The troubled Auckland Pride Parade has lost another corporate supporter after SkyCity announced it would not be supporting the 2019 parade.
SkyCity GM of human resources Claire Walker said the company supports diversity and inclusion, and did not want to support the exclusion of uniformed police from the parade.
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The board of Auckland Pride said police would not be able to march in uniform for the 2019 parade as they "do not currently meet the degree of safety and awareness of intersectionality required by our rainbow communities".
It had suggested officers marching could wear t-shirts instead.
New Zealand Police Senior District Liaison Officer Tracy Phillips said police officers were extremely disappointed by the board's decision, telling Newshub at the time if police are not welcome in uniform, then "we're not going to force ourselves on anybody".
Ms Walker said the parade's decision to not allow police to march in uniform contravened the company's values.
"SkyCity is a proud and active supporter of LGBTIQ+ people, both among our own diverse and talented staff and the wider Rainbow community," she said.
"We have supported previous Pride Parades as a celebration of this community. We were also very proud to have our values of tolerance and inclusion recognised at the Deloitte Top 200 Awards, where SkyCity won the Diversity and Inclusion leadership category."
"Regrettably, SkyCity feels that the decision of the parade's organisers not to include uniformed police in next year's event is not consistent with those values, and therefore we have made the decision not to participate."
SkyCity is not the first company to pull support - BNZ, Westpac, Vodafone and NZME have all withdrawn from the parade over the last week.
Ms Walker said the decision was made following feedback from the company's rainbow community.
Newshub.
