Editorial: SF Pride officials, police step up
We're glad that San Francisco Pride officials and the San Francisco Police Officers Pride Alliance reached a compromise that will allow LGBTQ peace officers and other first responders to proudly march in the June 26 parade, albeit with only the leaders and command staff in uniform.
At a time when so much of the country is polarized it was heartening to see the two sides come together, apparently largely with the help of gay small business owner Manny Yekutiel, who met with SF Pride leaders and SF Pride Alliance members at his eponymous cafe in the Mission district.
According to our reporting, the agreement was reached shortly before Mayor London Breed's ceremonial Pride flag-raising ceremony June 2, giving her some good news to announce after leadership of the city's LGBTQ cultural districts all said they would skip the event because Breed had stated she would not march in the parade if police were not allowed to march in uniform. (The Transgender District sent representatives after it became aware that a deal had been reached.)It's important to note that this was not a new policy — we reported in the fall of 2020 that SF Pride had decided that uniformed San Francisco Police Department personnel would not be allowed to march in uniform in 2021.
But the parade was canceled last year due to the COVID pandemic, meaning that the parade's return this year is the first time the policy is being tested.
