Quote:
Originally Posted by rubecube
Hypothetically speaking, if a hard right government somehow got into power in this country and started cracking down on anti-sodomy laws and other laws designed to discriminate against the gay community, do people truly believe that the police wouldn't go right back to raiding gay bars and cracking skulls?
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Honestly, yeah, I truly believe that. I think we've come far enough as a society that there would be huge resistance from within police forces to this. At best a minority of cops would be on board with it, and obviously they'd end up in confrontations with the public. Maybe you think that's naive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rubecube
Why did you quote me if you weren't going to bother answering my question? The point of the matter is that police officers as individuals are not being excluded from Pride, the police as a symbol of violence, hatred, and discrimination against the gay community are.
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I mean, really? You say it's just a publicity stunt but the Toronto police have gay officers and participating in the largest public pro-gay event the city has is a pretty good way to show support for them. The message internally is clear; "we want you here too". Isn't that exactly what we'd want for organizations that likely still aren't the best atmosphere to be gay in? I'll skip the WBC thing; this is more like "You Can Play". Maybe there's a PR aspect of it but it's still hugely positive for hockey players and fans to make it clear where they stand, given what locker rooms can be like.
All in all this just seems to me like a good way to increase mutual resentment between police and the communities they work in. If you did a dangerous and largely thankless job serving members of your community, and they turned around and lectured you about how what you do is a symbol of hatred and violence and discrimination, you'd probably get pretty cynical pretty quickly.