On May 17, the National Park Service officially determined that park rangers and other employees cannot attend Pride festivities and parades in uniform. This decision reverses a long history of allowing such participation and even having official delegation in Pride parades across the United States. Anonymous LGBTQ+ employees report feeling betrayed and note that official Pride participation in major cities is uncertain as multiple parades finalize and applications to participate in parades remain unprocessed. The move comes amid increasing crackdowns on Pride flags and LGBTQ+ people nationwide. In most cases, Republican legislators and appointees have been behind such bans, but this time, it appears the National Park Service, led by a Biden-approved director, is restricting park participation in LGBTQ+ celebrations.
So by the sound of it, no one is being bared from participating, and the Pride events in the parks are not cancelled, though a bunch of approvals for participation in other events are waiting on a decision.
Just can’t use the official NPS uniforms.
Ok. Fair enough.
Every NPS employee should get custom shirts that state clearly who they work for. Maybe even design them to look similar to the uniforms. March in those, and leave no question who you are. Then we’ll see what happens.
A federal government organization is pulling back from openly supporting lgbtq+. It’s a big fuck you to the community and a big deal. Somebody decided that supporting that community was a bad look and had the power to be a dick about it.
Fucking why
For the same reason police shouldn’t be allowed to participate in white power marches in their uniforms. They are supposed to be neutral.
Imagine equating hate groups associated with lynching to groups seeking equal rights and protections. You’re a clown
Ok. Same reason firefighters are not supposed to let their kids wear their helmet while selling lemonade. They are supposed to be impartial.
I’m surprised they allowed it at all. Usually any organization, public or private, will tell employees not to imply endorsement of anything not officially sponsored.
I’m also surprised that Stonewall is a national monument. Apparently it was an Obama decision, so I guess it was a fuck-you to hate.
Are they barred from veteran’s day and St. Patrick’s Day parades as well, or does the NPS participate in those? How about 4th of July?
Has this always been the case? If not, who was on the board that made the decision and what is their political affiliation?
In a world where half the electorate thinks a judge must be prejudiced and has no problem with their autocratic leader saying that ethnicity decides whether someone is “fair,” I think these are legitimate followup questions.
We needed a de-trumpification of the government. Anyone appointed by Trump or hired by an appointee should have been dismissed. This is basically what Trump is planning on doing.
NPS has walked in the SF pride parade for years. Any large org will have a contingent, it’s a normal part of being in the community here. Usually the LGBT employees will take part, but allies can too … it’s participation in a community event.
NPS rangers don’t just represent the org, but they also represent the idea of working in the outdoors/in conservation. If you’re a young person who wants to work outdoors one day, it makes a huge difference to see that people like you are allowed to openly be themselves especially considering that machismo past of NPS and outdoors work.
NPS isn’t just about nature, in SF NPS controls Alcatraz and you can bet your ass that all the rangers who have learned all about the history have strong views about the prison system today. NPS is a contingent of the government with very strong values, what they choose to conserve, what history they choose to tell … I don’t think it’s any different to have employees show up at pride.
Anonymous LGBTQ+ employees report feeling betrayed
I don’t really see the problem. Don’t go in your National Park Service uniform and you can participate. The organization doesn’t want to get pulled into political disputes and isn’t going to want their endorsement to be implied one way or the other. The employees in question aren’t acting as spokesmen for the NPS (and if they were, then I can say that the restrictions they’d run into would be a lot more severe, like being told what they can and can’t say).
Most people aren’t going to be wearing uniforms anyway, because their jobs don’t involve a uniform.
That’s also not specific to the NPS or to Pride stuff. The military also has a lot of restrictions on what people can be doing politically when wearing uniform, because the military isn’t supposed to be playing in politics. It works for the public, and the public makes the political calls.
Withdrawing support that’s already been there in this organization is specific, actually. This wasn’t a call made by the public, it was made by the people running the org. The decision itself is political. If you think the military isn’t supposed to be political, you must have thought don’t ask don’t tell was complete BS, right? Or is it ok when it’s politically conservative?
