The past week and a bit was Toronto's Pride Week. The only event I attended was the Pride Parade, but I was downtown on Canada Day (doing a scavenger hunt with our students, since we cannot hold classes on a statutory holiday) so I was witness to a bit of the Week's action. And what I saw made me very, very happy. From stores featuring Pride flags in their window displays to chocolate shops with rainbow-coloured marshmallow kebabs to the Pride flag waving prominently at New City Hall, it was so, so nice to see all these little gestures of support.On the day of the parade, when I first stepped off the subway at Bloor and saw a spirited bunch of people approximately my age who were obviously headed to Pride, I felt a surge of excitement. I couldn't wait to be standing along the parade route, caught up in the contagious enthusiasm of the thousands of people who had turned out in droves to celebrate.
I met Annie outside RBC, feeling so glad I had found someone to go with. I probably would have still gone by myself (I was adamant about getting the day off work because I felt like this was Something I Needed To Do), but I would have kept to myself and, doubtlessly, would not have had as much fun.
Since we had a good 2 hours before the Parade started, we decided to check out the community market on Church St., which consisted of food stands, information booths, Pride-
themed or -discounted objects to purchase, and free swag. We stopped by our school's booth to say hi and were given some swag (like a pair of much-needed sunglasses) from random passersby, which was awesome, but, hands down, my favourite part was the exposure to the gay community. People wore badges saying things like "lesbian," and "single" and made out with their same-sex significant other and dressed in ridiculous clothes and/or nothing at all and wished strangers "Happy Pride!" and didn't bat an eye when Anne chased after the "I like dick" sticker people in search of one such sticker whereas I politely declined it (hey, just being honest!)When it was closer to parade time, we grabbed a place on a Bloor St. curb with the brilliant plan of looking over everyone's heads and thus having a perfect view. In theory it was excellent; in practice, not so much. We ended up being able to see the floats really well, but it was difficult to see anyone walking on the street unless they were wearing an elaborate headdress or holding signs in the air.
Thankfully, there were a lot of floats, headdresses, and signs, so we could still make out plenty of the action. I really enjoyed seeing the big-name groups like TDSB; mayoral candidates Rocco Rossi, George Smitherman, and Sarah Thomson; Toronto EMS; and Jack Layton
lend their support. It made the whole thing seem more mainstream, I suppose. By having such exposure, I feel the view of the gay community as being just another normal, accepted, and celebrated group of people was reinforced (as opposed to being viewed as a small minority group of misfits, outcasts, and weirdos) - which is pretty rockin'.Even so, the parade was not what I'd expected. I expected to see dancing in the streets and hear lots of energized cheering, despite the hot temperatures. But, standing on a curb straining to see the groups of marching people (we missed the nudity!), I felt kind of removed from the action. And also, all the beautifully flamboyant and proud people from Church St. seemed to have been replaced by loud teenagers, tourists, families, and old people - some of whom I sensed were there more for the spectacle than the underlying reason behind it. They cheered when drag queens in elaborate get-ups or nearly-naked men gyrating on a float passed by, and threw up their hands to grab the goodies being tossed into the crowd. They snapped pictures of float after float and rainbow flag after rainbow flag, but they barely noticed Brian Burke or the countless other individuals taking the important step of marching for their own private/personal reasons.
Or maybe they were there to support the gay community. My point is that the celebrated (gay community) was nowhere to be found amid the celebrating (parade-goers) [And they can't all have been marching in the parade!]. I'll admit I kind of hoped I'd become bffs with some gay peeps standing next to us, form an insta-bond, and party the night away with them. But that didn't happen. Perhaps they were busy partying it up elsewhere, part of a secret club into which I have yet to be initiated.
At any rate, seeing pride flags around downtown and walking along Church St. meant that my first Pride experience was a good one. Even though it was a relatively small step for me in terms of my coming out process, it is significant in comparison to Care, version 2009. I distinctly recall being on the subway train northbound from Union Station last June, having just returned from visiting Abby in 'Loo, when a large, rambunctious group of parade-goers poured into my car. I remember thinking how it might have been cool to see the parade, but I was so scared of anyone (especially parents) finding out I'd gone, because of the conclusions they might have subsequently drawn. But this year? Not so much. I told anyone who asked (and some who didn't) exactly what I did on Sunday, July 4 - including my mom. So. Let them draw their conclusions...they're probably right! :)
Note: Don't forget you can ask me anything. Private message me, ask me in person, ask it in the comments...if you're curious about something, I'd be happy to clear it up!
