A national survey has found that a majority of participants support the inclusion of police in pride parades but want conditions attached.
The anonymous survey, commissioned by national LGBTIQA+ advocacy group Just.Equal Australia, found that 63.9 per cent of respondents supported police inclusion in pride marches.
But most of those who support inclusion want it to come with conditions such as training in LGBTIQA+ policing issues and more support for LGBTIQA+ police officers, it found.
Conducted between May and August last year, the survey of 1516 respondents across the nation also found support for inclusion in pride parades for big business, religious groups, political parties and government agencies with strong support for conditions-of-participation for all four.
To recruit participants from a wide cross-section of LGBTIQA+ communities, Just.Equal Australia said they employed different recruitment strategies. “The survey was advertised on Facebook and Instagram, targeting LGBTIQA+ Australians from all age groups and all states and territories,” the group said.
“The survey was also advertised with the national LGBTIQA+ media company QNews and Lesbians on the Loose (LOTL). In addition to this, the survey link was emailed to LGBTIQA+ religious groups, sporting clubs, business networks, parenting groups and social clubs in every state and territory.”
The survey not only allowed respondents to indicate if they support inclusion with conditions, but also what conditions they preferred.
The survey found opposition to pride parade participation to be the highest in regard to police (36.1 per cent), although it was still a minority next to those who support inclusion without conditions (26.7 per cent) and inclusion with conditions (37.2 per cent).
Within LGBTIQA+ communities, a majority of younger people (18-34) and a majority of people identifying as non-binary, trans, bisexual or queer opposed police participation outright.
The next highest level of opposition to inclusion was to big business (25.2 per cent) and religious groups (24.8 per cent).
The majority of respondents supported inclusion of these organisations with the most highly nominated conditions for inclusion being support for an LGBTIQA+ staff network for businesses, and affirmation of LGBTIQA+ people and relationships for religious groups.
Government agencies returned the highest level of inclusion without conditions (34.4 per cent). For those who chose inclusion of government agencies with conditions, the preferred condition was regular reviews of policy and operations to ensure LGBTIQA+ inclusion.
Other notable results include women supporting exclusion at a higher rate than men, WA being the only state split evenly between excluding and including police and Queensland being the only state to return more support for excluding religious groups than police.
Just.Equal spokesperson Rodney Croome said the survey made it clear that the community believed in inclusion but that it came with some responsibilities.
Report author Dr Sharon Dane said the issue of who should march in pride had caused division in LGBTIQA+ communities for years, but this survey showed that most wanted a path forward.
“The overall results of this survey suggest that LGBTIQA+ communities favour a path towards a less acrimonious and more productive debate, one in which participation depends on an organisation’s record of LGBTIQA+ equality and acceptance.”
The findings run contrary to a survey run by Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras that found a slim majority believed that the NSW Police Force should not be allowed to march in the annual parade. However, the Mardi Gras survey had just 151 respondents, while Just.Equal’s had 1516, with 445 of those being from NSW.
At the last Mardi Gras annual general meeting, members voted against all motions to exclude NSW Police from marching, including motions that would have attached conditions to the law enforcement agency’s inclusion.
Editor’s note: Journalist Eliot Hastie pays $50 annually for Mardi Gras memberships to access discounts, including at retail stores and bars, but doesn’t use the membership’s voting rights.
Gay Sydney News reporter