Janaya Khan, a spokesperson for Black Lives Matter, told CBC Radio's Metro Morning that allowing the police to march in the parade made some communities feel unsafe, and contributed to the event's "anti-blackness."It seems "Big Gay" isn't the only institution who got clubbed to their knees...
The group issued a clear statement after its demands were met: "We shut it down. We won."
On Monday, police Chief Mark Saunders said he's waiting for Pride Toronto organizers to contact him about what will happen next.Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter... that sounds so familiar...
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UPDATE: Not the "
“Black Lives Matter is not going to tell us that there are no police floats anymore in the parade,” Chantelois said in an interview Monday on local news station CP24.Whoa... so the headline here is Pride Toronto gets all "Biggus Dickus" on Black Lives Matter?
Well, no, not exactly...
In an interview on CTV News Channel, Chantelois appeared open to the idea of taking police floats out of the parade. “Personally, I think police are already all over the parade because there are a lot of officers everywhere in uniform, ” he said. “So having them walking instead of being on a float will not be the end of the world for me.”Ah, yes... the time-honoured, smiles-all-around Liberace defense.
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LAST WORD: The wisdom of BLM's Janaya Khan...
"Seeing police officers in uniform causes 'deep and grave concern' because of the distrust that exists in the community.”And... “
“I think one of the major tensions of this particular day is, ‘Who feels safer with the presence of police'?"
There are LGBTQ police officers on the force and we have no right to say whether or not they should participate.”Dear Janaya... you do get that, one... it's not your parade... and two... you're not actually the Chief of Police?
Okay, question answered...
Black Lives Matter – Toronto spokesperson Leroi Newbold clarified that Black Lives Matter not only wanted police to not participate in the parade, but also not to police it, leaving security to Pride organizers.Wow. Just wow.
“We are asking Pride to take a look at what it means for black communities to have a police presence at Pride,” said Newbold.
“For example there are many black LGBT youth who’ve had interactions with police. I think it’s important for some people to understand that even the presence of police at an event like this creates an unsafe environment.”