Miami Beach Police Lambasted for Releasing Pride-Themed Squad Car

metroweekly.com:

A Florida police department received a barrage of criticism after rolling out a rainbow-colored cop car to celebrate Pride season.Prior to the Miami Beach Pride Parade on April 10, the Miami Beach Police Department posted a picture of a Pride-themed squad car on their Instagram account.

The picture of the car, a white Ford Expedition painted in the colors of the Progress Pride flag, with the words “MIAMI BEACH POLICE” written in rainbow letters, prompted much debate on social media and in the comments section of the Instagram post.Many commenters didn’t like the car, but for varying reasons.Some of the comments took a more homophobic tone. “This is where our tax money goes to???” one Instagram user wrote, followed by a slew of facepalm emojis.“What a joke wow,” another user wrote.

Other criticisms – primarily from those on the political Left or from the LGBTQ community itself – questioned whether the presence of police at Pride clashed with the intent of Pride, or the history of the LGBTQ movement and its historical relationship with police.“The first pride was an anti-cop riot,” one user wrote, echoing ongoing debates – being held in cities across the country – about whether uniformed police officers should be present at an event that commemorates a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, and the resulting riots that were sparked because of that raid.Other users questioned the police department’s attempt to ingratiate itself with the LGBTQ community at a time when Florida legislators appear intent on passing anti-LGBTQ legislation, beginning with passage of the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans discussions of LGBTQ identity in schools.