Months after the grand marshal debacle involving the police officer’s group, video surfaced of a local gay bar owner using the n-word repeatedly when speaking to a staff member. These rules were, of course, selectively applied most often against those same communities, while whites wearing the same or similar clothing were allowed to enter. Racist door policies and dress codes at gay establishments were the norm Bars had vague policies agains “athletic wear” or certain brands of clothing, always the ones popular in black or brown communities. This kind of insensitivity, even outright racism, was, and still is, rampant in the gayborhood. The police group actually turned the award down after the backlash started Price and Volz were determined to make them the grand marshals even despite the backlash. In 2016 there was backlash when Philly Pride Presents tried to make the Gay and Lesbian police officers association the grand marshals of June pride. Police presence at Pride is presented as for our own protection, that the police are there to make us feel safe from homophobic protestors and potentially violent interlopers.
Pride everywhere has largely become co-opted by corporations and business interests, and police were increasingly visible and eventually even celebrated. Besides Price and Volz, the work of pride was largely done by volunteers working under them year-to-year. It consisted of Franny and her friends, specifically a white cis man named Chuck Volz, who began working with Philly Pride 29 years ago. However, problems and criticisms inevitably arose because Philly Pride Presents was not accountable to or even accepting of everyone. It started in 1993, when Philly’s LGBTQ+ community was defined largely by white cis gay people who lived and/or owned businesses in the Gayborhood in Center City. For 28 years, Philly Pride Presents was led by Franny Price. After that, Philly Pride Presents was founded. Philly’s first Pride event was held in 1972, but an annual tradition did not set in until many years later in 1989, when a spontaneous parade formed.