Why is Black Lives Matter Protesting
LGBT Events?
June, which has been designated
as “Gay & Lesbian Pride Month,” has been nationally established
since June 2, 2000, when then-President Bill Clinton declared it as such.
President Trump has made no such
declarations since he has been in office signifying this month as one to honor
the gay, lesbian and transgender lifestyles.
However, since the tradition is in
place, many cities throughout the country are still honoring the month of June
as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. To celebrate a host
of them put on parades where various organizations representing the LGBT
communities march together.
Due to the large crowds, these
parades block streets, meaning police presence is a natural expectation and
reality. In addition, some police march in the parade and have police themed
floats and booths as well.
However, a recent declaration by the
local Black Lives Matter organization demanded the police vacate New York’s
parade and have no presence in place, calling for a ban on all NYC police
officers. How does this make sense. Why
The Demand?
Black Lives Matter NYC is a subset
of the larger Black Lives Matter organization. Their official name is
#BlackLivesMatter NYC, they have over 20,000 Facebook fans, and are responsible
for organizing pro-black events from the Bronx to Brooklyn. On Sunday,
#BlackLivesMatter NYC organizers Kei Williams and Kleaver Cruz issued an open
letter saying the following:
“We
… write this public statement to PRIDE NYC organizers, the Gay Officers Action
League-NY (GOAL-NY) and the NYPD in declaring the following: the removal of
uniformed police and PRIDE-detailed vehicles from the NYC Pride parade. As a
human rights organization, GOAL-NY should be addressing the issues of local
public safety issues within the NYPD Black and Brown communities across all
precincts in NYC especially among those who identify as LGBTIQ, starting with
supporting the Right to Know Act.”
The letter goes on to say that they
within the movement, “cannot forget dangers that one of the biggest
military forces poses to Black communities. We must call to awareness the
hyper-militarization of local police. We call for
#SafetyBeyondPolicing.” The letter goes on to ask the community for “safe
spaces” free from police presence.
This is perhaps the most outrageous
statement of the whole letter:
“We
can no longer support spaces where a force that can kill us, with impunity, is
allowed to patrol a day of celebration. We are here for Pride, but not like
this.”
Of course, this isn’t the fist time
Black Lives Matter and pride organizers have clashed. Last year, Black Lives
Matter Toronto interrupted their pride parade with a 30-minute sit-in to draw
more attention to what the organization perceived as wrongdoing. Black Lives
Matter Toronto members demanded the removal of Toronto police booths and floats
from future pride parades as well as community events. #BlackLIvesMatter NYC
said the following in a statement Sunday:
“Let us start off by saying that we
stand in full solidarity with our siblings of the Toronto Chapter of
#BlackLivesMatter.” What
They Are Really Saying
Although the Black Lives Matter
organization is pointing to the police presence throughout their demands and
during protests, what they really are saying is they don’t feel accepted even
among the LGBT community. They want to draw more attention to their
organization within the broadness of the LGBT community. In other words, it’s
not enough for them to be accepted for being gay. They also have to be accepted
for being brown, black or African American and gay, bisexual, transgender or
lesbian.
If this is truly part of the
inspiration for their protest against the pride parade, they aren’t alone.
There are many groups that feel left out of the LGBT community. One such group
is “Gays for Trump” who were told they could not participate in
Charlotte, North Carolina’s Pride Parade simply because they happen to be LBGT
individuals who support the Republican president.
Of course, each of these groups are
mad about different issues. One is mad because they weren’t included within
their own community because of how they voted. The other, to be honest….it
isn’t even clear why they are mad. They would say it’s because the injustice
they have dealt with at the hands of police. However, has it really been proven
that such injustice exists?
The Black Lives Matter Organization
seems to enjoy and thrive on interruptions, chaos and drawing attention to
themselves. It’s difficult for someone looking in from the outside to even
understand what their beef is about. What is it they want? There is already a
Pride Parade after all, so why can’t they just participate in it and be happy?
Who knows? ~ Conservative Zone
Comments
The
Left-wing political groups are splintering. They forgot Hillary’s battle cry:
“Stronger Together”. The appearance of “gays for Trump” is no big surprise.
There are lots of conservative Gays. I
expect BLM to partner with Muslims to try to ban police in US Muslim “no-go”
zones. But Trump is moving too fast for
them to succeed. The removal of
sanctuary cities will break up the drug gangs and weaken the BLM gang.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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