Former Democratic congressman Barney Frank has blasted the organizers of NYC Pride for barring uniformed police from participating in this year’s events, accusing them of “gay-on-gay bashing” and “bigotry”.
Writing an opinion piece for The Hill, Frank, 81, strongly criticized the decision.
“Having gotten used to Pride parades being occasions when the broad community can come together in an atmosphere of complete mutual respect, I was very disappointed at the injection of bigotry that has marred this season.
“I am referring to the decision of the organizers of the New York march to demonize some of the most courageous and effective opponents of homophobia in our community — the LGBT police officers who have combatted prejudice in places where it was deep-rooted.”
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According to Frank, who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013, the ban goes against one of the guiding principles of Pride: “that people should be treated as individuals based on their behavior, and not on some prejudice against the category to which they belong.
“I am somewhat comforted by knowing that those who have made this decision speak for a small minority of the LGBT community. But that very fact underlines the danger of letting our agenda be dictated by deferring to the small minorities within our ranks who compete with each other in a purer-than-thou contest.”
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He then goes on to speak about several LGBTQ police officers he has known, some of whom he says helped change attitudes within the police through advocacy or legal challenges.
Frank, who publicly came out as gay in 1987, dismisses the claim that cops on Pride marches can trigger trauma or anxiety in other participants.
“I do not deny that some wholly irrational fears exist; I do object to letting those who suffer from such fears dictate to the rest of us with whom we can associate.”
He ends by saying lumping all police in together is counterproductive to reforming police practices.
“Collective punishment that puts heroes and villains in the same category is flat out wrong on three fundamental counts. It is a blatant violation of the principle of fairness at the center of our struggle; it is a distorted picture of the reality which we have worked to present; and it is counterproductive to inform people in positions of some authority that they are guilty by definition — no matter how hard they fight on our side.”
Heritage of Pride, which organized NYC Pride events, announced its ban in mid-May.
It released a statement outlining its reasons. It said, “NYC Pride seeks to create safer spaces for the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities at a time when violence against marginalized groups, specifically BIPOC and trans communities, has continued to escalate. The sense of safety that law enforcement is meant to provide can instead be threatening, and at times dangerous, to those in our community who are most often targeted with excessive force and/or without reason.”
The ban was not universally supported. A week after the decision was announced, Heritage of Pride members voted to allow police to march in uniform and carry concealed weapons.
Within hours, Heritage of Pride’s board had again reversed the decision, barring uniformed police from events.
This year’s main NYC parade will not be going ahead, but several smaller events are planned, and the police ban is not set to be reviewed until 2025.
Related: Police chief apologizes for bringing up anal sex during interview about helping LGBTQ people
NYC Pride is not the first Pride event to ban uniformed police. Toronto Pride in Canada has banned uniformed police from 2017 onwards, while Vancouver Pride followed suit in 2020. In the US, Denver Pride also announced it was implementing a police ban this year.
Over the weekend, it emerged that cops banned from wearing uniform at NYC Pride, would be welcome to attend Long Island Pride later this month. Newsday says organizers of Long Island Pride will also be donating a table to Nassau County Police to allow it to recruit at the festival. The event, down-scaled because of the pandemic, will take place on June 27.
Cam
When Barney Frank was in office, he told LGBTQ people to basically sit down, shut up, stop marching and said they should lobby Congress.
As if our Civil Rights were similar to a zoning issue or a miniing company wanting the ability to drill in a National Park.
Then again, Frank got his already so didn’t seem overly interested in helping the rest of us.
The March and the yelling Frank was so eager to stop is what finally pressured Congress to get rid of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and let people openly serve. DADT was also used by bigoted employers as a reason they should be allowed to fire any LGBTQ employee. They said “Hey, the military won’t hire them, that means we shouldn’t have to.”
So Frank was really on the wrong side of that.
ChrisDC
Cam? You have no f***ing clue what you’re talking about, you little twit.
Cam
@ChrisDC
Except since you couldn’t point out any place where I Was wrong, and you then just lashed out and name called, it looks like I pretty much hit the nail on the head.
LumpyPillows
@cam you have misrepresented Barney’s position, which was more nuanced, but you did that on purpose. Times have changed. The parades have always been more positive than negative, but there were things in the parade that hurt us politically, like nuns with beards, men in assless chaps and women with their breasts defiantly exposed while astride motorcycles. Now, while I enjoy those things, they did not help us in a parade and were exactly what made the news papers and evening news; not the images to help us win elections. Barney knew better then, and he knows better now.
Additionally, today all the young woke people are offended, pearl-clutching breathless, over businesses, politicians and police marching with us. I will tell you that when this first happened we were stunned at the acceptance. Their showing up back then was an act of courage they did not have to make. It mattered then and it matters now. Do they want something? We all want something and it is good for LGBTQ people in the end.
wikidBSTN
You are SO wrong. Barney Frank was out there virtually alone in the federal government fighting for our rights fro YEARS before it became “fashionable”. You have NO clue.
JohnnyBoy2
You’re off topic. This is a discussion about the Pride Parade.
Winsocki
No one is right about everything. The point is practice what you preach. Not all gays are bad, neither are police. And I am not overly fond how police have been behaving lately but that is the news. Everyday good things don’t make headlines. I guess Babs Johnson was right..”kill everyone now!” seems to be mantra of right and left at the extreme ends.
Cam
Except police are welcome to march. They’re just saying no uniforms. You do realize that Stonewall was a riot against the police abusing LGBTQ people right?
Vince
Cam
Oh yes. You can march but don’t identify yourselves. Lol
Damn. Why don’t we just eliminating every group that offends someone somewhere. Of course there won’t be anyone hardly left but will score our woke points and pat ourselves on the back.
Cam
@Vince
I get where you’re coming from, but remember it was the NYPD that was lying about attacking people, that drove over protesters and lied about it etc… it’s not a good look right now.
JessPH
@Cam You do realize that Stonewall happened more than half a century ago? A lot of things has happened in 52 years which include NYPD evolving on the issue of tolerance and acceptance of queer people.
Mister P
The point of Pride is to be inclusive rather than exclusive.
Cam
So then you’re saying give the Ex-Gays a booth, the Mormon Church that advocates Conversion therapy a booth? nambla a booth?
MissTerri
Cam is still upset they didn’t let him march in the parade as a Miserable old Bitter Queen!!!!!!!
Vince
Targeting, banning, and demonizing a whole group of people. Hmm…where have I seen this discrimination before? It’s funny they don’t see their own hypocrisy.
The problem is that it’s not even supported by the pride committee organizers. It’s a small activist group that’s controlling everything from behind the scenes.
Defund the Police, ban the Police… This is the petty BS that hands elections over to the Republicans.
Cam
@MissTerri
If the sad little right wing troll that normally defends anti-LGBTQ bigots doesn’t like what I said, well then I’m on the right track!
Selverd
@cam you couldn’t come up with a less ridiculous example than allowing people who hate gays or molest children to march?
Cam
@Selverd
I gave 3 different examples. And I figure a group that drove into protesters lied about it, knocked down a peaceful old man putting him in the hospital, lied about it, killed a guy for selling cigarettes etc.. that’s how a lot of New Yorkers see them.
If they don’t want to be seen that way, they have some image issues to worry about. But the fact is, that anytime one of them murders somebody, instead of an apology, we see the police union come out and say it was the victims fault, and everybody is lying, then when the camera footage comes out the Police union goes silent.
I think police do a very important job, but they’ve been on the wrong side multiple times in the last year in NYC and now they are getting blowback for it.
JessPH
@Cam Comparing police officers to ex-gays, conversion therapy advocates, and pedophiles. I mean, seriously? Could your analogy be more false?
queenofsupport
Ugh! Won’t he ever go away. He is the epitome of the privileged hetero-acting gay who has his and wants the rest of us to disappear. We are not going to forget how he through trans people under the bus when he was in Congress.
MissTerri
Preach it Barney!!!!!!!!!!
Cam
Hmmm, does the right wing troll account get an extra Kopec for each exclamation point it uses?
Awwww, you’re precious.
LumpyPillows
Barney’s right. Excluding LGBT police from our parade is wrong. They are us and being bold enough to show up and represent is paramount. Everything else is woke whining that hurts us.
Cam
Or they’re doing a PR. stunt to cover the fact that they have abused, run over and killed protesters recently.
Remember, it was the NYPD that randomly just pushed an old man down sending him to the Hospital, or drove into protesters and lied and said they didn’t.
LumpyPillows
@Cam when you use the word “they” it implies the LGBT police officers are somehow guilty of the crimes and misdeeds of others; something everyone should refrain from. I’ve been to many a gay pride parade and the first time I saw police march I felt like we had mad great progress. I felt a little safer. I live in a big city, right in the middle of things. We depend on the police to keep the peace, all of us, LGBTQ, straight, black, white…we don’t have the luxury of living in a suburb, insulted from the world by badly mowed lawns and fences. Yes, we need to reassert the balance between police and the people they are tasked to protect. Demonizing them isn’t just wrong, its damaging, and I find it offensive.
Shady Gaga
Maybe they should not permit gay churches and other religious organizations to march. So many gay people have been harmed and abused by religious authorities that the inclusion of religious groups in the march could trigger those painful associations.
Chrisk
I agree but lets not stop there. I’d like to see masculine and muscular guys banned from taking off their shirts as well. This toxic masculinity really makes me unconformable with my own pronoun identity and body image issues.
MissTerri
Or the entire Psychiatric profession or Government officials or the Military. There’s no end to the number of Professions who once did bad things to Gay people who you could Ban!!!!! Soon there would be no one left to march! Hi-LAR-ious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fahd
For me, an important aspect of Barney speaking out about this issue is that he fancies himself a champion of blue-collar/working class gays (see his former District and his husband). He imagines himself a working class New England non-Wasp who happens to be gay. So, of course, that means supporting police officers who happen to be gay. He’s also 81, so I would listen respectfully, but not assume he’s in on the current thinking. (Maybe ageist, but I know people in their 80s).
I can understand the desire of some to ban uniforms, not people, from the parade, and if they had the votes, well it’s their parade – get your own. (I always voted against the NRA having a float, and finally I was in the majority).
If the police embrace reforms, including improved selection and training in non-lethal techniques, among other things, I would say revisit the issue in the years to come.
Btw, what about the police who are on-duty at the parade who are assigned as security? How are they handling them being in uniform?
Mr. Stadnick
When did this supposedly welcoming community become filled with negativity?
belugafan
Well said Mr Frank. Discrimination goes against everything we fight for. It is sad what a vocal small minority activist group has done to GLBTs.
Centrism
Barney Frank is smart and has common sense, something most of the community has lost in recent years.
MissTerri
PULITZER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cam
Hi Centerism/MissTerri
We’ve al already pointed out the multiple times you’ve switched account names between these two screenames to back up your own posts.
The fact that you keep doing it is just sad, but not unexpected. After all, Putin and Russia are pretty broke right now so I wouldn’t expect them to be able to afford the good trolls.
Centrism
@Cam You’re a stalker. Please get a life.
Cam
@Centrism
Sweetie, you keep cycling through the same old B.S. responses in all of your screenames. It doesn’t work, people here are going to keep right on calling out your obvious Anti-LGBTQ hate trolling and nothing you say or do will stop it.
Because your troll game is sad and weak.
Josh in OR
Barney’s wealthy white male privilege is showing…
And, I’m sorry, and with all due respect to a revered gay elder, but he is absolutely wrong. Allowing cops – the original villains of Pride – to March in Pride events now is like…allowing Nazi cosplayers to participate in Passover…its like allowing Confederate or KKK cosplayers take part in Black Pride events. Cops beat us, cops raped us, cops stole from us, cops killed us. And society didn’t care, because we ‘deserved it’. So we took the abuse, and took it, until we finally had enough and fought back. We finally stood up and said ‘NO MORE!’ and fought the cops and the oppression that they represented and were protected by.
Just because cops have turned their violence towards more ‘socially acceptable’ targets than gay people doesn’t make them suddenly ‘allies’ to be celebrated. SOME cops try to work within the system, sure. Those individuals deserve recognition. But they serve an oppressive force that refuses to reckon with its history. And the reality is that for every ‘good’ cop, there are s dozen bad ones and even more who just…don’t care. We have seen it…by far, most cops are perfectly happy with the systems as they stand, and react to challenges to the status quo the way any regressive does…with more ignorance and increased violence.
No uniformed cop belongs at an event that commemorates our standing up against police violence and saying ‘no more’. Until ALL cops stand against the rampant racism, misogyny and homophobia in their ranks, All Cops Are Bastards. Even the ‘good’ ones.
Shady Gaga
Parents beat us up and threw us out of the house. Shouldn’t we ban PFLAG from the march? The Church beat us up and threw us out. Shouldn’t we ban the MCC from marching? The military kicked us out and court martialled us? Shouldn’t we now ban them from marching. Shall I go on?
Chrisk
Josh in OR
No not all cops are bastards. I can’t believe I even had to say that. You really need help for your stupidity.
Toofie
The painting of all cops as bad is bizarre. Banning them from marching as a group, how is it any different than when the St Patrick’s Day parade banned gays marching under their own banner?
LumpyPillows
You lost me at wealthy white male privilege. The wokeness rolls off you like a stench.
JohnnyBoy2
In your first sentence, you disparage an entire race of people (white) and an entire sex (male). You are racist and sexist.
The majority of LGBTQ people support the police and want them in the parade. It was the absurdly over-woke Pride Committee that shoved this unpopular decision down our throats.
Josh in OR
@Shady Gaga: False equivalancies, the last refuge of the desperate, with nothing of value to add to the discussion.
@ChrisK: Do you ever get tired of defending the worst among us?
@Toofie: Did gay people beat, rape, abuse, murder, harrass and otherwise systematically make Irish American lives miserable by claiming they dont deserve to exist under the laws of God and Man? Because cops did that to queers. For centuries.
@LumpyPillows: *GASP!* Wokeness!? Oh NO! Who knew it was wokeness to recognize that ‘being gay’ doesn’t take away the inherent privilege of being well-off financially. Or being white. Or being male. Who knew that reality supports the concept of intersectionality in terms of matters like privilege and influence! Oh. People who know how to read and process information that contradicts previously held beliefs. Right…
@Johnny Boy: Learn to read. Pointing out privilege isnt ‘disparaging’ someone any more than pointing out that they have glasses. Being Male affords you privileges that non-males do not afford in a culture that focuses on the value of Male contributions over all others. Being white gives you privileges not enjoyed by non-whites in a culture that focuses on white matters and issues over others. We live, in America, in a culture that values maleness and whiteness over other ‘segments’ of the population. This is called ‘fact’ and is borne out by stuff called ‘evidence’. Which, if you learn some reading comprehension, will help you function in society, rather than looking like a gibbering loon covered in your own verbal diarrhea.
danny
Privileged white guy not afraid of cops. OK, got it.
MissTerri
You win Stupidest Comment of the Day!!!! Hi-LAR-ious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LumpyPillows
@danny said a privileged white guy trying to be what? Smug? Yeah, that works.
I am not afraid of LGBT cops, who have been marching with us as conduits for positive change for decades now. If this frightens you and challenges your masculinity, perhaps you should seek help.
JohnnyBoy2
If someone is afraid of cops, that is their problem. They should seek counseling. Just like if they are afraid of dogs or cats.
JohnnyBoy2
42% of the NYPD is POC.
JessPH
Banning people simply for their occupation is the textbook definition of discrimination. If you want police reform then everyone should get involved in making that happen…LGBTs, POC, etc.
Kangol2
Barney Frank’s record is very good, especially compared to most Congresspeople, when it comes to LGBTQ issues (as well as Civil Rights, immigration issues, etc.). He did not willingly come out, though. He was outed when his former rent boy, who was living with him, was busted for prostitution. (One irony is that the creep who pushed for Congressional censure, right-wing fanatic Congressman Larry Craig, later Senator Larry Craig, was later busted as a closet case soliciting gay sex in an Minneapolis airport bathroom!)
Frank however has repeatedly pushed back against more radical steps that LGBTQ activists have taken over the years. He is a mainstream liberal-to-progressive politician. I think his arguments here are nuanced but I always think people forget that Stonewall was a revolt AGAINST police brutality and harassment. That brutality and harassment have not ended. There have been many moments since 1969 (and certainly innumerable ones since then) in which police have failed LGBTQ people.
As several articles on this site have pointed out, police continue to harass LGBTQ people more frequently than non-LGBTQ people; they also continue to engage in racist and misogynistic behavior; and they still have a terrible record when it comes to trans people. Gay cops are welcome to march in T-shirts announcing they’re with the NYPD, but if the march organizers say no cops in uniform for the time being, particularly at a march being held in the public square, then that’s their right too.
JohnnyBoy2
You make a lot of good points. What bothers me is that the parade executive group made this decision, even though the broader organizing committee is against it, and the LGBTQ population is against it. The parade executive group is majority POC. Connecting the dots, the POC parade executive group is pushing a woke agenda on the rest of us that has very little to do with LGBTQ.
The parade executive group is broadly disparaging the police, even the LGBTQ police. That is wrong.
ryanss
I have 0 % of interest in today’s pride parades. It turned into a festival of platitudes and sponsored marches. By the way, I also have 0% of interest in becoming normalized. Pride used to be about transgression. It became just a bunch of white gay people who want to be ” mainstream”. That’s why I support Reclaim Pride Coalition.
JohnnyBoy2
It sounds like you don’t like white people. There are lots of POC who want to be mainstream, too, you know. Do you dislike them, too?
blackwingbear
Barney Frank is rather infamous for being more for the privileged, the wealthy, the “system” & the police than he ever had been for the LGBT-community. His backwards & neo-liberal/conservative stances have regularly HURT the LGBT-community. Honestly, he can’t be taken seriously as a voice for LGBT. He forgets that the first Pride was a riot against police-brutality, or simply doesn’t care.