Valérie Plante says Montreal vying for World Pride 2023
Speaking before the launch of the city's Pride parade downtown, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante announced the city would be bidding to host the 2023 edition of World Pride.
Plante also said the city is in the midst of drafting a sexual diversity policy that she hopes will be ready by this time next year.
"It is something that has been asked for for a long time and that's what we're going toward," she said in a speech at a news conference before the parade Sunday.
Former mayor Denis Coderre had promised such a policy at Pride last year. It's unclear if any headway was made since.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard also spoke at the news conference.
Trudeau received a standing ovation for his remarks, calling for a push toward more acceptance.
"Can we stop talking about tolerance?" he asked energetically. "We need to talk about acceptance; we need to talk about openness; we need to talk about friendship. We need to talk about love, not just tolerance."
Trudeau noted homeless youth are more likely to identify as LGBT, and that LGBT youth are more likely to commit suicide.
"We still have an awful lot to do … even progressive societies have some work to do," he said, adding that professional sports is an area where there is still stigma and discrimination and "challenges in terms of coming out and being proud of who we are and who you are."
Couillard said he may soon be on the campaign trail with "different coloured buses, but today we can all agree on one thing: it's that Quebecers are all equal."
The parade took place in a sea of colour and rainbow flags along René-Lévesque Boulevard.
Its grand marshals include Dany Turcotte of Radio-Canada's popular talk show Tout le monde en parle, Kennedy Olango, a Kenyan gay rights activist, as well as Julie Lemieux, Canada's first known trans mayor for the small Quebec village of Très-Saint-Redempteur.
Montreal's Pride festival itself lasted from Aug. 9 to 19, with several concerts and special appearances throughout, including by Milk & Bone, Princess Nokia and New Orleans's Big Freedia.
