Workers Solidarity Movement's video: The cop bloc on Dublin Pride 2019 Pride Alternative

The presence of uniformed cops marching as a bloc on Dublin Pride meant that for the first time Pride Alternative was organised. Many participants may not have been aware that just across the street 3 van loads of riot police were lurking down a laneway, presumably there so that if there was any attempt to block the cop bloc they would have charged in. Thats so, so far from the roots of Pride in the riots that followed police raids on the Stonewall Inn. Pride Alternatives was protesting at that Garda & PSNI presence but also at the growing commercialisation of Pride and the media sponsorship of RTE and in particular its deliberate whipping up of a transphobic shit storm during the year. We’ve included the speaker from MERJ in the video who talks extensively about the issues with Pride in its modern form. We will be uploading further videos of speakers in the next couple of days. If you want to know more about the Stonewall riots we recommend the excellent Working Class History podcast which has two episodes that are based around extensive interviews with a couple of participants. Episode one can be found here https://soundcloud.com/workingclasshistory/stonewall-riots-pride-50th-anniversary-lgbtq-1