- SPD has marched in the parade since 1994.
- Its officers will be present along the route this year but will refrain from wearing uniforms.
In response to the Seattle Pride Parade committee’s decision to bar police enforcement from the yearly celebration, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) wrote a personal letter.
Since there has historically been hostility between the LGBT community and the police.
The Pride Parade previously declared that officers in uniform however not permitted to take part in the festivities.
Adrian Diaz, chief of SPD, wrote the letter on Wednesday, lamenting the omission of his organization.
Diaz cited the SPD’s nearly two-decade-old history of Pride Parade participation as evidence.
Thousands of people gather for the Seattle Pride Parade to celebrate the strong and thriving LGBTQIA+ community in our area.
LGBTQIA+ sworn officers and civilian workers of the Seattle Police Department have happily marched in the parade since 1994.
Officers from the Seattle Police Department will be present along the parade route.
However, department personnel will abide by the parade’s organizers’ request and refrain from taking part in uniform.
In his closing remarks, Diaz pleaded with the event’s planners to change their minds and permit cops.
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The Seattle Police Department has many LGBTQIA+ officers, commanders, and civilians, and “celebrates the diversity of all its employees,” Diaz wrote.
Red flag laws however introduced in response to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.
By the end of 2021, identical legislation however enacted in 19 states and the District of Columbia. But not all states are on board: Oklahoma forbade counties and municipalities from enacting red-flag regulations in 2020.
