A month after the Greater Philadelphia Gay Officer Action League was announced as a grand marshal in June’s Pride parade, more than 200 people have signed onto a petition to remove the group of openly LGBT law-enforcement officials.
Two meetings sprung up next week based on the unrest over GOAL’s participation: one for those who would like to ask questions of the Pride committee about the officers’ inclusion, and one for those who would like to take further action with the petition.
Philly Pride Presents, the group that puts on Pride, is organizing a meeting May 25 at the William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St. A time is still being determined, but it would likely take place before 7 p.m., said Franny Price, executive director of Philly Pride. Jo Mason, a transgender officer who serves as GOAL president, plans to attend.
The petition meeting takes place from 6-8 p.m. May 26 at the Leeway Foundation, 1315 Walnut St., Suite 832. Next steps will be discussed.
The petition states, “We believe that the honoring of GOAL is antithetical to the spirit and history of Pride, which grew out of the commemoration of the Stonewall riot — a riot against police violence — started by black and brown trans women and drag queens, who were then and continue to be the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community.”
Individuals and organizations signed onto the petition, which has at least 220 of 500 requested signatures, including from ACT UP Philly and Juntos. It’s available at Change.org.
“We can’t go back,” Price said. “Stonewall was 47 years ago. We should go forward.”
Mason said GOAL members had read the petition and reached out to the Stonewall Rebellion Veterans’ Association.
“They were overwhelmingly in support of the group,” Mason said. “They told us, ‘This is what we were fighting for, LGBT inclusion in all facets of life.’”
GOAL invited five members of the Stonewall association to participate in Pride as honored guests of the group. Mason set up a GoFundMe page to support travel costs for the Stonewall veterans.
Mason also noted a line in the petition that references GOAL as a unit to recruit LGBT people to the police force.
“Obviously we needed to reach out and make this an educational thing to talk about who we really are,” Mason said. “We’re an LGBT organization that happens to be law enforcement.”
GOAL is for all LGBT-identified law-enforcement officials in the region. It currently includes Philadelphia police officers, probation and parole officers, sheriff’s deputies and some officers from Bucks County.
Qui Alexander, a transmasculine person of color who signed the petition, said his issue is not with the people who make up GOAL.
“I don’t want to discredit the work people are doing to build relationships with the LGBT community and police,” he said. “I don’t think this is the appropriate venue for this.”
Alexander added he wouldn’t have an issue with GOAL having a table at OutFest or marching in solidarity during the Philly Trans* March.
“For now, it’s a too-soon issue,” Alexander said of GOAL’s inclusion in Pride. He noted several unsolved homicides of black transgender women in Philadelphia.
“I’d like to see a much larger shift in the criminal-injustice system and I don’t foresee that happening anytime soon,” he said.
Asked if it would make a difference if the GOAL officers wore plainclothes instead of uniforms, Alexander said no.
“They’d still be representing the institution of the police,” he said. “That’s the bigger concern.”
Andrew Spiers, who started the petition, agreed.
“I’m not an expert on GOAL and I’d be happy to hear more about it,” he said, but, “I wouldn’t support GOAL being in the parade at any capacity.”