Up until today I'd never heard of him.

Link to tweet

Yeah, like it was the police "ban" that has conservatives so upset. They've been paragons of support up until now. Also, do not read the comments in that twitter feed, they are full of the most disgusting homophobic comments.

that it was BLK inspired. But they've had a year for sober second thought. That being said it only gives people like Scheer and the Conservatives a wedge.

So, last year, Pride Toronto invited BLMTO to lead off the Pride parade. The first thing BLM (an activist group) did was have a sit-in (for just under 30 minutes) at the beginning of the parade route, and provided Pride Toronto a list of demands before they'd start marching again. Among the demands were things like increased funding for activities and resources directed towards young queer POC, including trans youth, and underrepresented ethnic groups like South Pacific queer youth. One of the demands was that Pride no longer allow the Toronto Police to march in the Pride parade armed and in uniform (there is no ban on police officers marching in the parade, only marching in uniform, representing TPS).

Pride, also a political organization, found merit in the demands/requests and acquiesced. The parade continued. So, the big question was why BLMTO demanded that TPS not march in the parade in uniform. Straight up, it is because queer POC in Toronto do not feel safe around armed uniform police officers. At the time, the debate over carding was still raging (it's been publicly mostly settled by now, but the practice continues, wildly disproportionately targeting black men, and the police maintain their database of carding interactions as "police interactions" which will show up on an employment background check), and there were the recent killings of Jermaine Carby, Andrew Loku, and the trial for the officer who shot and killed Sammy Yatim.

Additionally, one of the founders of BLMTO is queer, and is well informed of the Toronto Police's extremely checkered past with the LGBTQ community, including the bathhouse raids, and the recent Project Marie raids. Many trans people, and young trans POC have also reported repeated police harassment and widespread transphobic and racist bullying.

For these reasons, BLMTO wanted to deny the Toronto Police Services some easy PR by marching in the Pride parade. It allows them to get some great optics by marching in the parade without having to make any changes to the underlying issues within the service, including systemic racism and transphobia.

And I agree with them. I'm gay myself, but white cis male, so many of the issues listed above do not apply to me, but I've got friends who are queer POC and unanimously they have had negative encounters with police.

Also, to reiterate, no one is banned from Pride. Police are still welcome to be there, but not armed and not in uniform. To call it a ban is grossly overstating it.

need the police badly. As do african americans in Toronto. Those people who have and will rely on the police and are in the communities you talk about were not represented in the agreement. There is hate out there. There is crime. There is terrorism. Why else would the New York City Pride Parade have invited the Toronto Police to participate in uniform this year This just plays into the hands of the right wing and alt left who like to keep the police cleaved from the people who they need a dialogue with. And wearing a uniform in a parade is part of the dialogue.

...when the police are still harassing them, carding them, and shooting them.

Also, when the police are still raiding gay spaces (as in Project Marie linked in my post) including bars on Church Street, and writing citations for things like public intoxication during Pride, or even closing them down (as has happened during multiple previous Prides when I worked on Church Street in a clothing shop), it's difficult for the community to trust the police.

There was a recent story of a black teenager who had been robbed during the day near a major intersection in Toronto. He called the police, and they searched his bag, cuffed him, and asked him about his activities before taking his statement. I agree, there should be outreach between the police and the queer community and the black community, but there are fundamental problems in the police services that need to be addressed. When the SIU decides not to pursue any charges against the officer who shot and killed Jermaine Carby, who was a passenger in a vehicle involved in a traffic stop that the officer decided he wanted to card, then it's hard for the black community to trust the police or the process.

Also, once again, the police are not in any way banned from marching, but they may not march in uniform or armed.