Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton has labelled the actions of a group of protesters who confronted police at the annual Midsumma Pride march as "abhorrent".
Nevo said some people forgot the darker history of how pride marching began in the 1970s in Australia.
This is shit reporting. You don't drop that and provide no context — the context is that cops were historically extremely corrupt and homophobic; barely investigating most "gay bashings", murders, and rapes among the community; with the police often being the perpetrators themselves.
Australian cops are far less racist, homophobic, and discriminatory today, but still have a long way to go.
We had a different adjective in the 80s. Can't say it now, offends people. But the word packs more punch, more hate, more meaning. But we dast not say it. Might offend people, can't have that. Even in service of history that might make folks feel the truth of those times.
Ban incoming for uncomfortable words... (that my gay friends called themselves in the day...)
We called it "fag bashing". For you kids that weren't around, it meant dudes cruising gay bars and beating the living shit out of men who dared step outside.
Sorry y'all, but "gay bashing" is too wimpy for me. Kinda like calling lynchings "black fights". Those times were fucking awful, let's not water down the words used.
"But protesters said police shouldn't be allowed to participate in the event given why people began protesting in the 1970s."
Ok so cops today get paint thrown at them for events that happened 40 or 50 years ago? That doesn't seem reasonable to me. Some police today weren't even born when this stuff happened, but they nonetheless get punished away?
I really do think this sins of the father stuff has to stop. This is exactly how centuries long feuds between groups of people keep going. And the idea of collective punishment is an appalling doctrine which is what this kind of stuff amounts to as well.
On a practical level, punishing police who support lgbt is not helpful and will do nothing to stamp out those pockets of police that are still problematic.
And above all else, uniform aside these are individuals and should be treated with respect. Just seeing the uniform and nothing else really is dehumanising.