A commission of four members from the City Police corps took part in the official reception for Pride! BCN 2020.
The City Police took part in the official reception for the Pride parade, again demonstrating their commitment to non-discrimination. This was the only public ceremony in this year’s event and was held this afternoon in the amphitheatre at the Parc del Fòrum.
The ceremony was presided over by the Mayor, Ada Colau, and included a performance by the artistic group La Cicatriz and the reading of this year’s Pride manifesto. Officials attending the ceremony also included the First Deputy Mayor, Jaume Collboni, the Speaker of the Parliament of Catalonia, Roger Torrent, and the Minister for Work, Social Affairs and Families from the Government of Catalonia, Chakir El Homrani.
Commitment to equality
When Barcelona hosted the 4th European Conference of Gay and Lesbian Police Officers in 2008, the City Police approved the first protocol in the Spanish state to fight discriminatory attitudes and hate crime. This procedure was reviewed and published again in 2018.
As a result, and jointly with the Mossos d’Esquadra police corps, work was done with the Barcelona Provincial Prosecutor to include hate crime in police statistics, in line with recommendations from international bodies such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the UN. The City Police are currently part of working group for the Barcelona Prosecutor on hate crime and discrimination.
The City Police have also actively collaborated with the Gaylespol association to organise training on sexual diversity, which it also took part in. The corps has also worked with the Office for Non-Discrimination and the Councillor’s Office for Feminism and LGBTI to move towards better and more complete care for victims of discrimination in the city.
In terms of children and teenagers, the Safety Education Service conducted sixty sessions in adult education centres in the city to contribute to prevention and raise awareness about school bullying.
Finally, as part of the specific ongoing training for Neighbourhood Police teams, specific training was given in this sphere across the organisation.
What are we celebrating?
Fifty-one years ago today, on 28 June 1969, some riots started in New York between the police and the LGBTI community due to the degrading treatment received by this community during police raids, in particular against transgender drag queens. Gay pride started with these riots. The New York Police Commissioner apologised 50 years later for the oppressive and discriminatory actions of the past against sexual minorities.
At the same time as the Stonewall riots, part of the work of police corps in our country consisted of persecuting people classified as ‘social dangers’ because their affective lives were considered criminal. At that time women were unable to become police officers because of their gender, and gays, lesbians and trans people were among those excluded on medical grounds.
It wasn’t until 1991 that the WHO definitively declassified homosexuality as a mental illness. Since then, the civil rights of people from sexual and affective minorities have gradually been recognised. Even so, LGBTI people are still criminally and socially persecuted in a large part of the world.
Pride BCN!
LGBTI pride is something we’ve celebrated in our city every summer since 2008. Over the years it has become one of Europe’s most popular festivals, with some 250,000 people taking part every year.
Last year was the first time that the Mossos d’Esquadra and the City Police had a joint stand at this event. The stand offered information on joining the police and about the resources available to people suffering from school bullying or discrimination. The stand was visited by over 5,000 people.
Given this year’s situation with Covid-19, the format for the event had to be reconsidered and with the collaboration of betevé a special programme was designed and is being broadcast on TV and on digital platforms.