Montreal’s Pride festivities are still weeks away but security concerns about the parade are already taking centre stage.
This comes in the wake of disruptions at Pride parades in other cities, including Toronto’s just a few weeks ago. Organizers stopped the parade after pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged a protest.
“Yeah, there was an interruption of part of the (Toronto) parade,” Fierté Montréal executive director Simon Gamache told reporters at a press conference. “It was the last 20 per cent. This has been happening at Prides around the world since February.”
On top of that, Nova Scotia’s premier decided to skip the Halifax parade after RCMP raised security worries.
Now, some are wondering if disruptions could happen at the Montreal parade, scheduled for Aug. 11. Some groups even decided to withdraw from the parade out of concerns for their own security, organizers say.
“I mean, there are a couple groups,” Gamache told Global News. “It’s less than two per cent of the registration of the parade. That’s not concerning.”
He says 188 groups are taking part.
Title sponsor TD has not confirmed nor denied if it is among the groups not taking part despite repeated questioning by Global News. A spokesperson wrote in a statement, however, that “TD has a long-standing commitment to the 2SLGBTQ+ community and to helping drive change to create a more inclusive society. We were the first bank to offer same-sex spousal benefits to employees, and have long supported the community with philanthropy and our unique 2SLGBTQ+ business development team. We continue to engage with the 2SLGBTQ+ community and Fierte Montreal to find ways to show our unwavering support.”
Fierté Montréal and other Pride organizations have been accused of betraying the core principles of fighting against injustice. The group behind the Montreal Trans March decided to cut ties with the Fierté Montréal earlier this month because of those concerns.
“A lot of Pride Montreal sponsors are involved in human rights violations, whether it be here in Canada or across the globe,” said Celeste Trianon, Montréal Trans March organizer.
For example, some critics say sponsors like TD are complicit in what they see as war crimes in places like Gaza. Montreal Pride organizers say they are in talks with different groups about the concerns, and that they are taking steps to ensure there is security for all.
Some participants in this year’s Pride festival, like drag queen Rita Baga, say they do understand the need to protest.
“It’s completely legitimate and it’s a human right to protest and to claim what you have to claim,” she said.
After all, they point out, Pride itself started out as — and is still is — a protest.