REALity Volume XXXVI Issue No. 5 May 2017
Last year the activist group Black Lives Matter (BLM) held up the 2016 Gay Pride Parade for half an hour making demands on the parade organizers. One of its main demands was that the Toronto police be prohibited from participating in the parade and that no police floats be permitted.
The Executive Director of the Gay Pride Parade, Mathieu Chantelois, agreed to the demands so that the parade could continue. The following day he scrapped the agreement with BLM. Shortly after, Chantelois was accused of racism and sexual harassment and resigned from the Toronto Gay Pride Parade organization.
In January, 2017, BLM appeared at the annual meeting of the Gay Pride Parade and convinced the organizers to disassociate from the police in any future Gay Pride Parade. This did not please many of the Gay Pride Parade supporters, who responded by stating they would boycott the 2017 parade.
In February, 2017, in order to avoid Toronto’s Gay Pride conflict, the Halifax Police Force also stated that it will not participate in the Gay Pride Parade in that city this year.
The Vancouver BLM group also petitioned Vancouver’s Pride organization to prevent all uniformed armed police officers from participating in the Vancouver Pride Parade.
Meanwhile, the organizers of the Toronto Gay Pride Parade announced the appointment of a new Executive Director, Olivia Nuamah. Being black and female, the organizers thought their choice was perfect. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty. For example, one of the members of the City Council, John Campbell, supported by half a dozen other councillors, recommended that the Toronto Council withdraw the $260,000 grant given by the city to the Gay Pride Parade. Mr. Campbell argued that the money for the parade be voted down until the parade returns to its “core principles of equity and inclusivity”. (Never fear, City Council will, inevitably, fund the Toronto Gay Pride Parade in 2017.)
The new Executive Director, Olivia Nuamah, has stated that there was no chance the Toronto parade would consider inviting police officers to participate in the 2017 parade, until there was “constructive dialogue” with all the parties. Good luck with that! Ms. Nuamah, also made clear that she “absolutely” still wants police in uniform to act as security at the parade. This free police security cost the taxpayer $512,000 for the 2016 Toronto Gay Pride Parade. This figure does not include the cost of pay-duty police, subject to privacy laws. It is not known whether paid duty police, under these circumstances, will agree to participate in the 2017 Gay Pride Parade.
The Toronto police have marched in the Gay Pride Parade for a number of years, signaling to the LGBT “hey fellows, we’re your friends, and we don’t care that you’re breaking the law that prohibits public nudity and displays of simulated sex acts, (i.e. indecent acts chargeable under the Criminal Code). We think you’re special, and above the law.”
Gratitude and loyalty are not an integral part of the DNA of the LGBT, but a sense of entitlement is!
Gay Pride Parades not Acceptable in Every Community
Just north of Toronto, the Town Council of Richmond Hill agreed to allow a gay parade, but the business community rejected it because they did not view the Gay Pride Parade as “family oriented”. They stated that the loss of business and the few people who do attend the parade, did not make the event worthwhile.
It is significant that the York Region Police Force has firmly stated that there would be no nudity or other breaches of the Criminal Code allowed if a Gay Pride Parade were held in Richmond Hill. As a result, if such a parade took place in Richmond Hill, it would not be the freak show that has attracted viewers to the Toronto Gay Pride Parade. The latter has become an alcohol, drug and sexual orgy.
John McKellar, who identifies as gay, describes the Toronto Gay Pride Parade https://hopenow2004.wordpress.com/author/hopenow2004/ as follows:
Since when do half-naked men dressed in pink tutus and combat boots acting like immature buffoons in the middle of the street constitute high culture? Or blaring bad music, cheesy impersonators, public hard drug consumption, public intoxication and public sex acts?
The business community of the Town of Newmarket, another York Region community has agreed to accept a Gay Pride Parade providing that nothing “smutty” is included in the parade. The organizers there have assured the Town Council that the parade and surrounding activities will be appropriate for families with free rainbow ice-cream, draws, storytelling and performances at a community stage. If the latter does not materialize, concerns about the “lost business during the gay parade” will lead to the parade in Newmarket being cancelled as it has been in Richmond Hill.
Supporters of the Toronto Gay Pride Parade insist that they have many supporters. They should know that it is viewed by many as a free freak show, and it does nothing to advance respect for the authorities, LGBTQ participants or their audience.