It was not long ago that a gay pride parade would have been unthinkable. On November 2nd, 1969, Craig Rodwell (1940-1993), an American gay rights activist, held the first known gay pride parade in New York City. To this day, the LGBTQQ community still faces many difficulties, and their activities are prohibited in some countries. For example, Turkey was the first Muslim country in which a gay pride march has been held. The first march was in 2003 and took place in Istanbul with 30 people. By 2011, the gay pride march increased to over 10,000 participants.
Toronto: the Safe Haven
In the past few decades, Toronto has been a leader on promoting LGBTQQ tolerance in North America. Its activists scored a major victory in 2003 when same-sex marriage became legal in Ontario, making it the first jurisdiction in North America to do so. Toronto’s Pride Week is now a yearly, ten-day-long event at the end of June. It is one of the largest LGBTQQ festivals in the world. The centre of the event is at the Church and Wellesley Village, along Yonge, Gerrard and Bloor Streets. As one of the world’s longest-running organized Pride celebrations, 1.3 million people attended Toronto’s Pride Week in 2009, making it a prime location for the 4th world pride parade in 2014.
Toronto’s Pride Week evolved out of protests in 1981 and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2005. In the 2005 parade, Bill Blair, the Toronto Police Chief, became the first police chief in Toronto to take part in the parade. He marched alongside politicians of all parties, including Mayor David Miller. The 2011 Toronto Pride Parade brought out more than one million attendants. David Miller, former mayor of Toronto, Brian Burke, General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Michael Thompson, member of city council, Rick Mercer, comedian, and many other Canadian officials and celebrities marched in the parade. Mayor Rob Ford did not attend the event and spent the time with his family for the Canada Day long weekend.
Contradiction with Laws?
The parade is a good opportunity to represent one of the minorities in the population. For many people in the LGBTQQ community, the parade is a way in which people can fight for their rights. However, there is one questionable aspect for me. Why should this event contain such explicit nudity in the heart of Toronto when there are many children participating or attending the parade?