Take trans kids away from supportive parents in states with laws against that
Selectively target LGBT people for unequal enforcement of often unconstitutional laws (ex: obscenity laws)
Disproportionately use force against trans people (more than 1/4th according to the ACLU).
Imagine how much it would fuck you up if a cop kicked you around, threw you in lockup with the wrong gender, and then you see the shit stain getting paid to be at Pride.
And just being there, getting paid to do nothing is the best you can hope for. Plenty of times they just watch bigots harass or attack the people at Pride and either do nothing or arrest the victims.
Cops who want to come to Pride out of uniform on their own time because they’re LGBT+ or whatever, most people don’t care about that.
More importantly, Pride itself a reference to the Stonewall Riots, in which cops brutally assaulted LGBTQ+ citizens with great malice and the citizens fought back.
It’s a bit of a general issue. The police in itself is good, however… it’s a job that puts people into a position of power. Power corrupts, and if you factor in that they’re not well paid (because tanks and so on are better ways to spend a budget…) but are supposed to put their lives on the line, then get treated either like the enemy or the “thin blue line” I see how things can go bad. Being a public service, they’re managed by the government and sent to deal with trouble accordingly, and the definition of trouble varies with whoever is at the top. Sprinkle in some dangerous levels of nationalism, the US being a super power and you most certainly get to hear about their unrest, while the stuff going on in your own country might be less flashy.
A small trivia bit that you might or might not know: at the beginning there was this organization that was created to protect the people from abuses by local lords. Everyone knows what an unholy shitfest that got corrupted into, given that I’m talking about the mafia…
Police are not a net good when they are used instead of taking care of basic human needs. Police enforce eviction but never kneecap a housing scalper... I mean landlord.
Shower grade thought: whatever protest or manifestation proud boys might do, with firearms in plain view, nobody is going to even notice. Pride, BLM or similar if there’s guns for actual self defense rather than intimidation? How big of a bloodbath would it to turn into?
Stonewall was a mafia bar that paid off the cops to leave their largely LGBTQ clients alone. The cops decided to ignore the agreement and harass the LGBTQ people there, and it turned into days of violence.
Because the police enforce the laws of the state, often with violence. If the law dictates that a person being open about their identity is illegal regardless of the fact their identity harms no one, and everyone involved in their actions consents, than it is the responsibility of the cops to oppress them. One year the cops might march alongside people at pride, and then the laws might change and they'll be there to bust heads of anyone who shows up the next year.
And yeah, there no doubt exist LGBTQ+ cops, or cops whose friends and/or family whom they love are LGBTQ+, but so long as they wear the uniform they represent an organization used to oppress marginalized and minority communities.
Fundamentally, pride is not just a party, it is a protest.
Fundamentally, pride is not just a party, it is a protest.
And people often tend to say "but why do they need the parade if we let them be?" Because otherwise it'll be a couple of years before someone will start lynchings.
I just hope the society will sometimes be free of fear for everyone