San Francisco Mayor London Breed police groups oppose Pride march over uniform ban

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and local law enforcement groups have opted not to attend the upcoming Pride Parade over a ban prohibiting law enforcement officers from wearing their uniforms.

“I love the Pride Parade and what it means to our LGBTQ community and our city. It’s one of my favorite events of the year. However, if the Pride Board does not reverse its decision, I will join our city’s public safety departments who are not participating in the Pride Parade,” Breed said in a statement to Fox San Francisco.

“Let’s be very clear who we’re talking about: courageous women and men who not only have the courage to don their uniforms and risk their lives every day to serve our city, but who also have the courage to do so.” to do as open women and men in uniform,” she added.

The San Francisco Police Officers’ Pride Alliance also said its members would not be attending the parade, one of the city’s marquee events. The group said it felt like officers were being forced back into the closet by not being allowed to proudly wear their uniforms.

“To be clear, this committee would not order the leather community to wear polyester at the parade. This committee would not order the drag community to wear flannel. But they have told us peace officers that if we wear our uniforms, we may not attend,” the group said in a statement.

The city’s fire department also said on Monday that they stood in solidarity with the police and would not march with them.

Parade organizers implemented the 2020 uniform ban after a confrontation at the 2019 event when protesters blocked the parade while denouncing the police and corporate sponsorship.

In a statement to the news agency, Suzanne Ford, interim executive director of San Francisco Pride, said law enforcement officers could wear T-shirts with their department’s logo, but not professional uniforms.

“We didn’t ask anyone to go into hiding or not say who they are,” Ford said. “We just didn’t want full uniforms, for harm reduction reasons to marginalized members of our community.”

Fox News has reached out to the organizers of the event. The parade is scheduled for June 26th.