Toronto pride celebrated its’ thirty fifth anniversary this year, among other momentous events. The largest drag show according to Genius’ World Records was held on Church Street the night before the parade. Toronto’s mayor, John Tory attended the parade, accompanied by Ontario’s Premier Kathleen Wynne. In addition to these Canadian officials attending, setting yet another record, was Justin Trudeau: the first prime minister ever to attend and participate in the pride parade.
Opening the parade, a revolutionary peace movement, also known as ‘Black Lives Matter’ commenced at the beginning of the parade Sunday afternoon. The parade was running smoothly despite security being raised due to disturbing threats found online a few months prior to the parade, indicating ISIS’s terrorist tactics were to be used on Pride Toronto as a world demonstration. Thankfully, the heightened police force was not needed as the parade ran very smoothly. At one point in the parade however, the BLM movement suddenly grinded the parade to a halt at College and Yonge Street, refusing to continue their march until the group’s demands were met and agreed upon. The demands were met approximately thirty minutes after the initial pause. Among these demands, which had sparked such controversy, was to band all further involvement by the Ontario Police force in the Toronto Pride Parade. This would include the police float as well as official uniforms in future parades.
In such a momentous year for pride, the future of Pride Toronto may change forever. Certainly, record-breaking events need to be celebrated, however the need for social unrest should be further investigated. Many members of the LGBTQPA community are striving for a more inclusive environment that supports dissolving social stigmas, transphobia and homophobia within the community itself, as well as on a national/global level. The Orlando shooting was an eye-opening reminder that the gay community is still a largely persecuted, demoralized, marginalized, and diverse community that needs social change to occur and unfold on a greater scale before the public eye. BLM may be representing the most marginalized part of the community Janaya Khan says in ‘NOW’, yet in some situations, fighting against the flow of the river instead of using its’ currents to navigate the tumultuous’ path may prove unwise.