Sacramento officer Jeff Kuhlmann, a member of the LGBTQ community, said he was surprised to learn about the decision to not allow officers to attend in uniform.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Pride Month kicked off with some controversy between the Sacramento Police Department and leaders of Sacramento's LGBTQ community.

Organizers of the annual Sac Pride event are asking officers not to come if they are in full uniform, and for them to wear polo shirts instead.

"We ask them that if they would like to participate, and we welcome the LGBT officers to participate, that they not do so in uniform," said David Heitstuman, executive director of the Sacramento LGBT Community Center.

Sacramento Police Officer Jeff Kuhlmann, who's also a member of the LGBTQ community, said he was surprised to learn about the decision to not allow officers to attend the Pride parade in uniform the way they did in previous years.

"The concern we have with that is, this is who we are, and we want people to feel comfortable seeing us in this versus a polo shirt," Kuhlmann said.

Kuhlmann told ABC10 the Pride event has always been a positive event for the community to interact with officers. "To see this event being pulled back from us, it just shows that not everyone is not always about inclusion," Kuhlmann said.

The Pride Parade is the one day of the year that many people who identify as LGBT feel safe and welcome, according to Heitstuman.

"If they don't feel safe and welcome in the presence of a uniform that represents that institution of police, then this is our opportunity to create that space for them," Heitstuman said.

Last year, officers were also asked not to participate following the shooting of Stephon Clark. Transgender activist Ebony Harper explained that some people feel uncomfortable around officers in uniform because of their past interactions with them.

"There's trauma related to police officers in our community," Harper said. "That uniform represents abuse in a lot of ways – to black folks, to brown folks."

As for this year, organizers said another reason they don't want police in uniform at any Pride celebrations is to honor those who fought back against police brutality in the Stonewall riots 50 years ago.

It's a historical event that Kuhlmann said he understands, but having police not attend this year's Pride events in uniform won't change what happened in the past.

"It's something that we can't digress away from," Kuhlmann said. "It's part of our history, but part of that history is showing how times have changed."

Heitstuman agrees that a lot of progress has been made since Stonewall, but there's still a long way to go.

"We are wholly committed to working with the department to engage with the community in a more intentional way," Heitstuman said.