No Pride in Prisons say it was always their intention to disrupt the Auckland Pride Parade on Saturday. Photo: Watchmanz “Once it was confirmed that Corrections and Police as institutions were being welcomed into Pride this year, despite neither policy changes to prevent their oppressive violence nor any evidence that their violence has in any way diminished, we decided to disrupt their participation,” says No Pride in Prisons. “Whilst we did not advertise this intention, it had always been our plan.” With some people in the LGBTI community believing that the No Pride in Prisons protest this year went too far, the group says that they are perhaps forgetting the roots of Pride. “Those who believe that No Pride in Prisons’ actions were inappropriate, or went “too far,” are forgetting that Pride was always meant to be a protest, and is intrinsically political,” they say. “Our organisation and its supporters fought against the corporatisation of Pride, and its direct support for violent institutions. No Pride in Prisons does not believe that rejecting institutional violence is action “taken too far.” Following the events at the Parade, some people within the LGBTI community have also questioned whether it was appropriate for those from outside of the LGBTI community to take part in the protest. Discussion as to the appropriateness of heterosexual, cis people disrupting an LGBTI event has been the talking point of some on social media. The protest group responds to this saying; “Is Judith Collins a queer now? The Pride Board’s parade included many marchers who themselves loudly professed, with banners and placards, that they were neither queer nor trans but allies. “No Pride in Prisons’ group included a small minority of allies who had every right to stand up against the violence police and prisons inflict on their communities, and who stood alongside us in opposition to the corporatisation and depoliticisation of queer struggle.” They say Corrections have not made any changes over the past year in regards to the situation of trans women in prisons. “We know of at least two presently incarcerated trans women who have been raped in custody since last year alone,” says the collective. “And these are only the women who have contacted us - we have no way of knowing the potential scale of this issue because Corrections has maintained an absolute lack of transparency. What has changed?” “There's been no policy response, no indication that our sisters are being raped or beaten less, no response whatsoever to the concerns raised about their practices by a huge number of people. All we have is Corrections' vague indication that it will look at implementing changes - promises which have yet to be fulfilled. Why should we celebrate a department which implements policy leading to our sisters being raped, before it has actually taken any steps whatsoever to prevent these rapes? “NPIP has received unparalleled support for this action from across Aotearoa and the world. The vast majority of the feedback we have received has been positive, which we think reflects the fact that the public mood is turning against the violent actions of Police and Corrections.” No Pride in Prisons say as the parade was supposed to finish at the end of Ponsonby road, the protest successfully disrupted the parade, with organisers diverting the parade through the glamstand, allowing only vehicles to finish the parade. “It was our intention to disrupt the parade and send the message that police and corrections have no place in Pride. It was the Parade organisers’ decision to divert the parade.” “We will continue to work with and advocate for incarcerated queer and trans people and demand that police and corrections are held to account for their violent behaviour.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 22nd February 2016 - 2:28pm