And some (myself included) have argued that the history of police and the gay community (in Canada, the bath house raids of the early 1980s being the genesis of the pride movement) is a reason why the police *should* participate. In wake of the handling of the Bruce MacArthur investigation, there may be a strong argument that they really haven't earned the trust of the gay community.
But Pride events aren't banning police participation because of historical reasons. They're doing it because of demands from anti-racism activists in regard to current issues. So the history of the police and the gay community is kind of beside the point of the current debate.
-k
In Toronto, perhaps.
In Hamilton, on duty police were not invited to
attend Pride Fest in uniform because their presence was not welcome, for historical and present reasons of bigotry and harassment.
They were expected to provide policing services, but they refused.