A majority of the LGBTQIA+ community support police officers participating in Australia’s pride parades, according to a new national survey conducted by advocacy group Just.Equal Australia.
But the survey of 1516 queer Aussies found most in support want strict conditions attached, such as training in LGBTQIA+ policing issues and more support for queer police officers.
The survey found opposition to pride parade participation to be the highest in regard to police (36.1%). However it was still a minority next to those who support inclusion without conditions (26.7%) and inclusion with conditions (37.2%).
And within LGBTIQA+ communities, a majority of younger people (18-34) and a majority of people identifying as non-binary, trans, bisexual or queer opposed police participation outright.
The survey comes days after Victoria Police pulled out of that state’s Midsumma Pride March, and a debate at the Mardi Gras AGM last year over NSW Police marching in Sydney.
“The issue of who can participate in pride parades, has caused division in LGBTIQA+ communities for several years,” researcher and author of the survey report Dr Sharon Dane said.
“The overall results of this survey suggest that LGBTIQA+ communities favour a path towards a less acrimonious and more productive debate, one in which participation depends on an organisation’s record of LGBTIQA+ equality and acceptance.”
‘Participation at Pride is a privilege that comes with the responsibility’
Just.Equal’s survey also found support for inclusion in pride parades for big business, religious groups, political parties and government agencies with strong support for conditions-of-participation for all four.
The next highest level of opposition to inclusion was to big business (25.2%) and religious groups (24.8%).
The majority of respondents supported inclusion of these organisations with the most highly nominated conditions for inclusion being support for an LGBTIQA+ staff network for businesses, and affirmation of LGBTIQA+ people and relationships for religious groups.
Government agencies returned the highest level of inclusion without conditions (34.4%).
For those who chose inclusion of government agencies with conditions, the preferred condition was regular reviews of policy and operations to ensure LGBTIQA+ inclusion.
Just.Equal Australia spokesperson, Rodney Croome, said the results show the importance of community groups and the police to working more closely together to improve policing practices and foster greater trust.
“The survey makes it clear that the majority of LGBTIQA+ people believe in inclusive pride parades, but also believe participation is a privilege that comes with the responsibility to improve policies and practices,” he said.
“We will distribute the survey to pride parade organisers across Australia to help inform their decisions about who participates in pride and under what conditions.”
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