Torontonians and guests from far and wide gathered this past weekend to celebrate the gay and lesbian (and a bunch of other) communities. It was the 28th Pride Day celebration in the city and by all accounts a good time was had. Because of other commitments, Frankie and I missed the parade this year – the first time in over a decade – but I got a taste of the celebration on Saturday and from the media.
The newsworthy new development was the first-time-ever appearance of uniformed Canadian Forces active personnel in the parade. No doubt many forces members, some active and some retired, have marched in the parade before but never with approval to their commanders to do so wearing their uniforms. I have to hand it to the Navy officers, including spokesperson Lt Steve Churm, for looking very hot in their cool summer whites, but all the forces personnel who participated in this precedent setting appearance deserved all the acclaim they received during the parade and in the media.
Saturday morning, I was happy to volunteer to help keep the hundreds of participants in the Pride and Remembrance Run hydrated. As one of the organizers of the first Pride weekend run, Runners for Life, in 1987, I have been out to run or volunteer almost every year. The breadth of causes the Pride and Remembrance Run has supported – this year the Lesbian and Gay Youth Help Line – is encouraging and all those who participated deserve recognition.
Amidst the celebrations there were some sour notes. Walking Church Street on Saturday I couldn’t help notice that the scene was almost identical to the one a week earlier at the Markham Village Fair. It was the same food vendors, the same cheap trinket sellers and about the same proportion of lesbians. The major difference was, in Markham, all the men had their pants on. Community groups have been pushed off Church Street and out of the Village for several years now. The only non-commercial activity on the street was the presence of recruiting booths for the OPP, RCMP and Toronto, Durham and York police departments. A small smattering of community groups were stationed on Wellesley St, away from the commercial fair and sandwiched between politicians and unions vying to show how gay-positive they are, but they were few and scattered. Unintentionally offensive, no doubt, was a spectacle sponsored TD-Canada Trust. TD was pushing hard to portray itself as the gay-friendly financial institution (as if the others aren’t) with a children’s play area and a misting/cool-off station. But TD also brought back the heterosexual male body-builders to pose for pictures with new clients applying for a TD Visa card. While tanned body-builders in skimpy green Speeds provided eye candy for the masses, the obvious discomfort, bordering on disgust, of the straight models posing with gay men did nothing positive for the bank’s image. Ignore the fact that the models were being paid and if they choose to prostitute their bodies in this way they should at least smile and act like they are enjoying it. Are there not enough gay and lesbian body builders available for the job? Did the bank tell the talent agency not to bother sending models who would scowl as they hung fanny packs over their steroid shrunken naughty bits? The bank might be advised to banish the spectacle entirely and come up with a new way of inspiring gay men to open an account than is a little less patronising.
Returning to things positive, I did enjoy a chat with a representative of TBLGAY – Transgendered, Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay (students) at York University – exchanging observations about being gay on campus in 2008 compared to 1968 when I arrived at York. Bravo to those who are making Positive Spaces at York an increasing reality.
Happy post-Pride and Happy Canada Day to all.
