SKYCITY Auckland has decided to withdraw its participation in next February’s Pride Parade over the decision by organisers to ban police marching in uniform.
General Manager Human Resources, Claire Walker, says that as a company that champions diversity and inclusion in the workplace SKYCITY could not condone the exclusion of uniformed police from the parade.
“Having taken a leadership stance as one of the first Rainbow Tick-accredited employers, SKYCITY is a proud and active supporter of LGBTIQ+ people, both among our own diverse and talented staff and the wider Rainbow community.
“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,’’ Ms Walker says.
“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.’’
Ms Walker says the decision was made following feedback from SKYCITY’s own Rainbow community.
SKYCITY is considering other ways to celebrate diversity and inclusion with our Rainbow community, and will light the Sky Tower in rainbow colours for Pride-related events in February, as planned.
