Stonewall Vet Miss Major Says Cops Should Be Banned from Pride

Legendary transgender activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy has a very clear message for cops and corporations: you are not welcome at Pride celebrations.

"The police have been monsters," says the Stonewall-era activist, in a new public service announcement posted to Twitter. "They're all worthless, unimaginable, horrible people and destructive to mankind in general, especially to my trans and gender nonconforming community. I don't know who invited those motherfuckers to be in the Pride parade, they are the most detrimental thing to ever happen."

"These motherfuckers are only out to arrest, put us in jail, lock us up, beat us up, get us to suck their dick then kick us out of their car naked to go home," something Major says has happened to her twice. "I know exactly what the hell I'm talking about."

"They should never have been in the Pride parade," she continues.

Major wonders how queers can feel proud when they're standing side-by-side with the police holding rainbow flags. "Fuck a flag," Miss Major concludes, a new rallying cry for anti-establishment queers everywhere. "That shit doesn't mean a damn thing if you're not going to treat people right or fair or honestly."

The presence of the police at Pride is a heated issue; after all, the Stonewall Riots started as a reaction to a police raid, meaning that the presence of officers at our community's biggest celebration is uniquely, for lack of a better word, fucked up. In recent years, numerous writers have called for cops to be banned from Pride around the world, and last summer the "no cops at Pride" meme went viral, with queers suggesting options for those who might do a better job of keeping the peace.

Miss Major's message is part of Gay Shame's Five-O Out of Pride 50 campaign. "Despite this routine violence police visit upon queer and trans communities, at PRIDE(tm) festivals across the world the police constitute a heavy participatory presence," Gay Shame says on their website. "PRIDE(tm) is now little more than a marketing scam for partying straight people, tech companies, and other murderous corporations, lead by rainbow colored cop cars. While we remember the histories of Stonewall and Compton's, let's find ways to collectively commemorate, re-(in)state and embody the promises those nights held for queer and trans futures, possibilities, and liberation."