June • 2022
RESPONSIBLE TRAVELLER
ADVERTORIAL
Pride Toronto is Back in Person!
BALLOONS AND FACEPAINT © COURTESY OF PRIDE TORONTO
PRIYANKA © COURTESY OF PRIDE TORONTO
MYST MILANO © COURTESY OF PRIDE TORONTO
This June, Pride returns to Toronto to celebrate the diversity of the Greater Toronto Area’s 2SLGBT2Q+ communities. Pride has been a long time in the making, from a small gathering of dedicated activists fighting for their right to love and be seen to the vibrant celebration we know and love today. Since 1970, the pride movement has been supporting 2SLGBTQ+ communities in the pursuit of the unequivocal right to be heard, understood, accepted, and respected. From the first picnic organized by Toronto’s first queer activist organizations that became “Gay Day Picnic” to the first Toronto Pride Week march in 1974 and the addition of the Trans March in 2009, Pride Toronto celebrates the communities that have continued to gather and celebrate the beauty and confidence that comes from being your most authentic self.
parties to conferences, art shows to live performances, and much more, this year’s Pride is bringing together the virtual events that kept us connected over the past two years with the beloved in-person events that have been sorely missed. In collaboration with ArtworxTO, Toronto will be filled with visually striking and expressive art installations throughout June, from Tyler Burey’s Duality Illuminated at stackt market, Alex Flores’ Sustainable Love at College Park, and Moe Praminick’s The Cosmic Explorer in the West Toronto Railpath. Pride month concludes with the annual Festival Weekend on June 24-25-26, 2022—a celebration you won’t want to miss. Festival Weekend celebrates the return of annual favourites, like Drag Ball, AlternaQueer, and Club Quarantine on June 25, all gearing up for Parade Day on June 26, where the star-studded main stage will be full of incredible and vibrant performances from this year’s headliners, including Jamaican-born recording artist, singer, songwriter and “Queen of Dancehall” Spice, Canada’s Drag Race season one winner and hometown queen Priyanka, and the Legendary’s House of Miyake-Mugler. “It is going to bring the city to life,” says Pride Toronto Executive Director Sherwin Modeste. “Throughout Pride Month, we will be continuing our new initiatives to include different art forms and will give everyone a reason, time, space, and something to celebrate. We
cannot wait to welcome back our how communities form, the community to honour the history power of using connections to of protest and celebrate the future.” build and bind communities, and how we can all become LOVE AND LEARNING successful leaders and advocates Pride Toronto was founded on for change. Throughout the the fundamental truth that love month, Pride Toronto will be prevails and we are all deserving hosting discussions, celebrations, of it. It continues a legacy that is and opportunities for learning deeply intertwined with the rich, across 2SLGBTQ+ communities, progressive history of Toronto’s including events for 2SLGBTQ+ queer community. seniors, a Sober Pride Oasis, and “While we celebrate how far the Trans Rally & Trans March we have come as a community, on June 24. Pride Month is also a critical As well, on June 21, The Black time to lift up and advocate for Queer and Trans Excellence podmany vulnerable groups within cast will host a live recording to the 2SLGBTQ+ community honour the Black experience who continue to be marginalized through the lens of Toronto’s and left behind,” share Board 2SLGBTQ+ Black community, Co-Chairs Grant Gonzales and with honest conversations and Yuri Hernandez. celebrations of Black joy. The 2SLGBTQ+ communities, especially Indigenous and A GLOBAL CELEBRATION racialized people, continue to This year, Pride Toronto is excited be among the most vulnerable to announce a collaboration with in Canada, which was especially Global Black Pride (GBP) and prevalent during the COVID-19 Blackness Yes! to produce the crisis. While Pride Toronto is a first in-person and hybrid event celebration of love and diversity, in Toronto. there is always room to include This will be the first global Pride important conversations about event that brings together Black how we can help change our LGBTQI+ communities across world for the better and improve all continents, and it’s happening acceptance and accessibility here in Toronto. This international across our communities. event will celebrate Black culture On June 12, the Pride 2022 and diversity, providing a space annual Youth Conference, co- for activists and community-based hosted by LGBT YouthLine organizations across the globe to and with support from engage and reflect. Let’sStopAIDS, will host two In keeping with this year’s global workshops around “Building celebration, Pride Toronto has Community Spaces During announced its Charity of Choice, Covid-19.” This registration- The Black Coalition for AIDS only event will dive into Prevention (Black CAP), Canada’s
PRIDE LIVE After two years of online programming, Toronto’s Pride month festivities are back and better than ever, returning with in-person events across the city. The long-awaited return will include signature favourites including the annual Trans March, Dyke March, Bi+ Pride Programming, Blockorama by Blackness Yes, Pride Parade, StreetFair, and multiple stages featuring over 300 2SLGBTQ+ artists. The programming will begin on June 1 with the annual City of Toronto Flag Raising, kicking off a month of festivities. From
PRINCE MANNY DINGO © COURTESY OF PRIDE TORONTO
DYKE MARCH © COURTESY OF PRIDE TORONTO
largest organization dedicated to mitigating the impacts of HIV/ AIDS on the Caribbean, African, and Black communities. With an approach rooted in anti-oppression and equity and under the motto “All Black People’s Lives are Important,” Black CAP offers a range of services and programs catered to the identities, experiences and needs of Toronto’s richly diverse Black population. From awareness campaigns and harm reduction programs to newcomer settlement services and peer support groups, Black CAP’s programming is a holistic and expansive response to the Black community’s needs. The Pride parade has come a long way. Through it all, Pride has maintained a committed effort to honour its history while allowing space for the future. To align with new sustainability efforts, Pride Toronto will be eliminating the use of flatbed floats and gaspowered vehicles in 2022 and will be moving to smaller greenpowered vehicles. Come for the parade and stay for the whimsical and exciting performances, thought-provoking conversations, and immersive art installations. It’s been a long two years; you won’t want to miss this. Supporting Pride Toronto means amplifying these voices and prioritizing local, community-focused advocacy. To make a donation in support of the 2SLGBTQ+ community and find the full Pride Month lineup visit PrideToronto.com
