At every Pride, there is invariably a small but vocal contingent of anti-LGBT fundamentalists who come out to dump on everyone’s good time. They don’t actually do anything — let’s face it, no one at a Pride parade is ever going to look at them and think, “Yes, that looks like more fun than the glittering street party. Sign me up!” — but they do tend to put a sour little asterisk on an otherwise great time.
However, according to Philadelphia magazine, things went from bad to worse when a woman confronted a group of anti-LGBT fundamentalists. Reportedly, cops arrested the woman, and things escalated to the point where a cop was seen on video repeatedly punching her.
While the video clocks in at a short 15 seconds, it does show potentially upsetting subject matter and violence, so I didn’t actually include it in the post. If you do want to see it for yourself, you can view it here at your discretion.
According to EdgeOnTheNet, the officer in question “has been put on desk duty after video surfaced showing him punching a woman at the city’s gay pride parade and festival.” There will be an internal investigation into the matter, while the officer remains on restricted duty.
Hopefully, the whole story comes out and approriate measures are taken, because this is exactly the kind of senselessness and violence that we’re trying to fight.