New York City's Pride Parade To Welcome Uniformed Toronto Police Banned From Toronto's Disgraceful, Hateful Pride

Toronto police have received an invitation to participate in uniform at New York City’s Pride March amid a controversy over the exclusion of uniformed officers from Toronto’s Pride Parade.

In a  letter sent to Toronto police on Friday, the Gay Officers Action League requested permission for uniformed TPS officers to join uniformed members of the NYPD Marching band and color guard in the June 25 Pride March in New York City.

The New York City event is the same day as Toronto’s own Pride Parade.

“If Toronto officers would like to march proudly as open LGBTQ criminal justice professionals in a march and they feel it’s important to identify both as an officer and a member of the community – we welcome them with open arms,” Gay Officers Action League President Det. Brian Downey told CP24 in an interview Monday.

The controversy over police participation in the Pride Parade began at last year’s parade, when Black Lives Matter –Toronto halted the parade and refused to budge until a list of demands was signed – one of them being the exclusion of uniformed officers from the parade...