Politics at pride?

Abstract

This article follows the events at the Auckland Pride parade in February 2015, where protesters from the queer and transgender prison abolitionist group No Pride in Prisons attempted to prevent police officers from marching. It contextualises this event within a history of Pride and gay liberation in Aotearoa, finding that the politics, or lack thereof, of Pride have changed over time. It is proposed that the contemporary iteration of Auckland Pride, as it usually occurs, exists as a homonormative event that does not challenge the current structures of domination. Auckland Pride is, following Jacques Rancière, an example of "consensus democracy." However, it is argued that this particular parade was exceptional because it, unlike many other Pride parades, had a moment of politics