Sam Smith's photo posing with cops during New York Pride has attracted criticism.
To understand why this picture has been criticized, it's worth considering the history of Pride. In the '50s and '60s in New York, the NYPD would raid and shut down bars where gay people were known to gather. In 1966, protestors organized a "sip-in" at Julius' bar — which had been raided by the police just days prior — to challenge the practice of banning gay men from bars.
Then, in June 1969, the Stonewall Riots happened after the police raided the Stonewall Inn bar and six days of violent protests with the police ensued. The march that marked the anniversary of the rebellion formed the basis of Pride today.
However, it's not all historical. Police violence towards LGBT — especially non-white and/or trans — people is very much still happening. In fact, the police have been banned from marching at NYC Pride until at least 2025 and the organizers aim to have officers at least a block away from the event's perimeter where possible.
As a press release from NYC Pride put it at the time, "The sense of safety that law enforcement is meant to provide can instead be threatening, and at times dangerous, to those in our community who are most often targeted with excessive force and/or without reason."
Which is how we get to here, with Sam posing with two members of the NYPD while wearing a rainbow Julius' shirt.
Some questioned why Sam was posing with police, likely due to, again, Pride's origins as a protest against the police:
RuPaul's Drag Race winner Aquaria commented:
Not every comment was negative:
