Pride Toronto wants to make it clear: police officers are not banned from next month's grand parade.
But in a statement released Sunday Pride says participation shouldn't be in a uniform, using police weapons or vehicles.
"We welcome and encourage their participation to add to Pride this year as members of our community. LGBTQ+ police officers and their allies can march in the parade with community groups, with the City of Toronto, or even create their own group," Pride writes.
Pride's board voted in January to exclude uniformed police from its festivities. The grooup Black Lives Matter held up last year's Pride parade for 30 minutes until a list of demands, including the exclusion of police, was signed by Pride officials.
The new statement from Pride changes nothing for councillor John Campbell, who is leading a charge to stop a $260,000 city grant to Pride in light of its approach to police.
Speaking with Moore in the Morning, Campbell calls the caveat about uniforms, weapons and vehicles "laughable".
"How do you know if they're from the Toronto Police or a factory down the street or an office tower or they're working for the (Hudson's) Bay?," Campbell scoffed. "The police, their identity is when they're in uniform. That's who they are."
Campbell feels that by telling officers to keep their uniforms at home, Pride is telling them not to be themselves, something he views as a contradiction of what Pride stands for.
Some LGBTQ members of Toronto Police have communicated through union boss Mike McCormack that funding a festival from which they feel they have been dis-invited would make them feel "devalued and unsupported."
Read Pride Toronto's full statement below:
Pride Toronto released a statement today regarding police participation in the Pride Parade and festival weekend. The statement aims to clarify that police are not banned, that they are invited to participate with select conditions and that they will be providing necessary services to ensure the festival is secure.
LGBTQ+ police officers and their allies are not banned from the parade.
We welcome and encourage their participation to add to Pride this year as members of our community. LGBTQ+ police officers and their allies can march in the parade with community groups, with the City of Toronto, or even create their own group.
We are simply requesting that their participation not include the following elements: uniform, weapons, and vehicles.
The Toronto Police Service has been involved and supportive to us throughout our festival planning. They will provide all the necessary services to ensure that the festival weekend and parade are secure and successful.