Pride Toronto co-chair Erin Edghill has resigned after a motion of no confidence was passed during the LGBTQ organization’s annual general meeting Tuesday evening.

“I understand Pride began as a sexual liberation movement against police and state violence,” Edghill told the meeting, according to a written statement obtained by the Star. “Somewhere along the way, the organization either forgot or began to actively ignore this history.”

Edghill was named alongside three other Pride board members, Amanda Bitton, Keegan Oliver and Kevin Rambally in a motion that accused them of having “consistently acted in a manner that undermines the will of the membership.”

The motion, which passed by a vote of 42 to 28, according to three people present, was tabled by a group of Pride members calling themselves No Pride in Policing.

The board’s decision last fall to invite police back into the annual summer Pride parade without consulting with membership was “fundamentally unethical and undemocratic behaviour,” said No Pride in Policing spokesperson Gary Kinsman.

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Unlike previous years, reporters were not allowed into Pride’s annual meeting. Messages sent to board members requesting comment on the motion were not immediately returned. Reporters waiting to speak with board members after the meeting were escorted out of the Harbourfront Centre by private security.

A second motion calling for Pride to denounce the $30 million Toronto Police Services budget increase also passed and the organization committed to sending a representative to City Hall to speak against the budget measure.

“This was a big victory for the membership,” said Kinsman.

Beverly Bain, another spokesperson for No Pride in Policing, said their objective is not to take over Pride Toronto.

“It’s to defend the decision to exclude police and to support Black Lives Matter Toronto. We’re concerned about cuts to programming for marginalized members of the community,” she said.

Pride’s membership rebellion took place during the third contentious Pride Toronto meeting in the last two months, which saw members overturn executive director Olivia Nuamah’s call for police to be welcomed back into this year’s Pride parade.

A motion calling on Nuamah to resign was ruled out of order and was not voted upon during Tuesday’s meeting.

Last week, Nuamah announced that Pride would have to be severely scaled back this year due to a $700,000 debt taken on over the last two years. She suggested that Pride has had trouble fundraising after its decision to exclude uniformed police from marching in the parade.

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“Board members somehow think inviting police back in will get them more funding, that’s not true,” Kinsman said. “The policing issue has nothing to do with the financial issue. It’s an excuse.”

Nuamah declined to comment.

In their resignation speech, Edghill said the fiduciary duties board members are legally required to take on “put the well-being and survival of the organization first.”

“Once I became aware of this, along with Pride’s financial situation, I took part in decisions that I did not personally agree with,” Edghill said.

Uniformed officers have been banned from participating in the Pride Parade since 2016, when Black Lives Matter held up the march to protest their presence.

Last October, Nuamah invited police back to the parade. She defended the decision in a NOW magazine article in December, writing, “we are seeking to start a new relationship, with real and positive outcomes, through doing the actual work it will take to make the change we all seek.”

A general meeting of Pride membership was shut down in December when activists sought to overturn Nuamah’s decision.

Last week, those activists succeeded during a special meeting, where Nuamah’s invitation to police was rescinded.

Brian De Matos, another spokesperson for No Pride in Policing, said police relations with the LGBTQ community have not improved, citing a police sweep of Marie Curtis Park in Etobicoke where they ticketed 72 people for non-criminal offences, many of which were later dropped.

“You don’t reward bullies by allowing them to join in the parade,” he said. “Inclusion is earned.”

Two new members were elected to the Pride board during the meeting, Gwen Bartleman and Ande Clumpus.