Written by Lev Finzi
London Breed, the Democratic Mayor of San Francisco, has just declared on Monday the 23rd that she will not be in attendance for the annual LGBTQ+ Pride Parade. Her choice was based on the parade’s rule that any police officers in attendance not wear their uniforms while marching in protest of the San Francisco Police Department.
While Mayor Breed has come out publicly to defend her decision by saying that she still supports the LGBTQ+ officers that call for a reverse of this ban, she has refused to be in attendance until the ban on uniforms is lifted. This announcement has caused a rift between the highly democratic-leaning government of San Francisco and local progressive activists.
With the Pride Parade’s 52nd anniversary planned for this year in person, it is the first in-person parade since two years ago during the start of the global pandemic in 2020. Other individuals in power have also come to show support for Mayor Breed’s choice, such as the San Francisco Police Officer’s Pride Alliance, which backs LGBTQ+ members of the police force. The ban has caused a good amount of LGBTQ+ Police Officers to choose not to participate in the parade.
The parade’s board has also gotten masses of disapproval from various LQBTQ+ sheriffs and deputies within the Police Force. These individuals have tried to change the Board’s minds but to no avail.
Some may consider that the decision might have something to do with the Democrats’ “Defund the Police” movement in 2020. Some may be regretting everything now that the damage has been done, and the outcome was from their own uproar.
Mayor Breed has provided a joint statement along with the LGBTQ+ Police and Firefighters: “brave women and men who not only have the courage to put on their uniforms and go out and risk their lives every day to serve our city, but who also have the courage to do so as openly out women and men in uniform,”
Because the parade has not been held in person for two years, the ban will take real action this year since it was first enacted in 2020.
Photo Cred: Eric Risberg/AP
