Why Pride organizers are banning cops

Mashable is celebrating Pride Month by exploring the modern LGBTQ world, from the people who make up the community to the spaces where they congregate, both online and off.

LGBTQ communities across the country are grappling with a burning question: Do police belong at Pride? More organizers are banning police at Pride events than ever before, but it's been a contentious move.

The greater LGBTQ community is split on what role law enforcement should play at Pride events — if any — as the country at large continues to examine the state of policing.  

Last month, one of the biggest Pride events in the world — New York City Pride — announced a police ban at their events until 2025. The announcement was met with backlash from the police and others who argued excluding officers was discriminatory. Other activists said it’s about time Pride held law enforcement accountable to the history of police violence against LGBTQ people, and people of color. Last year’s widespread Black Lives Matter protests took the police to task, challenging the most entrenched attitudes about the institution. Activists hope that Pride police bans are leveraged for greater transformative justice and police reform.  Read more...