Advertisement

Toronto’s first-ever Pride Month includes dances, parties and important talks

image

[Members of the public gather for the annual Toronto Pride Parade on July 1, 2012. WENN.COM/Dominic Chan]

Toronto’s LGBTQ community is launching its first-ever Pride Month on June 1, expanding on its previous four decades of weeklong celebrations.

In fact, Calgary was the first Canadian city in 2005 to have a Pride Month. But Toronto, which hosts the largest Pride festival in North America, looks to be making it a yearly thing. Festivities kicked off Tuesday afternoon with a rainbow flag raising at city hall.

“It’s pretty exciting for us,” enthused Pride Month/Pride Toronto executive director Mathieu Chantelois to Yahoo Canada News. “It’s not just a party. It’s expanded to include many other things this year.”

The festival began unofficially in 1970, a year after the infamous Stonewall bathhouse raid in New York and also in the wake of Canada’s decriminalization of homosexual acts. That year, three organizations, including the University of Toronto Homophile Association, gathered for several picnics at Hanlan’s Point and Ward’s Island. And every year, they grew.

In 1974, Toronto marked its first Pride Week, albeit without any official recognition from the city or province. And then in 1975, then-mayor David Crombie sent his best wishes but did not march in the Yonge Street parade.

The issue of gay rights came to a head in 1981 when Toronto police raided bathhouses, arresting more than 300 people. A young writer — who would become a leading force in Canadian literature — spoke out against the raids.

“So this year, to commemorate that moment we have invited Margaret Atwood to talk about what happened in 1981,” said Chantelois. “It’s part of Pride going back to its political roots.”

The City of Toronto officially recognized Pride Week in 1991.

George Takei landing in town

Pride Week used to run the last week of June, for about 10 days, culminating in a giant parade.

“What would happen is all these groups would hold their own thing for the 10 days and we had layer upon layer of different events competing with one another,” noted Chantelois. “This year, I brought a blank calendar for the month of June and asked them to choose a day so that way, the public can go to more events and panels.”

Chantelois says many important talks or screenings would get overshadowed by the parties.

“Hey I love to dance and party too but it is important to have these conversations,” he said. “Just a couple of years ago, I came to the office and someone was at the door crying. He had gotten married on the Sunday to his partner and on Monday, his workplace fired him because they didn’t like that.”

This year, four young people — aged 16 to 21 — will be talking about the challenges of being transgender.

“A lot of trans people are killing themselves. They often leave school at 13 or 14 because they just want the bullying to end,” pointed out Chantelois. “We need to talk about this and make Pride relevant for the years to come.”

Chantelois, a former Montrealer whose husband proposed to him at a Pride Week dance 12 years ago, said he’s buoyed by the kind of reach and depth the event has.

“Last year, I was at the Trans Rally and I ran into a mother with her trans teenage son. She looked me in the eyes and said: ‘We wait all year for this day. We are from a small town in Ontario and we come here so we can be ourselves. She held a sign that said, ‘I love my trans son.’”

Other events include a lecture on the 2013 Cairo bathhouse raids and the effervescent George Takei — known fondly as Sulu in the original Star Trek series — is in town to give a talk about his life.

Fresh happenings include a Gay Day at Wonderland, a Night at the Aquarium and a Family Day at Centreville Park.

If you didn’t know already, Toronto’s Pride is the biggest one in North America. It is, according to Chantelois, even bigger than the ones in New York or San Francisco. Other Canadian cities that also host Pride festivals include Calgary, Montreal and Vancouver.

“I feel humble and proud,” says the executive director of how far Pride celebrations have come.

Toronto’s Pride Month finishes on July 3, ending as usual with the Pride Parade.