NSW Police have been uninvited from marching at Saturday’s Mardi Gras parade in Sydney.
The explosive decision comes after serving police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon was charged with the murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.
NSW Police are facing difficult questions after it was revealed that Lamarre-Condon allegedy used his police-issued Glock pistol to murder his former lover and his boyfriend.
Police also revealed on Monday that a triple 0 call from Mr Davies’ phone was made on the night of the alleged murders but it was never followed up by police.
“The NSW Police Force has been advised that the board of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras decided to withdraw the invitation … to participate in this year’s event,” a police spokesperson.
“While disappointed with this outcome, NSW Police will continue to work closely with the LGBTIQA+ community and remain committed to working with organisers to provide a safe environment for all those participating in and supporting this Saturday’s parade.”
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said she was “disappointed and dismayed” by the decision.
“We are humans, we are representative of the community we serve and so we should be there,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
“Conversations we’ve been having are around the under reporting of crimes in the queer community. How is this going to help that?”
NSW Police have marched in the parade for 20 years with Ms Webb taking part for many years.
However their inclusion was already being called into question after an inquiry into the unsolved murders and deaths of dozens of the LGBTI community over 40 years.
Justice John Sackar, who led the inquiry, pointed at the “shameful homophobia, transphobia and prejudice” within NSW Police.
Ms Webb apologised to families of gay hate crimes on Sunday.
Independent MP Alex Greenwich previously said the number of unsolved murders the report has recommended needed further investigation was “harrowing”.
“The hard truth of this report is, if someone like me — a gay man — was murdered in the 70s, 80s or 90s, it was highly likely the police would not care,” he told the ABC.
The first Mardi Gras parade in Sydney was broken up by brutal police action.
Around 500 people marched in support of New York’s Stonewall movement, calling for an end to the criminalisation of homosexual acts and discrimination against homosexuals.
However the peaceful protest ended in police violence and mass arrests.
Twenty years later police began marching at Mardi Gras in solidarity with the LGBTI community but many have had mixed feelings about their involvement.
Anger within the LGBTI community has also been stoked by pictures of Lamarre-Condon taking part in the Mardi Gras parade in full uniform in 2020.