San Francisco Mayor Cancels Pride Parade Over Law Enforcement Uniform Ban

San Francisco Mayor London Breed said she will not be attending the upcoming Pride parade because police are forbidden from wearing their uniforms while attending.

“I made this very difficult decision to support the members of the LGBTQ community who serve in uniform in our Police and Sheriff’s Department who have been told they cannot march in uniform and in support of the members of the Fire Department refusing to march out of solidarity with their public safety partners,” Breed said in a statement Los Angeles Times.

In a joint Explanationthe San Francisco Police Officers Pride Alliance, the LGBTQ+ members of the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office and the San Francisco Fire Department condemned the police uniform ban and noted that they plan to skip the parade.

“We, the officers of the San Francisco Police Officers Pride Alliance, stand firm in our decision not to be backed into the closet. We, the LGBTQ+ deputies of the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office, will not hide from anyone who we are. The San Francisco Fire Department stands with our law enforcement partners in solidarity with their fellow first responders. Barring a reversal of SF Pride, SFFD will not be participating in the San Francisco Pride Parade Explanation explained.

“The San Francisco Fire Department, Police Department and Sheriff’s Department stand behind their LGBTQ+ employees and support their decision not to march to speak out against the discriminatory actions of the SF Pride Committee Board of Directors,” the statement said.

San Francisco Pride interim executive director Suzanne Ford said members of law enforcement could change clothes, like a shirt with an SFPD logo on it, the agency said Chronicle of San Francisco.

“We didn’t ask anyone to go into hiding or not say who they are,” Ford said. “We just didn’t want full uniforms, for harm reduction reasons to marginalized members of our community.”

“We asked for this gesture (which) would tell some members of our community who do not feel safe around the police that the police heard our concerns and responded positively,” Ford told the Chronicle.