Nashville LGBTQ groups debate role of police at Pride on anniversary of Stonewall Riots

Fifty years after the moment widely agreed to have sparked the modern gay rights movement, a conversation around policing the LGBTQ community is ongoing — including in discussions about public safety plans for Nashville's Pride parade and festival.

For many in the community, a history of discrimination and violence at the hands of law enforcement makes it difficult to trust the police, especially in explicitly queer spaces.

Half a century after the Stonewall Riots kicked off, some Nashvillians believe not enough has changed. 

"There aren't really that many spaces in Nashville that are true queer spaces, where we can go and be safe," Sam MacAlpine said. "Pride is supposedly the queer space of all queer spaces, but none of us felt safe at Pride.... We didn't feel safe or welcome because of the heavy police presence."

MacAlpine, 29, is an organizer with "No Pride in Police," an activist group focused on redefining the relationship between Nashville's police and the annual Pride festival. 

She's not alone. 

'No Pride in Police' requests changes

Starting in February, MacAlpine and fellow NPIP organizers started attending Nashville Pride Board meetings to make their goals clear. 

They had three:

• MNPD would not participate in the Pride parade,
• MNPD would not have a booth in the Pride Festival and
• MNPD would not patrol inside the festival.

"Pride is the queer event of the year. We thought now is the time and now is the place to reclaim pride for more of its original purpose, which is as a vehicle of social change," she said. "This is about building a community that can look after itself, can stand up to that kind of hatred."

NPIP did not aim to ban police officers who wanted to join the celebration from attending, nor did the group want to remove all safety plans, she said. 

"We recognize that it is important for there to be security at a public event this large," a release from the organization said. "Our biggest asks aren't about security — they're about giving MNPD a celebrated place in Pride."

As it stands, several factors have let to a sort of compromise on two of NPIP's requests, but the conversation about policing is ongoing. 

"We understand where this is coming from, and we're very sympathetic to it. We want to be mindful of their feelings specifically as it relates to safety, inclusion and being a welcoming and harassment free space for everyone," said Phil Cobucci, community affairs director for Nashville Pride. 

Will police be at Nashville Pride?

Though some changes have been made that align with NPIP's requests, police will remain present and visible at 2019's Nashville Pride. 

The Metro Nashville Police Department has participated in Nashville Pride for decades, the department said, and has often hosted recruitment booths inside the festival. 

This year, the department applied too late to get booth space, according to Pride organizers. The spaces filled up quickly, possibly because of the notable anniversary. 

The department will continue to march in the parade, as they have done in years past. Anyone connected with the department, including officers, civilian staff and family members, is invited to join, MNPD said.

Instead of uniforms, though, they plan to wear matching T-shirts designed for the event.

"We'll all have the same look," MNPD Sgt. Catie Poole said, "to create a message of unity and visibility of support."

All on-duty officers who wear uniforms will be wearing them that day, she confirmed. 

"It comes down to creating a safe and accepting space for everyone, where everyone is treated with respect and dignity," Cobucci said. "Everyone who participates in the festival or parade is expected to embrace these ideas."

That "everyone" includes the police, in both directions, Cobucci said. 

"I was a little taken aback by the demands," Poole said. "This is such a high profile, high stakes, big event, and we can't do that without police security. It's nonnegotiable."

Poole was named the department's first LGBTQ liaison in January. She has since been promoted, and MNPD announced Tuesday that Officer Nakia Reid, a four-year MNPD veteran would take on the role moving forward. 

In fact, Metro requirements for using city spaces, like Public Square Park where the Pride festival is held, include a police presence. 

Why would anyone not want police at Pride?

Police have not always been friendly toward the LGBTQ community.

On June 28, 1969, a New York Police Department raid on the city's Stonewall Inn, a mafia-owned dive bar frequented by what would become known as the LGBTQ community, turned violent. 

Pride marches and festivals are traditionally (although not exclusively) held in June around the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots; the first march was held a year after it. 

The NYPD only apologized for the raid last week. 

“The actions taken by the NYPD were wrong,” commissioner James P. O’Neill said at Police Headquarters on June 6.

Sketchy as it may have been in some ways, Stonewall was a sanctuary where “everyone had their place,” from lesbians to homeless gay youths to drag queens who liked to vogue. They were people living on the edges in a city where “it was a sport to beat gays,” Martin Boyce, 71, told USA Today. Boyce was at the bar that night. 

Although physical attacks on gay people are often prosecuted as hate crimes today, many activists feel that the protection of the law is not as solid as many would hope. 

MacAlpine and NPIP aren't the only activists calling for the removal of police from Pride events. There have been similar movements across the country in recent years. 

Ongoing legal attacks, 'slate of hate'

In this year's Tennessee legislative session, several bills that formed what pro-LGBTQ activists called the "slate of hate" aimed to roll back protections against discrimination at work, at school and when trying to marry or build families. 

A couple of those bills, like others at the federal level, focused on policing the ability of trans people to use bathrooms that match their gender identities.

'Sobering reality':LGBT progress report shows gains, but most states still won't grant rights

Tennessee's bill SB1499/HB1274 would have allowed the state attorney general to represent local school districts that adopt policies requiring students to use facilities based on their sex at birth. It did not pass in 2019 but was sent to be reconsidered in 2020.

"Many of us in this community are trans or non-binary or gender nonconforming," MacAlpine said. "If that law passes, who is going to be dragging us out of the bathrooms? It doesn’t matter if the officer is gay or straight, that’s the law and they’re going to enforce it."

Work toward progress within MNPD

A member of the LGBTQ community herself, Poole said she understands some of the motivation behind the requests. 

"There's a lot of history there, a lot of anti-police history, due to the nature of the negative relations that the community had with the police," she said. "Fixing that takes a lot of footwork, from everyone."

Poole said she's seen consistent support from both within the department and the community at large. 

"All interactions with police are not going to be positive or even right in some cases. That fear, that intimidation factor is there with uniformed officers, because of the history and a lot more recent, even, for some people, unfortunately," she said,

Those recent incidents are not in far away places. As recently as October, MNPD officers were disciplined after it was reported they posted mocking photos and comments about a trans woman on social media. 

"This profession historically has had some not so good people working in it. We're trying to reach out that olive branch and mend the bridges that have been broken or nonexistent in the past," she said. "Our mission is always to create a safer community for Nashville. We're here to protect everybody.

"We’re not where we need to be yet as a whole. We're not where we want to be, and we know that."

'Be GLAAD':Taylor Swift's message on 'You Need To Calm Down' extends pro-LGBTQ political activity

Reach reporter Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.