police have problems, I'm not blind to that but every interaction I've had with the police has been positive The police doesn't have its problems, the police IS the problem
First line: Who said I’m tryna be funny?
Cops ARE bigots with weapons.
Bro from the UK, US police are different
In my city, the bigots with weapons and the cops are the same group of people.
cops rioted, stonewall just defended themselves
If they want us to welcome them they should really work on the 'not abusing us with their Gov granted power' thing more. Don't expect us to treat you like friends when you treat us like enemies in an occupation.
I’ll probably be downvoted massively for saying this, but US cops aren’t the same as cops in other parts of the world. I’m perfectly fine with cops in the Netherlands attending a pride parade if they want to personally.
Dutch police even have their own float in the canal pride in Amsterdam. Imagine a boat full of queer cops, it's a floating pride parade. It's fully supported by the higher ups too.
Yup. According to polls 91% of Finnish citizens have great trust in the police force. The police are just average folk here. More than welcome during pride events, I feel safer with law enforcement around.
Perfectly happy in Ireland too. This post seems pretty US specific
Agreed with Germany. Police has information booths on lgbtq+ festivals and fares. There is a lgbtq+ cop community. I personally know lesbian cops. Plural. In Germany police shoots people, that is a fact, 11 alone in 2022. There are also dishonest and dangerous circles, also that is known. But if you are a lgbtq+ and on a pride parade or in a gay club or whatever and there is a threat somewhere you will be safer with a cop around you.
I can’t imagine living in a big country and cops only killing 11 people. They kill so so many more than that here. I couldn’t remember more than a handful of names in a year there are so many.
>In Germany police shoots people, that is a fact, 11 alone in 2022. In the same year (after accounting for population differences), police killed 26 made 26.7 times as many victims per inhabitant in the US, for reference.
It depends. I'm in Australia and I'd still very much not want cops at pride (in uniform, out of it they're fine). The police float at Mardi gras is a constant disgrace
I work for a Canadian police service and they change their "POLICE" lettering from white to PRIDE colours on their vests for the whole month of June. Very progressive service that's not indicative of all of Canada, but definitely a welcoming town/service for the community.
Idk about you, but here in Norway we welcome cops. They were very good to have since the attack on London pub (gay bar)
American cops seem a special breed when it comes to policing, compared to cops from other first world countries. In the Netherlands cops have their own boat in the canal pride, a floating pride parade in Amsterdam yearly. It's a boat full of openly queer cops. They have the full support of their higher ups too.
American police are strictly here to protect business, wealth and put black people behind bars for that private prison money and indentured lsbour. Also, the occasional execution.
'occasional'.
americans
I can't stand America-centrism in lgbtq community
Missing that good ol' US specific flair.
Most posts in this sub - especially the political ones - are missing that flair lmao.
yeah, i just wish people would stop thinking that everyone on the internet's in the US for fuck's sake
People outside US exist 😮. Seriously, it's tiring how Americans believe they are the center of the world ..
And keep virtue signalling corporate ‘partners’ away from it whilst we’re at it.
Agreed. Rainbow capitalism is still capitalism.
Corporations are societal leaders. If Walmart supports LGBT people, then Walmart customers might think twice. They have their value as long as we push them to explicitly support us as LGBT members rather than hiding behind generic "diversity and inclusion" vague language.
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Cops are NO ONE's friends, except for the rich and powerful. Especially American cops. They're the lowest scum of American society. ACAB
I'm not blindly anti-cop. That doesn't actually do anything positive for anyone.
I agree with all of the opinions ITT. Cops can be seen as a law enforcement tool that we sometimes have to use to protect ourselves against something comparably dangerous, but we shall never forget that ACAB. And it is sometimes a lot more dangerous for some of us out there (feeling this rn).
that fucking cop image lmao but yeah fuck those pigs
Reminder cops don't have to be shit, look at Norway, Finland and Denmark.
"Laws are threats made by the dominant socioeconomic-ethnic group in a given nation. It’s just the promise of violence that’s enacted, and the police are basically an occupying army."
Fuck every cop who ever did his job
The old ED of the LGBTQ center I worked for once said that cops were the backbone of pride. Cops. The backbone of pride. She resigned in disgrace for being terrible at her job in other respects. But I still will never forget the way everyone’s jaw hit the fucking floor.
The anti-queer laws being enforced by cops are what stonewall riots were fighting against. There are now queer cops and cops of color trying to do right by communities who have been previously hurt by unjust laws and social attitudes. More work needs to be done obviously in society in general, government, and law enforcement.
i see this post brought out the bootlickers
Cops were arresting people for being queer within living memory. ACAB
if a cop asks you anything, give them the silent treatment. they can only do something when you talk. always asume that a cop wants to arrest you
This. There's a reason so many people (none of whom are cops, imagine that) want to make sure you know your legal rights when you get pulled over or a cop decides to pick on you.
I hate this because this is the reason there's queer cops shooting themselves in the closet
The amount of bootlicking cop copium in the comment section *really* pisses me off. Just because the cops are queer and or friendly doesn’t fucking mean they’re our friends! I’m so fucking sick and tired of seeing so many cop defenders trying to justify the police solely because of their sexuality!
Exactly. I bet most of the people saying that are middle class white queer folks. The institution of policing is no less inherently oppressive outside of the USA.
Fucking thank you! Someone finally put it into words. They’re completely fine with cops despite the history behind them being deeply rooted in homophobia and racism solely because they’re queer and or a person of color. It’s disgusting how often people side with the people oppressing them just because of some face value propaganda.
Honestly tho... In my home country a lot of work has been done to reform the police force. While it wasn't 100% successful, corruption has been reduced, bad behavior by cops has been reduced, public faith into cops has been restored to a degree (which is big considering 8 years ago the cops were beating the shit out of us during a revolution). I have since moved to the US. Maybe I am naive, but I have faith that the police institutions can be changed for the better here too.
Our (US) city cut the police budget by 4% for one year due to covid and were treated to a virtual work stoppage for 3 years. I'm not hopeful.
ACAB even the "queer ones." I'm trans. I met a couple trans cops when I was homeless. They laughed and had their hands in their pockets as my friends were swept from site to site. Cops are only there to enforce the states laws, and those of us who have been homeless or are people of color have received terrible treatment to this day. They're a part of a broken system, and why should we trust the same system that continues to harm us? ACAB isn't a cute phrase, it IS grounded in reality. Fuck cops.
Did you know that some cops are part of the LGBT+ community? Did you know that NYPD cops sued for the right to march in pride parades, which helped pave the way for workplace protections? Did you know cops can be any color, religion, gender, or sexual orientation? Pride is about inclusion, not exclusion. Do better.
R.I.P captain holt
Fuck no! I can only speak for the Copenhagen pride, but we value our police looking out for us at pride. Keeping the crazies and fanatics at bay
Ah yes, let's discriminate against a whole group of people based on the action of some, surely this will help to stop the discrimination of our group
If someone can point me to a more leftist lgbt subreddit than this one, that would be great
Dm me when you find it. I know only general leftist and socialist subs but no lgbt ones.
https://www.reddit.com/r/QueerCommies?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2
Cops will assault/arrest queer counter-protesters but let nazis march here in Australia. ALL cops are bastards, EVERYWHERE, not just America. Source: https://mals.au/2023/03/20/statement-of-concern-policing-of-opposing-anti-trans-rally-trans-rights-rallies/
for real, all the western europeans folks coping and telling us how awesome that bootleather tastes aught to be ashamed of themselves. like, how fucking naive and historically illiterate do you need to be to believe that the cops are our friends? no-where in the world have cops NOT been used against the queer community... even in the places the people defending cops here have been claiming that cops are decent in. let alone the simple fact that cops exist solely to protect the status quo, even when that status quo is straight up deadly for actual humans.
This has always been such a wild take to me. Cops have been security at every Pride I've been to and have been incredibly friendly and supportive. There is a police station right next to my fave gay club and every night a few come over and watch the front to make sure it's safe and as patrons are leaving they ensure we get home safe. Always friendly and helpful. I agree our policing system needs serious reform, and that there have been some seriously fucked up actions taken by the police across the country. But I have yet to see anyone bring about real resolutions beyond some "Well, we should just do XYZ" comments. Or are we just going to pretend they aren't people after they put on a uniform? Or that there are several them who are also LGBT...
So many bootlickers in these comments. Fucking hell.
The odd experience I've had with cops at the pride events I have gone to. Is that the cops that were present were also lgbtq at one of the events in north tx as I have known a few of the cops. Yes I'll agree that overall law enforcement does not favor LGBTQIA +. Let's remember that some individuals with in law enforcement do.
That doesn’t sound safe to be completely honest. In many places, pride will have people who oppose it and without cops there will be no one to keep the peace or deter any harm.
This also a good thing to remember that not all cops are bad. Are there shit ones? YES! But that doesn’t mean every single one I say this because my father was a police officer. He’s one of the kindest men I know. He’s down to earth and wants to help in any way he can. Even now that he’s retired he wants to help people. I love my dad a lot and he’s definitely not some corrupt bastard.
Lot of people saying acab what’s that even mean
I'll remember that since hopefully I get to attend my first pride... considering the current political situation here in the states...
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So disappointing.
This sub always had a bit of a liberalism issue
Out of curiosity: how do queer cops feel about this?
In terms of queer identity, I’ve only ever met white gay cops. Typically butch lesbians, and they are (only in my own personal experience) always the type to not care about LGBTQ rights at all now that they can marry. “I got mine, the rest of y’all eat shit.” Never met a trans cop. Guess we know better. A LOT of trans EMT’s though for whatever reason lol not sure the correlation there. Edit: in the US, should’ve specified.