The Denver Police Department (DPD) has a history of supporting the LGBTQ community. We hope to facilitate future conversations about how we can reform policing in our community that will involve all members of our community and support new and just ways of keeping our communities safe.” We have decided to not allow police participation in the 2021 virtual pride parade or to allow law enforcement agencies to participate as exhibitors. While we value our relationships with law enforcement and want to continue to build a safer community for all Coloradans, we feel we must take a stand.
However we cannot in good conscience, as an organization that speaks up for justice, look the other way when it comes to police violence aimed at the Black community-a history of violence that goes back even further in American history. For all these decades, The Center has worked to address these issues and improve the relationship between the LGBTQ community and the police and we have made great strides. There are numerous examples of police violence going back beyond the famous Stonewall Riots of 1969. The entire history of the LGBTQ civil rights movement is rooted in a history of opposing police harassment and violence aimed at our community.
“The Center was founded 45 years ago in response to police violence and harassment of the LGBTQ community.
