December 11, 2024 19:40 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Donald Trump vows to eliminate birthright citizenship after taking charge | No alliance with Congress in Delhi polls: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal | Bengaluru techie's suicide: Atul Subhash's wife and her family booked | Bengaluru techie's suicide: Atul Subhash's wife and her family booked | INDIA bloc to knock on Supreme Court's doors over alleged EVM manipulation during Maharashtra polls | 'Babri Masjid should be rebuilt in Bengal's Murshidabad': TMC MLA Humayun Kabir sparks row | Rajnath Singh calls on Russian Prez Vladimir Putin in Moscow, discusses bilateral defence cooperation | Police to investigate conspiracy angle in Mumbai bus accident that killed 7 | Mamata Banerjee should lead INDIA bloc: Lalu Prasad Yadav | Opposition moves no-confidence motion against VP Jagdeep Dhankar in RS

Pride Toronto apologizes for racial discrimination

| | Sep 21, 2016, at 02:14 am
Toronto, Sept 20 (IBNS): According to a recent statement released by the organization, Pride Toronto, says it deeply apologizes to Black Lives Matter Toronto (BLMTO) for "deepening the divisions” in the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer) community and for “a history of anti-blackness.”

The organization in a statement signed by its board of directors, said that it had received over 1,100 emails as well as heard from above 700 people at its various town hall meets. The statement came after the controversy that followed over its parade in Toronto in July.

"Pride Toronto wants to begin by apologizing emphatically and unreservedly for its role in deepening the divisions in our community, for a history of anti-blackness and repeated marginalization of the marginalized within our community that our organization has continued," it reads.

In July, the Pride parade where Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau also made his appearance, for the first time, was temporarily blocked by a Black Lives Matter Toronto protest. The event resumed after 30 minutes following an agreement by top Pride executives to a list of demands for next year’s festival, including a ban on police floats at the parade.


Following day, after the parade, Mathieu Chantelois, Pride Toronto’s former leader, said the organization never agreed to exclude police from its events. However, they will discuss with the police about their future involvements in the event.

The organization said it was not prepared for the racism that followed its decision to make BLMTO as an “honoured group” at the parade and it “remains committed” to demands by BLMTO, Blackness Yes, Black Queer Youth, among others.

BLMTO wants Pride Toronto to ban police floats and booths from Pride marches, parades and community events.

"Broadly, we heard clearly from the feedback, that Pride Toronto needs be more transparent around our decision-making and better consult with and communicate our direction to our community members," it reads.

Pride Toronto however mentioned it will use its dispute resolution process to regulate the nature of police involvement at future Pride events

"It is our existing decision-making mechanism, which we believe is the best tool to assess the participation of law enforcement agencies in a manner that is objective, transparent and involves the participation of human rights experts," it reads.

The organization further announced it will recruit a new executive director, and at its upcoming annual general meeting, four positions on its board of directors will be open for election.

(Reporting by Debarati Mukherjee)

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Related Images
Xi Jinping, Putin in Russia Mar 22, 2023, at 08:26 pm