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A bomb threat targeting the Edmonton Pride Festival parade prompted an increased police visibility during this past weekend’s festivities — a decision that sparked criticism from some members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
Speaking Tuesday, Edmonton Police Service deputy Chief Nicole Chapdelaine said EPS received information several weeks ago about a potential bomb threat directed at the city’s parade.
“Our hate crime unit investigated the threat and ultimately determined the threat was not credible,” Chapdelaine said.
“However, that does not minimize the impact or fear and concern it causes.”
Last week, organizers announced plans for additional security and police presence after attacks at Lapu Lapu Day events in Vancouver and at Pride celebrations in Berlin.
Chapdelaine said there was not an increase in the number of officers deployed but as a precaution, they adopted a more visible presence during the parade and festival in Churchill Square.
The enhanced visibility became a point of contention both before and after Pride weekend, with some community members feeling Pride had not given a specific enough explanation for the police presence.
In response, multiple groups said they would cut ties with the festival over the presence of police, among other issues.
Several groups such as the Fellowship of Alberta Bears (FAB), which advocates for body positivity within the gay/queer/bi men’s community, withdrew from the parade.
“I don’t think that is unreasonable for us to have also felt that we weren’t being given the right information to feel safe in that environment,” FAB president Blake Novak said.
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Edmonton Pride Festival executive producer Trevor Watson expressed remorse Tuesday for the way the decision was communicated.
“From the bottom of our hearts, we apologize,” Watson said.
“The very people we were trying to protect should have never been left wondering whether we were protecting them.”
Watson said Pride stands by the decision to work with police, but added the organization was limited in what details it could publicly disclose at the time.
Chapdelaine said police were responding to organizers’ requests to help ensure the event could proceed safely.
“What they needed us to do is provide their safety, to ensure protection of the streets of Edmonton and make sure they could march proudly, and so that’s what we did,” she said.
The issue reflects a broader — and often complicated — relationship between law enforcement and 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
While some Pride organizations across Canada and the United States work closely with law enforcement, others have limited police participation because of a history of raids, surveillance, discrimination and harassment directed at LGBTQ people.
Pride itself traces some of its roots to resistance against police action, including the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York.
Researchers and advocacy groups say that history continues to shape levels of trust in police amongst many Queer people today.
The slogan ACAB, an acronym for “All Cops Are Bad/Bastards,” has been adopted by some activists as an expression of opposition to policing institutions rather than individual officers.
Within parts of the LGBTQ community, its use is tied to decades of police raids on gay bars, bathhouses and other Queer gathering spaces, as well as concerns about discrimination that continues today.
Not all LGBTQ people support the slogan, but it has become one way some activists express frustration with the historical treatment of sexual and gender minorities by law enforcement.
In Edmonton, that history includes the Pisces Bathhouse Raid. On May 30, 1981, more than 50 men were arrested after Edmonton police and RCMP raided the Pisces Health Spa bathhouse frequented by Queer men.
The men were charged with being found in a common bawdy house — a term referring to a place where prostitution or indecent acts occur. There was never any evidence of prostitution taking place in the spa.
The raid became front-page news and the men who were arrested were demonized during their trials. The Crown prosecutor told court the spa allowed gay men “to rut like animals.”
The raid is widely regarded as a defining moment in the city’s LGBTQ history and helped galvanize local activism, contributing to the creation of Edmonton’s first Pride events the following year.
In 2019, the Edmonton Police Service formally apologized for the raid and the lasting harm it caused the community.
Watson said Edmonton Pride Festival is planning a mediation forum this fall involving local Queer organizations, Edmonton police and elected officials to discuss lessons learned from this year’s controversy and how similar situations can be handled in the future.
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