Starting in 1970, the festival we know today began as a series of picnics at Hanlan's Point and Ward's Island, organized by the University of Toronto Homophile Association, Toronto Gay Action Now, and the Community Homophile Association of Toronto. Even if Rob Ford thinks it's cool not to show up, as a city, we've come a long way. Spurred on by the New York City Stonewall riots and Canada's decriminalization of homosexual acts for consenting adults over the age of twenty-one in 1969, an event marked by then-justice minister Pierre Trudeau's statement that 'the state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation,' activists in Toronto began organizing the first events celebrating gay culture in the city.Ī few decades later, we have Pride Week-a city-wide festival celebrating gay culture.
With sponsors as diverse as TD Canada Trust, Bud Light, Via Rail, and Google+ happily participating in this year's Pride celebrations, it's easy to forget that not so long ago events celebrating sexual and gender identity were widely marginalized, shunned, and attacked in the mainstream media and politics.
