Toronto cops are welcomed at the Pride Parade, so long as they keep their weapons, uniforms and vehicles away.

Pride Toronto said as much in a statement issued Sunday night, aimed at clarifying its position on police participation at the popular summertime event.

According to Pride Toronto executive director Olivia Nuamah, LGBTQ officers and “their allies” are invited to march in the parade provided they adhere to the aforementioned rules.

Those officers can march with “community groups, with the City of Toronto, or even create their own group,” the Pride release said.

The parade – namely who can and can’t participate - has dominated headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent months, creating a divide among organizations.

Black Lives Matter – Toronto halted last summer’s parade with a sit-in and issued a series of demands, including that police be excluded from participating in the event.

In January 2017, those who attended Pride Toronto’s annual general meeting voted in favour of banning police – and their floats – from the parade.

Mathieu Chantelois stepped down as executive director of the Pride organization in August.

Black Lives Matter – Toronto sought to have police participation out of the event, suggesting their presence made LGBT black youth and other members of racial and sexual minority groups feel unsafe.

At that time, Toronto police chief Mark Saunders said it would respect those demands. That stance was met with criticism from Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack.

Toronto City Councillor John Campbell recently suggested putting a motion forward to pull $260,000 in city funding from Pride Toronto.

“The Toronto Police Service has been involved and supportive to us throughout our festival planning,” Nuamah said in the release. “They will provide all the necessary services to ensure that the festival weekend and parade are secure and successful.”

Nuamah will attend the Economic Development Committee meeting on Monday to provide a deputation in support of continued city funding for Pride.