Red Deer RCMP’s involvement in Pride Week celebrated and denounced

Lenny Gallant, board chair, says the non-profit has made inroads with Red Deer Public Schools and The City of Red Deer. Most interestingly though is a budding partnership with Red Deer RCMP.

Rewind to the birth of Pride, or as it was called in 1969: the gay rights movement, police were there, but it wasn’t friendly.

It was late June that year at New York City’s Stonewall Inn when police raided the place, a well-known safe haven for the city’s gay, lesbian and transgender folks. ‘Homosexual acts’ were illegal in nearly every state.

The night of this particular raid, history tells, patrons at the bar fought back, triggering what would eventually become known as Pride.

Since, police have purposefully been excluded from participating in Pride events, parades in particular, and most notably in Toronto. Elsewhere, their participation has hinged on not being uniformed, nor armed.

Red Deer RCMP Superintendent Gerald Grobmeier tells rdnewsNOW he personally contacted CAPS to see what participation his detachment could have in Pride Week.

“We have officers and other staff here who identify as LGBTQ, and we’re trying to provide an inclusive, diverse and safe workspace for employees,” says Grobmeier, who became Red Deer’s top cop in March 2019. “Beyond that, it’s important we show everyone we will stand side-by-side with our friends in the Pride community.”

Chief among Red Deer RCMP’s actions this week were flying the progressive Pride flag at each detachment, attending a municipal proclamation, and meeting with CAPS to paint a giant Pride flag, then posted outside the downtown detachment for passers-by to see.

The progressive Pride flag, see here flying outside Red Deer RCMP’s north detachment, also flew outside the downtown location for Central Alberta Pride Week, Aug. 8-14. (Supplied)

REFLECTING ON STONEWALL

“I don’t know much,” Grobmeier admits when asked about the Stonewall Riots. “We certainly understand there’s a lot of disagreement as to how police should be involved. We weren’t going to force our way into any activities, but we wanted to offer support, and then go where CAPS felt it appropriate and comfortable for us to do so.”

Grobmeier notes gender-neutral washrooms and change-rooms are in the works at Red Deer’s two detachments, meantime leadership takes 2SLGBTQ+ specific training. Members are also trauma-informed, and there’s training on harassment and cultural awareness.

“Every little step we can take, it’s helpful,” Grobmeier believes.

Gallant says going forward, working together is the simplest solution.

“We can’t fix and change the past. CAPS’ board is extremely happy working with RCMP and seeing where we can go. All we can do is try,” he says. “If certain officers see how other members are treating their coworkers as equals, it might help them realize that once outside, everyone is still equal, regardless of a person having a badge or not.”

Referring to Edmonton, where in 2018 the Pride parade was stalled when demonstrators blocked the route to demand police be banned from it, Gallant says it’s time to get along. Edmonton Pride ultimately agreed to the demand, but their festival was cancelled in 2019 due to ongoing disagreement.

“I think there’s a lot of hurt and anger remaining in a lot of people,” Gallant says. “With Black and Indigenous folks though, they’re not discriminated against only because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, they face it because of their skin colour or ethnic background. They do have it way harder than a Caucasian gay man such as myself.”

Gallant says CAPS is intentionally using the progressive Pride flag as it is more inclusive of racialized people, adding that they are working on education events alongside Red Deer’s Nanâtawihowin Two Spirit Project.

A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW

Levis M. Kabahizi, a Red Deer resident and Black immigrant who identifies as Queer, totally opposes police involvement in anything Pride-related.

“Police played an active role in the violence many people in our community have experienced over the years, and continue to experience. We’ve faced nothing but oppression from these institutions,” he says.

“To hear a Queer organization say our feelings about violence from a colonial institution like the RCMP are valid, but in the same breathe say that in order to move forward, we must work with them, is disingenuous.”

From the side of the fence where people are calling for abolition of the police, Kabahizi says there’s zero evidence to convince him that Pride and the police collaborating will make a difference for non-white members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

“Working with them reinforces the idea we need police to empower our communities. We don’t need the police in our spaces. What we need are strategies to support each other. Decades of police reforms have not addressed systemic barriers and violence many still face.”

For Kabahizi, Pride is about remembering that the movement began as a struggle for freedom.

“What is the end goal of working with police? What material change will come for members of our community who are vulnerable because they’re Queer?” he wonders. “Other places have tried and it didn’t work, so why will it be different here?”

Grobmeier says because he reached out to CAPS, his force is now accountable to the 2SLGBTQ+ community over the coming years.

He concluded, saying, “I just want to leave this detachment a better place than when I took over.”

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Red Deer RCMP’s involvement in Pride Week celebrated and denounced

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