New York, NY—In a new report, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) found New York’s gay pride parade is no longer safe to attend because of the anti-LGBTQ hate crimes that have occurred in the city since the 2016 March for Life.
In 2016, the New York State Senate voted to allow for a rally in Times Square, but that event was cancelled after a hate crime incident.
That same year, a group of men assaulted a gay man in Queens, and another group attacked a man who was celebrating a wedding in the Brooklyn borough of Staten Island.
On Monday, the Times Square Pride Parade was scheduled to take place again, but organizers were told by the police that it was too dangerous to hold the event.
GLAAD spokesperson Ben Jacobs told Newsweek that the organization wants to hold a parade in Times City again in the future.
The New York Police Department has said it is looking into the matter.
Jacobs added that the New Yorkers march is a public gathering of more than 500 people.
“We’re just hoping that we can do a good job in making sure that this kind of event does not happen again,” Jacobs said.
“There’s been an increase in anti-gay hate crimes in the past year and a half and the march is one of those that has a high profile in New York.”
Jacobs said the parade has a long history in New Yorkers history.
“It was a march to remember the first gay people in New Jersey in 1912, which was a huge event,” he said.
He added that many of the marchers who participated in the march had been beaten by police in the 1970s.
“They’re just going to get hurt,” he added.
“So we want to make sure that we make sure people know that they are safe.”