” I was very disappointed and disheartened by that decision,” Aurora Police Lt.
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The announcement came shortly after several gay Aurora police officers spoke out against the decision in Denver. “In the spirit of being in community together, Aurora Pride will not exclude any person or organization from any of its LGBTQ+ events.” “We understand and support (people of color) members of our community advocating for police reform, and that experiences of harm from police violence have led them to advocate for police not being at Pride,” officials said in a statement released Wednesday night. The announcement follows a similar edict issued by organizers of New York City’s massive Pride parade last week also barring police participation.īut organizers of Aurora’s Pride celebrations, first launched in 2017, took a different tack late Wednesday, saying that no specific group will be prevented from attending planned events in August. ” … We wouldn’t have any way to know if officers out of uniform were participating.” “This decision is also intended for institutional law enforcement participation, not individuals,” Fuller wrote.
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Off-duty officers not in uniform will still be able to participate in Pride events, Fuller said. We have decided to not allow police participation in the 2021 virtual pride parade or to allow law enforcement agencies to participate as exhibitors.” ” … While we value our relationships with law enforcement and want to continue to build a safer community for all Coloradans, we feel we must take a stand. “We cannot in good conscience, as an organization that speaks up for justice, look the other way when it comes to police violence aimed at the Black community,” Rex Fuller, CEO of The Center, wrote in the emailed statement. Officials connected with The Center, a longstanding LGBTQ advocacy group that organizes Denver’s Pride celebrations, recently announced the group would prevent local police agencies from participating in a virtual Pride parade or recruiting at in-person events in 2021 in solidarity with the Black community, according to a statement issued May 19.
#GAY PRIDE 2021 DENVER FULL#
“The world is full of love, and you’re entitled to some of it, and people are going to give it to you if you take the chance, if you come out and say ‘Here I am.AURORA | Hours after organizers of Denver Pride, the largest annual celebration of LGBTQ rights in the state, announced that police personnel will be barred from participating in this year’s festivities, officials tied to Aurora’s Pride celebration announced they will not preclude any one group, including police, from participating in Pride events this summer. “You’ll be very surprised about the response,” he said. And he didn't have to do it alone, as Felts is now in a relationship with a man.įelts hopes his story can help to inspire others in similar situations to come out. While the pandemic may have prevented him from celebrating Pride 2020, this year he got to ring in the month as an out and proud gay man. “I wasn’t looking over my shoulder worried about who’s wondering if I’m gay or not.”
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“It was a huge experience of freedom,” he shared. ‘Congratulations’ and ‘welcome’ and things like that.” “It was almost all positive, very positive, over and over. “I was getting messages from people all over about my coming-out,” he told CBS's Denver affiliate. The supportive messages immediately came pouring in.
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He took to Facebook to privately come out to them but instead posted his coming-out publicly. After reconnecting with those memories, he decided to come out to his daughter, telling her that when he married in 1963 he had destroyed everything related to Phillip, except for a single photo.Īfter opening up to his daughter, Felts became empowered to do the same with a small group of his closest friends. Felts had been diagnosed with cancer and began writing his memoir, including his stories about a man he once loved named Philip. And this year, the Denver resident, now 91, celebrated his first Pride ever, proving that it’s never too late to embrace who you truly are.īut here’s the thing: Felts’s public coming-out almost didn't happen at all. After nearly a century spent in the closet, Ken Felts accidentally came out at 89.