The police department in Miami Beach, Florida, covered one of its cars in stripes from the LGBTQ Progress flag and rolled it through the Miami Beach Pride Parade last month, as the department’s Instagram account proudly proclaimed at the time.
Comments on that Instagram post reeked of homophobia, as you might expect, with people saying the Pride-themed police car was “too much” or “a waste of taxpayers’ money.” (Someone else called for a “straight people parade,” as if that’s not every other day of the year.)
But on Reddit’s r/lgbt forum, a photo of the car sparked a different backlash, considering the “Don’t Say Gay” law Florida just passed.
“Surprised this is allowed in Florida,” one commenter said of the MBPD’s rainbow-hued police car.
How about we take this to the next level?
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“Feels extra performative because of that,” another person replied. “Actions speak multitudes louder [than] the pride flags.”
A third person wrote, “Short-circuit the state’s legislature when you call in a ‘don’t say gay’ alert on the police.”
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Related: New study reveals police stop LGBTQ people at a much higher rate
Other people, meanwhile, noted the torturous history of LGBTQ populations’ interactions with law enforcement. “The first Pride was an anti-cop riot,” one commenter wrote.
“Came to say this exactly,” another person said. “The police have never been on our side. This is empty performative gesturing.”
“And cops will be the ones to act if/when more anti-LGBT legislation is enacted at the rate it’s going,” a third person chimed in. “Cops are not our friends. Rainbow patrol cars while arresting gender-affirming parents for child abuse.”
Related: Police chief suspended after linking gay cop’s COVID-19 death to his sexuality
Another Reddit user cited the “consistent statistics of U.S. police violence and sexual abuse against trans people,” while someone else said the sheriff of their hometown made a public statement “that if he ever saw a trans person in a bathroom, he’d ‘beat them so bad their mother wouldn’t recognize them in the hospital.’”
And someone else speculated that the department might be using the car as “a joke, a hazing device, and an informal disciplinary tool.”
“I hope I’m wrong,” that Reddit user added, “but I’ve known too many officers to not have this bias.”
Ronbo
Undocumented claims of “consistent statistics of U.S. police violence and sexual abuse against trans people,” covers up the FACT that trans people are victims of violence at the same rate of women.
Everyone can be the victim of police violence, let’s stop with the ‘we are the biggest victim’ bullshit. It creates the philosophy that trans people are unable to overcome this or that or the other. It’s also disrespectful to women – because there are WAYYYY more women than trans individuals which means WAYYYY more violence.
Trans people are the toughest, most outspoken, most verbal group I’ve ever ran across, Can we stop trying to paint them as only victims of violence? Just the opposite is true. If comedy shows are an indicator, extremist trans people (and their enablers) start fighting at the drop of a pronoun.
It’s only a joke – funny because it’s true. Join us in finding humor in humanity and being inclusive of trans individuals. It’s as if these people have never been to an actual drag show! Trust me, Drag Race is only a mere shadow of the real thing. You don’t know fun until you’ve been grilled properly.
Kangol2
Irrespective of your other points, drag performance and transgenderism are two distinct things. One can wear drag or be a transvestite and not be transgender.
Eternal.Cowboy
“drag performance and transgenderism are two distinct things.”
They are. Drag is a real thing and “transgenderism” is a pejorative word that transphobic people use to demean transgender people.
Eternal.Cowboy
Ronbo –
You are weirdly obsessed with trans people. You doing okay?
monty clift
Don’t bring this TERF garbage here.
inbama
@monty clift
It’s three days to Pride Month.
Can we let lesbians be lesbians for a while?
Ronbo
My point is that humor – especially lesbian and gay humor in drag shows – is very dark, pointed and hilarious. To knowingly and openly exclude groups “to protect them” seems like some may have a messiah complex. Our white, male (generally) superiours, like Eternal Cowboy and Monty constantly act as if trans individuals are ‘less than’ and need to be saved. They act just like people 20 years ago who wanted to “help and protect” us by keeping us in the closet to maintain rigid male and female gender role models. F*^k that.
It’s sad that we can’t just accept trans individuals and be inclusive of their unique talents and skills. We can stop acting as if they are delicate flowers who will wilt if we don’t stand up and demand that humor/humanity be cancelled.
Who else is so delicate and sensitive that they go to comedy shows and then complain, “I didn’t find that funny”? Republicans. If Cowboy and Monty were not queer – they’d likely be supporting the MAGA in order to fulfill their messiah destiny of protecting straights from imaginary LGBTQ hoards and attacks.
Eternal.Cowboy
That was a spectacular self-own. I fall under the trans umbrella.
Nice example of a straw man argument though.
Ronbo
The cow seems to have dialed his messiah complex up to max. The gays and lesbians who have been confused about their path thru genetics, gender and sex need the Cow to swing by and tell us that our path (being gay or lesbian) is wrong and that it’s sex-change or bust.
How could men sleep with men or women sleep with women? The cow wants everyone to maintian traditional feminine or masculine orientation. Seems that the cow demands opposite sex gender roles. Is it because the cow was raised to believe that being gay or lesbian is wrong – and prefers to put us back in to the gender closet? “You aren’t gay, you are just need surgery,” sounds like someone opposing the existence of gays and lesbians. The cow may be showing signs of self-hate by channeling Anita Bryant.
Eternal.Cowboy
Keep that straw man going.
Chrisk
The fact that people are referencing the “don’t say gay bill” is more proof that it’s scope was far more then just little kids in kindergarden.
Den
Nobody is saying or has said that the scope of that bill is restricted to kindergarten. As written the law can be applied to any grade at all based on the vague notion of what is “age or developmentally appropriate”.
But it cannot be used against the police or any other organization or groups beyond the scope of public schools or outside of school property. People’s misunderstandings about a law or event do not change the actual nature of that law or event (just as Trump’s lies about the election do not change the fact that he lost fair and square regardless of how many people believe his lies).
bachy
I appreciate that the MBPD is signaling their awareness of gay issues and anti-LGBT crime– but I don’t need a cop car in drag. Police officers in glitter eye shadow and Balenciaga don’t alter Florida’s political shitshow.
johncp56
Yes too little somewhat may be to late, I,m so glad I do not Live in FL
Brian
This is from the state where history teachers aren’t allowed to talk about why Pride is held in June instead of one of the other months.
Eternal.Cowboy
Nope nope nope. No cops at pride. Compton’s Cafeteria Riots and Stonewall were the direct result of the police terrorizing marginalized communities. And while one can argue that the situation has improved for the LGBTQ+ community they police still terrorize marginalized communities. They can participate in Pride when they actually serve and protect communities. Until then they can take a flying f—k at a rolling doughnut. Or better, they can figure how to enter a school an stop an active shooter rather than just hangout out for an hour while kids being killed.
Ronbo
The Cow can’t acknowledge that society is different today than when it was illegal to just be gay… we could not marry … we could not come out of the closet. Is the Cow still living in the past and demanding that gays and lesbians be closeted or change their gender?
F*^k the cow, “We are queer, we are here. Get used to it.” Enforcing gender roles from the 1950’s puts you in the same class as Anita Bryant.
Eternal.Cowboy
You doing no okay?
[email protected]
Aren’t we just wringing hands-when the local bigot is bashing you you’ll welcome a cop. Aren’t we supposed to welcome all?? At least that’s how I see “us” accepting. If they want to do a cop car with pride colors-I think that awesome. I don’t see it as a negative. Don’t understand how you do. I’ve been out and gay my whole 56 years how amazing to see something like this.
inbama
They’re just QT+ trolls making a show of attacking our gay and lesbian cops .
They need to keep reminding the rubes about all the “privilege” we have so they can get their “Most Marginalized” drama award.
monty clift
I don’t really care if the police want to put the pride flag on their vehicles. I just wish it wasn’t the ugly version.
PinkoOfTheGange
I feel like I’m just getting old. Being old enough to see the differences in policing between Stonewall and today, makes me realize how far the most of the US has come.
But it seems the queerlings want to rehash and hold the institutions responsible for things that happened so long ago there is no one on the forces today that were even trained by those that did so many wrongs in the past.
Eternal.Cowboy
@PinkoOfTheGange
“Being old enough to see the differences in policing between Stonewall and today, makes me realize how far the most of the US has come.”
You must have missed summer of 2020 when the country exploded when the police murdered George Floyd. The police may not torment the LGBTQ+ community the way they did in days of Stonewall but policing practices haven’t changed. The police still target marginalized people. SF, Denver, NYC and other cites all acknowledge that Pride was born out of police abuse. People also recognize that the people in other communities that the police target can also in the LGBTQ+ community. So it’s a show of solidarity, when the police stop targeting marginalized people they are welcome to participate in pride parades.
Eternal.Cowboy
“when the local bigot is bashing you you’ll welcome a cop.”
Everyone’s life experience is different. In high school I was attacked for being queer. As my assailants (there were three) beat the crap out of me the police pulled up and just hung out. When it ended one of the police officers asked “Would you like go to the downtown jail where the *racial epithet* will rape you?”. They laughed and went about their merry way.
So, you may be welcoming to the police but I have a very different view.
inbama
Yeah, like it was NYC’s and San Francisco’s gay and lesbian cops, who’ve been barred from marching in uniform, who behaved like that.
Bull.
Eternal.Cowboy
The conversation you are replying to is about if I would welcome the police while being attacked which is an entirely different conversation than should be invited to participate in pride parades. In my comment above I explained why I thought police shouldn’t be allowed to be in pride parades and it had nothing to do with my personal story.
As for you you comment. It is irrelevant if an individual police officer behaved like that. Law enforcement is an abusive and broken institution that continues to target minorities and marginalized people. Gay and lesbian police willing take part in that institution that and are complicit even if they are not direct participants and I totally agree with not assisting them in pink washing the institution. If they want to rehabilitate the institution and show that it actually there to serve and protect the people then do it through actions not not performance.
PinkoOfTheGange
When and where did this happen? In the last few years? Or the last century?
Eternal.Cowboy
@PinkoOfTheGange
What does it matter? The only reason to go down this road of inquiry is in an attempt to dismiss a person’s experiences. It’s entirely irrelevant, taddykestone’s claim what that I’d look to the cops for help in an attempt to paint people like myself has hypocrites. I was showing that their point was inaccurate based on my person experience. That you hear about a queer person being beaten and your instant response is to dismiss it because it doesn’t conform to a narrative you want to believe is just messed up.
Ronbo
We have all had bad experiences. I was once wrongly spanked by a woman – it doesn’t mean that every woman is bad. Accusing an entire class of people for the actons of a few is the definitive meaning of “bigotry”. Congrats… you are now channeling Republicans and Anita Bryant.
Being gay or lesbian is NOT wrong; you should listen the millions of LGBTQ individuals in the military and law enforcement – not the voices of division and hate circling inside your skull.
Eternal.Cowboy
Seriously are you doing doing okay? You sound like are struggling on the mental health side.
inbama
@Ronbo
You’re absolutely correct.
Poor cowpie troll still hasn’t worked out her childhood trauma and thinks it’s her god-given duty to insult anyone living in actual reality.
cuteguy
Ron Deathsantis Is seriously pissed bc he hates lgbtq+
barkomatic
When I was younger I would have loved to have seen a cop car in Pride colors. Just because the police oppressed us decades ago or still do in certain communities doesn’t mean we can’t and shouldn’t appreciate these gestures. If we are welcoming to this type of thing we can build on this.
This ridiculous, automatic hatred of the police when they genuinely try to reach out is definitely not going to work at all as a strategy. “Abolish the police” is effectively dead so we have to work with them.