CELEBRATING OUR COMMUNITIES WITH PRIDE AND COURAGE
A COMMUNITY-ORIENTED EVALUATION OF PRIDE TORONTO AND ITS ANNUAL PRIDE FESTIVAL
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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WHY THIS REPORT? ______
On February 17, 2011, the Pride Toronto Community Advisory Panel released its much-anticipated report, Our Pride: A Community Effort , which provided Pride Toronto with 133 recommendations to “help protect and advance [its] overall objectives.” 1 These were released after one month of consultations (beginning with the first public meeting on December 9th, 2010) and approximately one month of writing, and were touted as being “from the community” 2 -- something we at Queer Ontario understand is an impossibility given the heterogeneity and, indeed, the unavoidable tensions and conflicts that exist between and within Toronto’s many LGBTQ community groups.
Considering that many targeted individuals never bothered to fill out the survey or to participate in the CAP’s forums -- whatever their reason -- and considering that the CAP also incorporated the needs and interests of other governmental, lobbying, and corporate stakeholders during its consultations – those who do not necessarily constitute members of Toronto’s LGBTQ “community” – we refused to give the report the credibility and authority the CAP was demanding from us. Especially since, given the undemocratic and Pride-approved measures that were taken to select the panellists – a vast majority of whom are high-profile and classed professionals, and who are known to be sympathetic to Pride Toronto’s corporate interests – we were sceptical about the ‘neutrality’ of the report and its ability to accommodate the many interests and demands of “The Community.”
Indeed, it was precisely because we didn’t want our distinctly liberationist perspective to be subsumed and silenced by this questionable consultation process that Queer Ontario decided to boycott the CAP’s consultation process and to present its own recommendations directly to Pride Toronto -- that way they could be considered individually, and in their entirety, without any compromise whatsoever. Besides, being a body of individuals that was elected by members of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities to represent their needs and interests at all levels of organizational decision-making, we felt it was the responsibility of the Pride Toronto Board itself – and not that of an undemocratically selected panel – to engage and consult with the community directly. That is: to incorporate and make use of a consultation process in its everyday operations and not as something that is to be done once, for a limited time only, by an external body, to mend a fundamentally flawed organization.
And so, following our own consultation process, spearheaded by the Queer Ontario Pride Toronto Survey, we have produced our own report with recommendations for the Pride Toronto Board to consider when moving forward with its restructuring phase; hopefully before implementing any more of the CAP’s recommendations to ensure that it has considered as many possible solutions as possible.
1 Page 3 of the CAP’s Executive Summary. 2 According to their Executive Summary, on Page 5: “this report is the product of over nine months of planning and consultations with key stakeholders and members of the LGBT community. As such, the recommendations contained within this report are not those of the Community Advisory Panel, but rather, they belong to the community.”
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To this end, then, and especially because the Community Advisory Panel has refused to make public the full list of recommendations it drew from to write its report, we invite other organizations and community groups to come forward with their own concerns and sets of recommendations, so that their perspectives can be shared with the Pride Toronto Board and be given as much weight and consideration as the ideas and recommendations that were put forward in the CAP report. Regardless of how brief or ‘unrefined’ these concerns and recommendations may be. For only once the Pride Toronto Board has directly heard from and considered the needs and interests of its many constituent groups can it begin to move forward with a more directly informed -- and unmediated -- solution.
Indeed, to borrow the words of the Community Advisory Panel: Pride Toronto can be “saved,” but only if the organization learns to reconnect with its constituent community groups; stands up for their rights regardless of their identities, backgrounds, politics, or expressions; and works extra hard at regaining their trust -- the way a community-based and community-profiteering organization should.
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THE REPORT / OUR ANALYSIS ______
Given that Queer Ontario is an organization that operates under queer liberationist principles -- ones that value democratic processes, and fight for the rights of all LGBTQ persons to live a life that is as self-determined and as fully-realized as possible -- readers will find in this report a series of perspectives and recommendations that provide a viable alternative to the failing neo-liberal and corporatist culture that has guided Pride Toronto for at least the past five years.
At the core of the analysis is Pride Toronto’s mission to “celebrate the history, courage, diversity, and future of Toronto’s LGBTTIQQ2SA communities” (with a particular emphasis placed on the celebration of history and diversity ), as well as its main objective to “stag[e] in the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto an annual celebration and informational, educational and cultural festival by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgenderal [sic] people…” (with a particular emphasis on the by and for clause). And, because Pride Toronto purportedly operates under a set of visions and values, we also focus on those.
Particularly its promise to: • Coordinate a series of pre-eminent arts & cultural events… that empower and support our communities. • Connect with and help develop our communities… • Recognize, celebrate, and build upon the history of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities; and • Provide a platform for education…
As well as its commitment to: • Honour our past by remembering our history. • Value diversity by accepting and respecting differences… • Celebrate with provocative, racy, and outrageous events; and • Engage the diversity of our community… and facilitating community development.
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As such, the Report features 94 recommendations that will help Pride Toronto become an organization that truly understands, embraces, respects, and celebrates the history and diversity of Toronto’s many LGBTQ communities, and one that has at its core an unfaltering commitment to its constituent communities, which allows them to determine the direction of the organization and the form and content of the festival. These include:
1. A fundamental change to the way the Pride Festival is conceived (Recommendation 51)
That the festival be imagined as a Community Fair that aims to showcase the history, culture, achievements, and diversity of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities. That is: all of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, regardless of their politics or expression. And that Pride Toronto’s focus be not the entertainment of these community groups per se, but their fair and accurate representation to the rest of the city and, indeed, the world.
2. A fundamental change to the way Pride events are organized (Recommendations 52-53)
Rather than have Pride Toronto try to plan and organize everything , it would be much more prudent if it were to transfer these planning and realization processes onto the various constituent community groups themselves. That is: rather than planning Pride events according to what they think their constituents want, it would be more effective for Pride Toronto to allow their constituents to plan for themselves the events they want to have at Pride, allowing Pride Toronto to serve a more co-coordinative and supportive role that provides these groups with the resources they need to make their events happen (including funds, technical support, permits, and legal aid).
3. A fundamental change to the way ‘Pride Coordinators’ are selected (Recommendation 29)
Rather than have the Pride Toronto Board screen and ‘hire’ Pride Coordinators who will be responsible for organizing a Pride feature and connecting with affected or implicated community groups to make it happen, we recommend that the formal positions of ‘Pride Coordinators’ be abolished and that Pride Toronto implement instead a process where LGBTQ community groups put forward the individuals they want representing them on all things Pride-related; ideally individuals who are already responsible for co-coordinating that group’s Pride events or activities.
4. A fundamental change to the way Board Members are elected (Recommendations 30-32)
Similarly, rather than have a Board made up of individuals who are pre -selected by the existing Board and then elected by the membership at large, we recommend that the board be made up of individuals that, much like the Pride Coordinators, are selected by individual LGBTQ community groups to represent them on the board. Ideally, they would be the same individuals who were selected for the Pride Coordination position mentioned above, but they need not be. This is something that will need to be decided by the community group itself, in whatever way they choose.
5. A fundamental change to the reception of corporate funds (Recommendations 38-45)
By establishing a Pride Toronto Trust Fund that corporations can donate to if they want to support Pride Toronto, its work, and the communities it exists to serve; and ensuring that these sponsorships are treated as supportive donations (i.e. because the corporation genuinely supports Pride Toronto and its work) and not as opportunities for corporate representation or marketing within the festival.
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Also, by screening all interested corporations to ensure that they are centred around policies and practices that are respectful of LGBTQ people, but also non -LGBTQ people (especially their labourers and the indigenous or established communities they affect through their operations) and their impacted environments (by respecting habitats and engaging in sustainable practices). This is to be done by an independent Human & Environmental Ethics Review Board, which Pride Toronto should be advocating for, and employing, given its purported commitment to environmental sustainability and human rights.
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AN INVITATION TO MEET ______
Indeed, given the start of a new fiscal year on August 1st, and the recent hire of Glen Brown as the Interim Executive Director of Pride Toronto, now is an ideal time to consider these recommendations and to find ways of implementing them in the near future. As such, we invite Glen Brown and the Pride Toronto Board to meet with us to discuss our recommendations and to find ways of opening itself up to greater community engagement and participation.
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2. A LOOK AT OUR PROCESS / HOW WE GOT HERE
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THE QUEER ONTARIO BOYCOTT OF THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY PANEL (CAP) ______
On August 30th, 2010, Queer Ontario issued a statement boycotting the Community Advisory Panel’s (CAP) consultation process, which was struck by Pride Toronto to address the tensions that had surfaced within the city’s various LGBTQ communities as a result of the organization’s disrespect for constituents like Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA), the Blackness Yes! Committee, and the local Trans community. We did this on a number of ethical grounds:
1. Because the idea of the CAP and the formalized consultation process emerged out of a private, closed-door meeting between the Pride Toronto Board, Reverend Brent Hawkes of the Metropolitan Community Church, Roy Douglas Elliott of Roy Elliott Kim O’Connor LLP, and Maura Lawless of the 519 Church Street Community Centre.3 A meeting whose details have yet to be made public.
2. Because the CAP was struck and approved at this meeting without any input or feedback from Toronto’s LGBTQ communities. That is: Pride constituents were never given an opportunity to provide feedback on whether it wanted the Pride Toronto board to establish a third party to conduct the work that the Board was elected to do itself . Nor, barring this, were constituents given an opportunity to nominate or elect candidates for the Panel; or, barring that , to develop a set of criteria to guide the candidate selection. Rather, the preliminary list was compiled by Rev. Brent Hawkes with the pre-approval of the Board; 4 Brent Hawkes having designated himself the Chair of the Panel.
3. Because these consultations were precisely what local activists were trying to establish with Pride Toronto ever since the news of the controversial Free Speech Policy surfaced in March. Calls for meetings that were only amplified with the release of the Pride Guide, which featured its sensationalist and no less offensive “When Harry Became Sally” cover. Calls that were amplified even further when the Board announced that it would relocate the Blockorama stage. Indeed, a set of meetings that only became tangible when three established and high profile ‘leaders’ came forward with the idea of a consultative panel.
3 Note that Liberal MPP Glen Murray, Doug Kerr of the Proud of Toronto Campaign (formerly the Pride Coalition for Free Speech), and Helen Kennedy of Egale (who was then serving as a Pride Toronto Board Member) are also implicated in these formative discussions since they had met previously with Hawkes and Lawless at Glen Murray’s office to provide Tracey Sandilands, Pride Toronto’s former Executive Director, with two solutions to ease tensions with Pride Toronto’s constituents. Namely: to reverse the ban on the phrase “Israeli Apartheid,” and to establish the Community Advisory Panel. Although the reason Community Advisory Panel came forward as a solution, from all the other possible solutions that were discussed at that meeting, remains a mystery to us. The reason Rev. Brent Hawkes felt it was imperative that he appoint himself Chair of the Advisory Panel remains equally so. Matt Mills. June 24, 2010. “How Pride Toronto was convinced to rescind its ban..” in Xtra! Canada’s Gay & Lesbian News http://www.xtra.ca/blog/national/post/2010/06/24/How-Pride-was-convinced-to-rescind-ban.aspx
4 According to Xtra! : “519 Church Street Community Centre executive director Maura Lawless consulted with an unnamed group of community organization executive directors in compiling the list of would-be panellists. Hawkes says he also consulted with MPP Glen Murray, mayoral candidate George Smitherman and Ward 27 city Councillor Kyle Rae. A list of 15 potentials was submitted to and approved by the PT board of directors.” Matt Mills. August 13, 2010. “Who will be on the Pride Toronto advisory panel?” in Xtra! Canada’s Gay & Lesbian News http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Who_will_be_on_the_Pride_Toronto_advisory_panel-9052.aspx
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4. Because the panelists that were short-listed were other established and high-profile classed individuals.
5. Because the panelists that were short-listed were known to be largely sympathetic to Pride Toronto and its corporate interests.
6. Because the panelists that were short-listed excluded so-called ‘polarizing figures’, despite the fact that there would have been many such individuals who would have had the support of a large segment of Toronto’s LGBTQ population.
7. Because given the resultantly narrow professional, ideological, and political profile of the short-listed panelists, the Panel would have inadvertently provided a rather narrow (if not inadvertently biased) set of recommendations; and
8. Because given the corporate sympathies of the Panel, there was an understanding that the CAP was going to consult with and incorporate the interests of stakeholders who were not members of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities -- namely, the City of Toronto, non-LGBTQ- related lobby groups, and corporate sponsors. This was problematic because:
1. It would have compromised the integrity of the report’s findings as a distinctly ‘community-based’ set of recommendations; and
2. It would have veered the organization and the festival away from their official focus.
a) According to the Pride Toronto website:
To celebrate the history, courage, diversity, and future of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities.
b) According to Pride Toronto’s Articles of Incorporation:
[To stage] in the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto an annual celebration and informational, educational and cultural festival by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual transsexual and transgenderal [sic] people of their sexual and gender orientations and identities and their histories, cultures, communities, organizations, relationships, achievements and lives…
Indeed, it would have been much more prudent for the CAP or, better yet, for the Pride Toronto Board itself to consult directly and specifically with members of Toronto’s LGBT communities to get a sense of what they wanted to see in a festival that exists to serve and celebrate them , independent of the interests of the City, of non-LGBTQ-related organizations, or corporate sponsors.
A Note Regarding Our Members’ Participation
Do note that while Queer Ontario as an organization with a distinctly queer analysis of issues decided to by-pass the CAP’s consultation processes to present its recommendations directly to the Pride Toronto Board, we gave our members the liberty to engage with the CAP and its consultation process in whichever way they chose as autonomous and self-representing persons. This allowed
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our members to provide their own perspectives (or not) to the Panel, without us asking or requiring them to conform to the organization’s decisions or analyses. The only condition we placed on Queer Ontario members who were thinking of taking part in the consultations was that they not officially represent Queer Ontario, given the organizational boycott. We felt this was the fairest approach to take to the entire process and from what we understand, all Queer Ontario members that participated in the consultation process respected this condition.
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THE QUEER ONTARIO PRIDE TORONTO SURVEY ______
Following the boycott, a survey was circulated to the Queer Ontario membership on January 17, 2011 where we asked individuals to provide us with feedback on Pride Toronto the organization and its business practices, particularly as it related to the organization’s mishandling of the 2010 QuAIA controversy, the Blockorama stage, the Trans community, and the 2010 Annual General Meeting. These included:
* Pride Toronto’s mission statement * Pride Toronto’s vision and values * Its governance structure and internal communications * Its business practices and external communications * Its relationship to funders, political parties, and corporations * Its relationship to its constituents and membership * The addition of Allies to the LGBTTIQQ2S acronym; and * The Pride festival
The deadline for the survey responses were January 28, 2011. Gratefully, we received eleven of them, the vast majority of which provided very thorough and critical analyses of both Pride Toronto’s organizational flaws and its 2010 controversies. While this is a relatively low response rate given our then 450 known supporters, the responses we received made it perfectly clear to us exactly what kind of approach and analysis our respondents were hoping we would use, and what kinds of recommendations they felt we should put forward in the report. Indeed, there was a particular emphasis on the qualitative aspects of Pride Toronto as opposed to the quantitative, so the themes, messages and ultimate recommendations produced in this report will be uniquely and qualitatively queer and liberationist -- a perspective that is markedly different than that which was put forth by the CAP.
This report, then, incorporates as many our respondents’ concerns and recommendations as possible, complementing them with an ethical analysis in support of their adoption. We will argue that to run a festival and an organization that is as respectful and representative of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities as possible, the Pride Toronto Board will need to conduct a staunch organizational realignment with Pride Toronto’s mission statement, 5 and similar adherence to its main objective 6 -- all with the greatest possible degree of community awareness, responsively, accountability, professionalism and transparency.
5 To celebrate the history, courage, diversity and future of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities 6 To stage an annual celebration and informational, educational and cultural festival by and for its LGBTQ constituents.
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That said, we lament the fact that not all of the received recommendations were able to be included in this report. To compensate for these omissions, then, we will provide a copy of the survey questions with all 7 corresponding responses to allow our readers to compare the recommendations that were provided, the recommendations that were incorporated into the report, and the recommendations that were added afterwards to further our community-focused argument.
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7 All except for one, that is, since the respondent never got back to us when we contacted them for permission to publish their survey responses. We did this twice.
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3. ABOUT THE REPORT / POINTS OF CLARIFICATION
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ITS FOCUS ______
Do note that this report is not meant to be an exhaustive report of Pride Toronto’s governance model or business practices. Rather it is an ethical analysis that provides a constituent-centred , constituent- driven , and constituent-respecting framework for running an organization that claims, as Pride Toronto does, to celebrate the history, courage, diversity and future of [all of] Toronto’s LGBTTIQQ2SA communities. Indeed, it is an analysis with a set of recommendations that aims to bring Pride Toronto closer to its main objective, which is to stage an annual celebration and informational, educational and cultural festival that is organized by and for its lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities..
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ITS AIMS ______
This report does not purport to represent the views of an entire LGBTQ community, be it that of Ontario, for example, or that of Toronto. Rather, it is a report that puts forward a specific approach to governing an organization that calls for the consideration and accommodation of its constituents’ many needs and interests -- at all junctures of Pride Toronto’s decision-making and planning processes. That is, to consider and accommodate the needs and interests of its constituent communities above the needs and interests of any tourist, funding body, corporate sponsor, or outside critic.
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THE UNAVOIDABLE LIMITS OF ITS ‘REPRESENTATION’ ______
Given the eleven-person turnaround for our survey and the distinctly radical set of recommendations therein, this report cannot legitimately claim to represent the perspective of all Queer Ontario members either, let alone a statistically significant number of them. While this is indeed the case, it should be noted that our low response rate in no way delegitimizes the value or significance of our recommendations since our aim is not to provide the one, communal perspective of a body of affiliated individuals(in this case, that of our membership). Its aim is to present a decidedly ‘constituent-centric ’ perspective underscored by a body of queer liberationist values that we knew were going to be omitted in the CAP report given the more ‘inclusionist’ approach of the CAP consultation process (particularly its consideration of corporate and non-LGBTQ-related stakeholders).
Indeed, we understand that no organization – whether it is Pride Toronto, the Community Advisory Panel, or Queer Ontario – can claim to adequately represent all of the identities, ideologies, needs, interests, and desires that are currently at play within Toronto’s innumerable LGBTQ communities.
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We recognize that the concept of a ‘community’ – including the more specific ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’, or ‘trans’ communities -- is an imaginary (if not a hopeful) concept more than it is a necessarily lived or experienced reality, especially given the multifarious and often conflicting tensions also exist within them. Indeed, we recognize that there are other, more specific, and idiosyncratic layers of difference which, depending on the context, may forge stronger and more meaningful connections between the individuals that constitute Toronto’s “LGBTQ communities.” These include (but are in no way limited to): physical, sensorial, emotional, and intellectual abilities; race; age; ethnicity; upbringing; formal or informal education; everyday lived experiences; marital status; family status; work experiences; employment status; kind of employment; profession; economic status; social status; popularity; one’s power and influence -- over other influential people and non-influential people alike; and personal interests, be they sexual or otherwise.
Broadly speaking, then, our approach, both as an organization and within this report, is to recognize and celebrate these very complexities and to move beyond the strictly identitarian (“LGBTQ”) approach to social organization and social representation that has been a staple at Pride Toronto over the last decade or so. Indeed, our focus is more about establishing the structures and processes that Pride Toronto will need to allow for the greatest degree of constituent participation and, in turn, the most robust community-Board dialogue possible, which will ensure that Pride Toronto remains as accessible, as democratic, as responsive, and as accountable to its LGBTQ constituents as possible. That is: as fully aware of the needs and interests of its constituents and as sensitive to the exclusions that may arise from any of its organizational practices.
The aim of the report, then, is to provide a very specific set of perspectives and recommendations that we know are shared by a number of Pride’s constituents, regardless of their community or group affiliation. That is: we understand the perspectives presented in this report are not specific or limited to our respondents alone, which is why we are compelled to bring them forward and make them conscionable to the Pride Toronto Board.
Similarly, we acknowledge that there exist a number of other recommendations that may not be captured by either our report or that of the CAP’s, which is why we encourage all individuals and/or community groups who feel that their views are not represented in our report or the CAP’s to take the same conscious-raising measures, publishing their own set of recommendations for the Pride Toronto Board and Pride’s LGBTQ communities to review and consider. That way their recommendations can also be made conscionable (known to all) and be given the same weight as the recommendations set out both here and in the CAP report.
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ITS RELATION TO THE CAP REPORT ______
This report is meant to provide a set of recommendations that present an ethical argument for the consideration of the needs and interests of Pride’s constituent communities at all stages of Pride Toronto’s planning and decision-making processes, independent of the needs of any non-implicated governing bodies, lobby groups, or communities. Naturally, this will include a set of recommendations that will be similar – if not identical – to those that are presented in the CAP Report. However, given our focus on community-level organizing and participatory democratic processes, this will also include a set of recommendations that are radically different from -- and at times in direct conflict with – the recommendations set out in the CAP Report. For part of our
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mission is to explicitly put forward a series of strictly community-based recommendations that, for whatever reason, were not included in the CAP report and which we felt needed some serious consideration.
Indeed, the Board may find that some of these recommendations will gain the support of the LGBTQ communities it claims to represent, perhaps even over and above the recommendations set forth in the CAP report. If this turns out to be the case, then we feel it would be in the best interest of the organization to implement them -- not only for the sake of the organization’s credibility, but for the health of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities as well.
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MOVING FORWARD ______
Given the recent hiring of Glen Brown as the new Interim Executive Director of Pride Toronto, and the start of the 2011-2012 fiscal year in July, we feel that now is the ideal for the Pride Toronto Board to re-open its lines of communications with its constituent communities and to engage in direct and ongoing discussions with them (as opposed to the one-time and time-limited discussions that were held during the CAP consultations). For it would be unwise and, indeed, short-sighted for Pride Toronto to move forward with the implementation of the invariably selective CAP recommendations 8 without exploring all other possible options at this key moment of transition.
And to expedite this process, we also call on the Community Advisory Panel to publish a running list of all the different kinds of recommendations it received in its consultation process without publishing the names or affiliations of its respondents. This will help Pride Toronto and its constituent communities get a sense of the range of perspectives and ideas the Panel received, and how they differ and compare to the recommendations and perspectives put forward in the CAP Report.
We look forward to meeting with Pride Toronto, and any other interested community groups, to discuss our recommendations and to answer any and all of your questions.
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8 Iinvariably selective , that is, given the 133 recommendations that came out of the roughly 2,000 responses the CAP received during its consultation process.
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4. DEFINITIONS
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THE COMMUNITY ~ THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY ( IN THE SINGULAR ) ______
We recognize that the concept of a ‘community’ -- particularly that of an overarching LGBTQ community -- is an imaginary (if not a hopeful) concept more than it is a necessarily lived or experienced reality, especially given the many differing and often conflicting* ideologies, interests and needs that are held by each and every individual who makes up this so-called ‘community’.
As such, we will use The Community or The LGBTQ Community as a short-hand for a population of individuals in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area who are distinguishable by their marginalization in a society that naturalizes, privileges, celebrates, and romanticizes:
a. heterosexuality b. monogamy between married or unmarried couples c. loving and reproductive sexual practices / engagements d. unambiguously polarized (male vs. female) views of sexed bodies e. unambiguously polarized (man vs. woman) views of gender identity f. a ‘congruency’ between one’s sexed body and one’s sense or expression of gender g. bodies that are able, healthy, and free of sexually-transmitted diseases – particularly HIV h. the ‘sanctification’, ‘privatization’ and ‘un-sharing’ of nude bodies and sexual practices; and i. conformity of political views that do not challenge any established social structures or views
Of course, these categories in no way preclude other layers of difference such as physical, sensorial, emotional, and intellectual ability; race; age; ethnicity; upbringing; formal or informal education; everyday lived experiences; marital status; family status; work experiences; employment status; kind of employment; profession; economic status; social status; popularity; one’s power and influence -- over other influential people and non-influential people alike; and personal interests, sexual or otherwise. In fact, we understand that in many people, these other layers of difference intertwine and often influence one’s gender expression and sexuality in very complex ways, and indeed are the layers of difference (among many others, which may or may not be conscionable to us) that make it impossible to create or name a single, unified ‘community.’
* Note: the term conflicting above is used in a positive light. We are of the opinion that conflicts in ideologies and opinions are what allow discussions and debates to take place, and ideas and assumptions to be challenged, all with the aim of reaching a more sensitive and nuanced understanding of one another, our histories, our interests, needs, and positions. Indeed, can you imagine a world where these inevitable tensions and disputes or conflicts never existed?
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LGBTQ ( LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANS AND QUEER ) ______
We will use LGBTQ merely as another short-hand to refer more specifically to the individuals, social groups, and communities that would fall under the ‘different,’ ‘underprivileged’ or ‘marginalized’
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framework outlined above. By using LGBTQ, we are in no way implying that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer groups are the only groups of people that should be recognized by Pride Toronto, or in this report. Therefore, it would also refer to nudists, kinky individuals, individuals who willfully engage in public sex, people living in open or multi-partner relationships, people who were born intersex, and people who cross-dress -- regardless of their sexual orientations. As well as LGBTQ and LGBTQ-supportive straight people who are intent on challenging the heterosexual, cisgendered, gender-polarizing, sex-negative, body-phobic, and conformist or assimilative structures and cultural assumptions (among others) that allow LGBTQ people to be marginalized and discriminated against on an everyday basis, however subtle or minimal this discrimination may be. For example:
a. By excluding LGBTQ people and their particular needs or experiences in general classroom discussions, and sex-ed curricula in particular. b. By excluding the discriminatory and resistance histories of LGBTQ people in our country’s immigrations guides. c. By failing to recognize the existence or legitimacy of consensual and, yes, often loving multi- partner relationships (“often” that is, like most relationships). d. By giving LGBTQ persons misdiagnoses because of the assumptions medical professionals may have about the needs, desires, or behaviours of LGBTQ persons; and e. By preventing men who have had sex with men (even once!) from donating blood for fear that they will somehow contaminate our nation’s blood banks.
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COMMUNITIES ~ LGBTQ COMMUNITIES ( IN THE PLURAL ) ______
We will use Communities or LGBTQ Communities to refer more individualistically to LGBTQ and related communities / community groupings that make up Toronto’s singularized LGBTQ ‘Community.’ That is, we are recognizing these groups in a more individualized, piecemeal fashion, rather than the more generalized, collective, and marginalized framework provided above.
Do note, though, that in some cases LGBTQ Communities will refer to the specific communities outlined by Pride Toronto in its official documents and press releases. When this is the case, we will be referring explicitly to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, intersex, queer, questioning and two-spirited (LGBTTIQQ2S) communities it formally recognizes in its public engagements, at the exclusion of the other marginalized groups described above.
A close attention to context should help differentiate between the two uses.
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GROUPS ~ COMMUNITY GROUPS ______
We will use Groups or Community Groups to refer generally to the formal community groups that exist within Toronto’s LGBTQ community, regardless of whether or not they are incorporated. Examples of ‘organizations’ include TNT! MEN, Blackness Yes!, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, and the Church-Wellesley Village Business Improvement Area (BIA).
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NOT-FOR-PROFITS ~ NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS ______
We will use Not-for-Profits and Not-for-Profit Organizations to refer to any not-for-profit organizations and charities, regardless of whether or not they are incorporated. They need not be LGBTQ-focused, so “LGBTQ” will be placed before either term to differentiate the organizations that are LGBT- focused versus those that are not. Examples include the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT), The Sherbourne Health Centre, The 519 Community Centre, the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA), and the Archives of Ontario.
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BUSINESSES ______
We will use Businesses to refer to incorporated for-profit organizations that can be described as being any combination of: small, independent, and/or LGBTQ-focused. Examples include any of the city’s bathhouses, independent coffee shops, or local bars.
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CORPORATIONS ______
We will use Corporations to refer to for-profit organizations that can be described as being any combination of: large, multi-national, chained, and/or not LGBTQ-focused. Examples include any of the city’s chained coffee shops, banks, condom manufacturing companies, or liquor producers.
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GROUPINGS ~ COMMUNITY GROUPINGS ______
Not to be confused with “groups,” Groupings or Community Groupings will refer to the less formally organized yet still recognizable ‘communities’ that exist within Toronto’s LGBTQ community -- regardless of whether or not their constituent individuals recognize themselves as such. These include communities of nudists, cross-dressers, academics, sports-enthusiasts, and self-proclaimed nerds; as well as Liberal-supporters, Conservatives, working professionals, bathhouse-goers, newcomers, and radical queer artists. Indeed, given the rather specific and idiosyncratic nature of these social groups / groupings, the list can be endless and will inevitably lead to various overlaps.
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CONSTITUENTS ~ CONSTITUENT GROUPS ~ CONSTITUENT COMMUNITIES ______
We will use Constituent to refer to the individuals, groups, social groups, and communities Pride Toronto is ultimately accountable to as an organization that exists ‘to celebrate the history, courage, diversity, and future of all of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities.’ Namely, all the individuals, groups, or communities that are implicated in the definitions above -- as individuals, groups, communities and organizations that are LGBTQ-identified; are marginalized because of their genderal, sexual, or political difference; and/or are actively working towards eradicating the various forms of oppression against gender, sexual, or politically different people anywhere in Canada or abroad. Otherwise known as “members of Toronto’s LGBTQ community”.
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THE MEMBERSHIP ~ THE PRIDE TORONTO MEMBERSHIP ______
These terms refer to the individuals Pride Toronto is legally accountable to as an organization governed by the Ontario Corporations Act and its own by-laws. “The Membership” should not be confused with any concept akin to “members of the community,” since this will be addressed more specifically with the phrase “Constituents” or “Constituent Groups / Communities” outlined above.
♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦
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5. OVERARCHING CONCERNS
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5.1 PRIDE TORONTO’S RELATIONSHIP TO ITS CONSTITUENT COMMUNITIES ______
1. Pride Toronto has adopted a ‘we-know-better-than-you’ mentality that closes itself off to both community involvement and community feedback.
2. Pride Toronto has lagged behind its commitment to actively support and develop its constituent communities / community groupings.
3. Pride Toronto has lost touch with the communities it purportedly exists to serve and represent.
CASE 1 --- THE RELEASE OF THE 2010 PRIDE GUIDE / WHEN HARRY BECAME SALLY
This disconnect became most apparent when, to the shock and dismay of the Trans community and other Trans-supportive community groups, Pride Toronto issued its 2010 Pride Guide which featured on its cover a young man in drag, with the grossly offensive header, “When Harry Became Sally”.
Indeed, it isn’t so much that the heading draws upon one of North America’s most notoriously hetero-glorifying films that was the most problematic here (although that was fairly off-putting to begin with) but, rather, that the phrase had an unequivocally spectacularizing tone which seemed to mock trans people and the often long and arduous struggles trans people have to go through to make and find acceptance and peace of mind. Indeed, “When Harry Became Sally” is one of the most common phrases thrown around by insensitive, trans-ignorant, and trans-disaffirming individuals to poke fun at trans people, which is why we were dumbfounded when Pride Toronto had used it on its cover.
We can only assume that this was Pride Toronto’s attempt to be trans-positive, only to expose their insensitivity and disconnection to the community. That is: at some point the community- disconnected and consultation-averse Board must have felt that it would be a good idea to make the trans experience fun and light-hearted in an attempt to be trans-affirming and trans-celebratory. But it was not, and the Pride Toronto board would have known this had it taken the time to consult with members of the Trans community before publishing its guide. In fact, they would have probably received other and much better recommendations on how to sensitively and respectfully represent the Trans community if that was indeed their goal.
CASE 2 --- THE BANNING OF “ISRAELI APARTHEID” FROM THE 2010 FESTIVAL
This became ever so clear to us in 2010 when Pride Toronto was more than willing to ban Queers Against Israeli Apartheid from the festival -- or rather, the phrase ‘Israeli Apartheid’ -- simply because a number of city councillors expressed concern over QuAIA’s potential breach of the city’s anti-discrimination policy: a concern that was pursued by the City at the request of pro-Israeli
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activists without any evidence to support their claims, and despite the fact that the group had participated in the festival since 2008 without any legal ramifications. Indeed, rather than approach and consult the LGBTQ community on what to do in light of the City’s threats to funding, Pride Toronto simply gave into the City’s unwarranted fears and outright banned the group, only to rescind the ban when faced with a backlash from constituent communities who saw it as a threat to freedom of speech. This eventually led to the Board meeting privately with Maura Lawless, Douglas Elliott, and Rev. Brent Hawkes in July to discuss an exit / PR strategy.
Of course, it didn’t help that Pride Toronto:
1. Was actively devising ways to “curtail” the group’s participation in the festival, as revealed by this November 2009 letter sent by Rita Davies, Executive Director of Cultural Services for the City of Toronto, to Councillor Kyle Rae.
RE: Pride Parade and the City of Toronto Non-Discrimination Policy. http://www.xtra.ca/BinaryContent/pdf/ATT%202-2009.11.19-City%20Briefin%285-13- 2010%203%2016%20PM%29.pdf
2. Had updated its questionable Terms & Conditions for Participation in the Pride Parade and Dyke March so that all participating groups had to submit their messaging months in advance and have it vetted by a self-appointed Ethics Committee:
Cate Simpson. March 11, 2010. “All signs must be vetted with us first: Pride Toronto” Xtra! http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/All_signs_must_be_vetted_with_us_first_Pride_Toro nto-8355.aspx
3. Ignored the community’s concerns, as instructed by its PR consultant.
RE: For Immediate Release. Letter by Chad Craig of Navigator Ltd. to Pride Co-Chair Jim Cullen and Genevieve D’Iorio, and former Executive Director Tracey Sandilands. http://www.xtra.ca/blog/national/image.axd?picture=email2.jpg
4. Was complicit with CP24’s censorship of QuAIA on CityTV when the cameras presented a tight close-up of the group rather than a shot allowing its messaging to be visible to viewers -- as it did for Kulanu Toronto and its Jewish contingent.
Compare CP24’s vivid and celebratory Kulanu segment (Part 4, 1:10 and 5:55) with its silent and ambiguous QuAIA segment (Part 4, 5:55 to 6:40) : http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100704/100704/20100704/?hub=CP 24Home
Indeed, rather than concede to the unwarranted (or constructed?) fears of the City of Toronto, what Pride Toronto should have done was turn to its constituents first for guidance -- a community of LGBTQ persons who are, for the most part, well-versed and experienced in counteracting regulatory government tactics, particularly those that attempt to censor unpopular or so-called ‘controversial’ expressions like those that are found in various queer communities. 9
9 In fact, Pride Toronto itself came out of that censorial history following with the organization of the Gay Freedom Rally on March 6th 1981 -- deemed by some to be the first Pride event -- in response to the police actions of the infamous bathhouse raids. The first official Lesbian and Gay Pride event took place in June of 1981, when the Lesbian and Gay Pride Day Committee held the first Pride
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Of course, by “turning to its constituents” we do not mean to have a discussion or referendum on whether or not QuAIA should have been allowed to participate in the festival; that would just be irresponsible and utterly disrespectful to the group -- a community group by all definitions of the term. Rather, we mean to specifically gain some tactics -- and much-available assistance -- in counteracting the censorial and discriminatory actions of the City.
It is the responsibility of the Pride Toronto Board to know exactly which groups form part of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, and to not only protect but to also fight for their right to participate in the festival based on this knowledge alone. Of course, this would require that Board Members immerse themselves more actively in the everyday happenings and developments of the community to gain this more intimate knowledge of its constituents. Ideally, this would be achieved by incorporating in their midst members from as many of these communities as possible and developing events and structures to make these connections with the community year-round.
Lamentably, this failure to act with conviction made it apparent precisely how detached the Pride Toronto Board and, indeed, its Executive Director, Tracey Sandilands, had become from key segments of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, their long and arduous histories, and the visions and values of the organization. Also, how desperately the Pride Toronto Board needed to reorient itself with the organization’s mission and to reconnect with the community in its decision-making processes.
CASE 3 --- THE 2007, 2008 AND 2010 RELOCATION OF THE BLOCKORAMA STAGE
For the third time in four years, Pride Toronto had made unsolicited plans to relocate the staple Blockorama stage to a space that was significantly smaller than the one it currently had. The first move happened in 2007 when Blockorama was transferred from the expansive Wellesley Street parking lot to the parking lot of The Beer Store. The next one happened in 2008 when Blockorama was transferred again from the Beer Store parking lot to George Hislop Park, blocks away from the Church-Wellesley core. Finally, in 2010, Pride Toronto decided to move Blockorama a third time -- this time to the Alexander Street Parkette, which is known for its uneven ground and interfering structures -- which finally caused the Blackness Yes! Committee and Toronto’s racialized LGBTQ community to finally say enough !
Indeed, it is absolutely reprehensible that Blockorama has been continually marginalized by Pride Toronto into smaller and smaller spaces in an attempt to save on resources, especially when those resources are being re-invested into larger, more corporate and mainstream programming. How is this in any way contributing to Pride Toronto’s commitment to “empower and support “or “connect with and develop” Toronto’s LGBTQ communities,” as outlined in its visions and values?
By continually attempting to move Blockorama into smaller and smaller venues, Pride Toronto has made it perfectly clear that the Blocko stage is not important enough for the organization to invest resources into, let alone to give a permanent home. With each decision to relocate Blockorama, Pride Toronto has knowingly provided Blackness Yes! with a smaller venue in which to operate, being fully gathering at Allan Gardens to protest the increasingly powerful social and moral conservativism of the time. We note that a history of political and celebratory organizing around Pride stretches back to 1971 in Canada. Learning from this history of autonomous and non-corporate organizing is also an important way to learn about how to move forward. Some may assume by this statement that we are ‘clinging to the past’ or uncritically glorifying an activist history and that we have eschewed ‘progress’. This opens a wider discussion about what ‘progress’ necessarily means in the context of social and political expressions of Pride as an event.
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aware of the fact that it will cut off the total number of festival-goers who will be able to enjoy the event. And for what, exactly?
It is worth noting that these relocations began when Pride Toronto decided to hand over the Wellesley Street stage to TD Canada Trust so it could host a beer garden that was used to play the music that would have otherwise been provided through Blockorama and its DJs. That is: rather than work with Blackness Yes! to produce the Blocko stage, Pride Toronto decided it was better to appropriate Blockorama’s programming and claim the event/space for itself, fully conscious of the fact that it was one of the most popular events of the entire festival. This is a tremendous sign of disrespect on Pride Toronto’s part not only towards Blackness Yes!, but also towards the many local artists who were associated with Blockorama. That is: the LGBTQ artists that Pride Toronto claims to support and celebrate.
In fact, it seems Pride Toronto has been actively trying to find ways of re-allocating Blockorama’s resources into other programs since, upon finally settling to keep the Blockorama stage at George Hislop Park, it was clear that Pride Toronto didn’t even have enough resources to match the support it gave Blackness Yes! in 2009.
Really, what message is Pride Toronto sending when it is using the resources previously allocated to local organizers and their associated talent and deliberately channelling those resources towards more mainstream, corporate-sponsored, and non-community-oriented programs instead? What message is it sending out when it is refusing to give a proper place and funding to a community group that has become a staple in the festival -- and indeed the community -- simply because it is more lucrative for the organization to partner with a major funding corporation. This is absolutely reprehensible!
A CALL FOR ACTIVE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
It is worth noting that one of Pride Toronto’s visions is to “[c]onnect with and develop our communities” and to “engage the diversity of our community to participate in events and facilitate community development.” If this is still the case, then it begs the question: what else is Pride Toronto doing throughout the year to support and develop the communities it claims to celebrate, other than to organize and fundraise for a festival that is supposed to (but doesn’t always) provide Toronto‘s LGBTQ communities with a non-oppressive space to congregate and express themselves?
That is: why is Pride Toronto not engaging in political campaigns that fight for the legal and social recognition of LGBTQ persons – and, with that, their many needs and interests? That is: to engage in lobbying campaigns that do not focus exclusively or primarily on increasing public funds for arts & culture.
Why does Pride Toronto not have in its repertoire the planning of smaller events that help ‘build community’ by creating opportunities for its constituents to engage with, and come to know, one another? Smaller events, in other words, that do not focus exclusively or primarily on fundraising.
Why are we not seeing members of Pride Toronto’s board attending LGBTQ-related events throughout the city and trying to connect with their constituents? That is: other than at volunteer fairs where it clearly benefits them to do so?
Indeed, we expect this hands-off approach to change.
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A CALL FOR FULL COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
We at Queer Ontario find it reprehensible that an organization that claims to be representative and supportive of the entire LGBTQ community also thinks that it is somehow independent of that community and need not be accountable to it. Indeed, over the last decade, Pride Toronto has become its own corporate entity, functioning independently of the needs or interests of Toronto LGBTQ communities -- that is: those it claims to ‘celebrate’ -- and using its official membership as an administrative vehicle to pass initiatives that are given very little (if any) opportunity for community discussion, let alone negotiation. In fact, we have found that any community voices that dare to express an opposition to any of its initiatives are simply ignored or, if heard, drowned out and/or discredited by the organization. This dismissal of the community -- or more specifically: segments of the community -- has got to stop.
It is crucial for Pride Toronto to reach out to members of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities to find out what it is that they want and need from a Pride festival and a Pride organization, so that they see themselves reflected in the festival that is meant to represent them . This will ensure that festival programming reflects the interests of the LGBTQ communities / community groupings the organization claims to celebrate -- and that all interested groupings have a fair and equal opportunity to participate in the festival.
Indeed, it is time for the organization to take a less possessive approach to the festival and to take a more communal and collaborative one where the organization works hand-in-hand with its constituent groupings to develop programming that is reflective of them -- not what Pride Toronto thinks they want to see or have in the festival. This distinction is a most crucial one, and one that needs to be made if the organization is in any way interested in re-establishing a genuinely responsive and supportive relationship with its constituents.
______
5.2 THE DIRECTION OF THE FESTIVAL ______
1. The focus of the organization has become more about securing funds and appeasing funders than it as been about reaching out to and working with constituent communities / community groupings.
2. The festival has been relentlessly marketed to mainstream and/or international markets in an attempt to increase attendance and viewership numbers.
3. The festival is moving towards a fun and family-friendly summer festival that downplays the history, politics, and complexities of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities / community groupings.
CASE 4 --- PRAISING THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PRIDE
We at Queer Ontario understand that a bigger festival does not come without its costs; however, we find it objectionable that Pride Toronto’s more recent compulsion to secure funding for its grandiose
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festival -- and as a result, the compulsion to appease funding bodies -- has taken a priority over the main focus of the festival, which is the proud and unapologetic showcasing of all of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities.
Indeed, while we recognize that this growth and marketability may have been the direction a majority of the Pride membership wanted the organization to take -- particularly with the election of Mark Singh onto the Board in 2006 who specifically ran on an expansion and internationalization platform -- we at Queer Ontario feel this direction has done more harm than good to the organization’s community relations since it has effectively placed marketing efforts above any genuine attempts to reach out to, and work with, Toronto‘s LGBTQ communities. That is: Pride Toronto has been more intent on expanding the festival both in terms of size and popularity, and securing the funds to do so, while leaving community needs and interests behind. In fact, we cannot help but notice that the festival has been marketed rather narrowly to more middle-class, and mainstream heterosexual audiences, which goes against the objectives of the organization to stage an informational, educational and cultural festival by and for its LGBTQ constituents.
Examples of this obsession for growth can be found in the press release Pride Toronto issued after the 2010 Parade where it celebrated the unprecedented TV ratings it gave to CP24:
For the second consecutive year, CP24 was the only network to bring live coverage of Toronto’s famous 2010 Pride Parade to viewers at home. The combination of blazing sun and thousands of joyous parade revellers contributed to CP24 outshining its Pride 2004 ratings, with an impressive unduplicated Total Reach of 1,236,000 total viewers, 48% more than the previous year. Viewers showed their Pride by tuning in to both the 2pm broadcast (532,000) and the encore presentation at 8pm (767,000).
As well as the organizational profile it included at the end of every press release:
Pride Toronto is the not-for-profit organization that hosts Pride Week, an annual festival held during the first weekend of July in downtown Toronto. Pride Toronto exists to celebrate the history, courage, diversity and future of Toronto’s LGBTTIQQ2SA communities and is one of the leading cultural events of its kind in the world with an overall economic benefit in 2009 of $136 million.
Granted: there was definitely a time when it seemed that nearly everyone wanted the festival to be a ‘success.’ However, what constituted ’success’ was never clearly defined or agreed upon since the organization never held any consultative process to clarify that very question. And so, for one reason or another, which we may now never know, ‘success’ just came to mean ‘bigger,’ ‘more spectacular,’ and ‘internationally renown.’ It is worth noting that this would have been an otherwise acceptable goal were it not for Pride Toronto’s simultaneous move away from any semblance of community outreach or public accountability. And this is where the ‘bigger is better’ direction has failed miserably. Given the fact that this model has created plenty of strife within the community, it is about time that Pride Toronto abandon this mentality and engage in a more community-focused and community-based approach to its festival planning -- one that does not have non-LGBTQ stakeholders in mind.
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CASE 5 --- THE LIVE COVERAGE OF THE PRIDE PARADE ON CP24
In watching the live broadcast of the Pride Parade on CP24, one cannot help but notice how much the hosts attempt to veer away from any ‘controversial’ or ‘offensive’ political or sexual topics, and how frequently they try to invoke the party atmosphere with their constant references to the noise, the warm weather, and the ominous water gun.
To quote the introduction to the official broadcast of the Pride Parade [Part 1, 0:25 to 3:23] http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100704/100704/20100704/?hub=CP24Home
MELISSA GRELO: Wow. Will you take a look at that ! Well over a million people, lining the streets of Yonge Street for the biggest street party of the year . Hello, and welcome to Toronto’s 30th annual Pride Parade -- we are so happy to be here. Yes, it is special coverage of this high-energy end to Pride Week here in Toronto.
STEVE ANTHONY: Hey! How are you all? Are you good? [Crowd cheering]. And you thought the vuvuzelas were loud; just wait till the whistles start going etcetera.
[The hosts introduce themselves and go over the ways their audiences can tune in ]
STEVE: Alright, we should get this party started, shouldn’t we?
MELISSA: We shall! Are you guys ready for a party?!? [Whistles and cheers] I think we’re ready for a party, so we should head on down to our very own Anika Elliott who is down along the way…
ANIKA: [Cut to Anika in front of a crowd of teenagers] Hey Melissa and Steven, we’ve been ready for the Party! [Teens cheering] We’re on Yonge where people have been lining the streets for several hours now waiting for the excitement to begin. I’m with the gang from Curtis -- Curtis in the house!!! [Teens cheer] Or shall I say Curtis on the street? So you have your beautiful outfits all made, ready for Pride. So tell me about it -- why are you excited to be here?
TEEN: I’m excited to be here because my best friends are gay, so I’m supporting them.
[Note that this is the first time ‘gay’ is mentioned in the entire introduction, at 2:53]
ANIKA: [Avoidantly] Sweet! Absolutely. Did you guys check out Cyndi Lauper? [Teens shake head no]. My goodness, lots of fun and excitement! What else are people looking forward to here? [Anika turns to another attendee]. You said this is your second time here? [No, the third time]. So what should people know -- what’s your favourite thing about Pride?
ATTENDEE: The parade. [Cheers]
ANIKA: You know what; I’ve seen a couple of water guns already. Are you guys prepared to get soaked? [Crowd cheers]. Oh yeah, It’s hot. It’s hot! Bring it on! Bring it on to you, not to me. [Pointing at the attendee]. Just to you, that’ll be great.
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Indeed, it’s not the fact that the festival is not an exclusively political event that troubles us (in fact, we understand that Pride Toronto’s mission is to represent all LGBTQ communities / community groupings and so welcome the inclusion of our apolitical and celebratory counterparts). Rather, our concerns stem from the fact that the political, historical and sexual aspects of Pride are being deliberately downplayed and ignored for the sake of viewer comfort and palatability -- a comfort and palatability that one can infer is meant to draw in bigger crowds and secure more funding for the festival.
If the Pride festival were truly about celebrating the courage and diversity of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, then Pride Toronto would be doing everything it can to push these sexual and political aspects to the fore since they are the qualities that help differentiate Toronto’s LGBTQ communities from all other communities in the city. Moreover, Pride Toronto should demand of its partners that they not overlook or censor these so-called ‘controversial’ issues or expressions in their own programming, especially since it
1. Betrays our LGBT rights history -- the history Pride Toronto is supposed to be celebrating; and
2. Is an affront to our values and the ideological battles we have had to fight to gain the freedoms we now have. Not the least of which is the freedom to march publicly and unabashedly in a Pride Parade, and the freedom to not be silenced for doing so.
Of course, we aren’t arguing for the Parade to not be broadcast on television. By all means do so! However , do so in a way that presents an educational and balanced reporting of the Parade, which includes a thorough look at all participating groups, not-for-profit organizations, and local LGBTQ businesses with an informed, intelligent, and unabashed profile accompanying each and every one.
If Pride Toronto is not willing to defend Toronto’s LGBTQ communities and their right to be properly represented and given due visibility, then we feel Pride Toronto should not be allowing any broadcaster to cover the Parade unless they are committed to covering the Parade fully and accurately. No overlooking groups, no overlooking details, and definitely no censorship.
After all, what is the point of broadcasting the Pride Parade on TV if it is not to accurately and intelligibly feature Toronto’s LGBTQ community groups, and to celebrate what it is that distinguishes Toronto’s LGBTQ community from all other communities in Toronto?
CASE 6 --- THE ADDITION OF A (ALLIES) TO LGBTTIQQ2S
The compulsion to attract people who are not necessarily members of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities has never been clearer than with the addition last year of the A at the end of the LGBTT1QQ2S acronym. This, of course, changes the entire dynamic of the festival since it now not only exists to celebrate the history, courage, diversity, and future of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, but also the history, courage, diversity, and future of our allies as well.
If this sounds rather absurd, that’s because it is. As a festival that exists to showcase the uniqueness of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, allies were always implicit in this celebration of the festival since our developments would not have been possible without their support and assistance. We understand that it is important for Pride Toronto to acknowledge and thank them for all their
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contributions, but we do not feel that acknowledging them by adding the A to the acronym was the most appropriate thing to do.
While it is true that “transsexual,” “transgender,” “intersex,” “queer,” “questioning,” and “two- spirited” people have been added to the “gay” and “lesbian” identities that were first recognized through the acronym, these other terms have been added to the list to formally recognize each group’s marginality (and struggles) in a world that recognizes and privileges such things as heterosexual desires, reproductive sexual practices, gender conformity, cisgender identities, and binarily sexed bodies. The ally , then, as a person who does not identify with any one of these groups and is able to successfully navigate their way through these frameworks, completely reconfigures the acronym and makes it into something more than just sexual or gender differences or marginality .
Besides, we are certain that our allies would have been indifferent to the inclusion of the A to the end of the acronym since they realize and understand that Pride is our festival and is intended to celebrate us -- our history, our courage, our diversity, and our future -- largely because our history, our courage , our diversity, and our futures are hardly recognized (let alone celebrated) in everyday, mainstream environments of social situations. That is: they understand that Pride is the one day where we can finally place our history and our courage front and centre and celebrate it for what it is; and it is the responsibility of Pride Toronto to do the same, as a service to the LGBTQ communities it claims to represent.
A CALL TO ABANDON PRIDE TORONTO’S QUEST FOR CHARITABLE STATUS
Indeed, we can’t help but notice that the inclusion of the A comes just one year after Pride Toronto’s application for Charitable Status was rejected by the Revenue Canada Agency. We are compelled to believe that the inclusion of the A was a means of making Pride Toronto appear less ‘discriminatory’ or ’exclusionary’ towards people who do not identify as LGBTQ since Revenue Canada states that a Charitable Organization must have “a demonstrated public benefit,” which involves two parts:
1. A tangible benefit, and 2. A tangible benefit that must be directed to the public or a sufficient section of the public. 10
If this is the case, then it would be a petty and disingenuous reason to have included the A to the end of the acronym since it is more self-serving than anything.
On that note, we would advise Pride Toronto to not pursue Charitable Status since we predict it will give the organization even more impetus to excuse itself from doing any kind of advocacy or human rights work to support the community and advance LGBTQ rights in Canada and abroad. That is: given that charitable organizations can only engage in limited political activities, Pride Toronto would no longer be able to:
1. Encourage the public to contact elected representatives of public officials to urge them to retain, oppose, or change a law, policy, or decision
2. Communicate to the public that the law, policy, or decision of any level of government should be retained
10 See Section 5.3 [Public Benefits] under Upholding Human Rights and Charitable Registration http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/plcy/cgd/hmn-rghts-eng.html
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3. Attempt to incite or organize the public to put pressure on elected representatives or public officials to retain, oppose, or change any law, policy, or decision; and
4. Attempt to sway public opinion on social issues 11
… not that it necessarily engages in that kind of work under its current direction.
Indeed, how would Pride Toronto be able to claim that it actively supports the rights of its LGBTQ constituents if it won’t even be authorized to sway public opinion on issues that are important to the community -- say, for example, to fight for the rights of its trans constituents who are so terribly in need of governmental and social protections from discrimination and harassment. Or to fight for the legal recognition of multi-partnered relationships, which so many in our communities are wilfully, happily, and lovingly involved in? This eludes us.
In an attempt to engage and support its constituent communities / community groupings, then, Pride Toronto should abandon its quest for Charitable Status and work on its advocacy and community development profile -- work that is expected of every community organization.
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5.3 PRIDE TORONTO’S RELATIONSHIP TO ITS POLITICAL PAST ______
1. The organization has been making a concerted effort to disassociate itself from its political past.
CASE 7 --- SHIFTING THE PARADE DATE TO THE CANADA DAY LONG-WEEKEND
We can’t help but notice that the day of the Pride Parade has shifted from the last Sunday of June -- symbolically, the Stonewall weekend -- to the first Sunday of July, what would now become the Canada Day long-weekend. While we understand that the date needed to be shifted last year to accommodate the unfortunate G20 Summit in Toronto, we aren’t exactly sure what the reason for the shift this year. Is there one?
As with the attempts to transform the festival into a fun, family-friendly event, we find this shift to be truly disrespectful since it:
1. Betrays our LGBT rights history -- the history Pride Toronto is supposed to be celebrating; and
2. Is an affront to our values and the ideological battles we have had to fight to gain the freedoms we have now. Not the least of which is the freedom to acknowledge and commemorate our history -- a history that is given very little, if any, attention in more mainstream environments.
Indeed, as an organization that claims to celebrate the history of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities --
11 See “Political Activities” under Other Acceptable Activities Permitted Within Certain Limits. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/prtng/ctvts/thr-eng.html#pol
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particularly its connections to other LGBTQ movements around the world, as well as its connections to other oppressed and marginalized people, the organization needs to do everything it can to keep this history conscionable, visible, and constantly disseminating. Be it a Pride Toronto events or otherwise throughout the year at various local schools and historical institutions.
We also can’t help but notice how little commitment Pride Toronto has placed in commemorating other, more specific histories of the LGBTQ rights movement in Canada, particularly the under- represented histories of its lesbian and trans-identified constituents, or the histories of Toronto’s various racialized and Aboriginal queer communities, and the much-forgotten history of the AIDS crisis in Canada.
Pride Toronto definitely needs to become a leading force in keeping our histories alive, ideally by partnering with other community and historical organizations like the Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives, the City of Toronto Archives, and the Archives of Ontario.
This is not to mention Pride Toronto’s disengagement with current political issues affecting the LGBTQ communities, as woefully demonstrated in their lack of respect and understanding of QuAIA’s mission.
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5.4 TO SUMMARIZE ______
1. PRIDE TORONTO NEEDS TO CELEBRATE ALL OF ITS CONSTITUENT COMMUNITIES / COMMUNITY GROUPINGS AS IT CLAIMS IT DOES IN ITS MISSION STATEMENT
Pride Toronto should always remember that its mission is to
1. Firstly, celebrate Toronto’s LGBTQ community; and 2. Secondly, to celebrate Toronto’s LGBTQ communities… 3. …whatever form those communities may take during the current festival year, 4. … and regardless of the practices, expressions, or political views of those communities.
For if Pride Toronto were truly celebratory of Toronto’s LGBTQ community -- in whatever form this community currently exists -- it would be proud of, and pleased to have community groups participate in the festival, regardless of how much of a so-called ‘hindrance’ these groups might be to the organization’s plans for lucrativeness and growth. In fact, lucrativeness and growth should not be the concerns of the festival but, rather, a fair and accurate representation of Toronto’s LGBTQ community groupings; by which we mean all of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, including its politicized, racialized, trans, nudist, polyamorous, asexual, dis/abled, immigrant, working-class, and kinky contingents. Like QuAIA, Kulanu, TNT! Men, Blackness Yes! and, yes, even Queer Ontario.
Or, to put it more bluntly: we need the Pride Toronto Board to be a leader and to have the conviction and integrity to stand up for its community, particularly when faced with challenges from larger governmental and corporate bodies, as is currently the case with the City of Toronto’s threats to de- fund the Pride Festival if QuAIA participates in the festival.
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More specifically, we need Pride Toronto to defend QuAIA’s participation in the parade by virtue of its being a community group, which, of course, will require that Pride Toronto officially recognize it as one, and celebrate it as such.
Failing to meet any of the four criteria above will only lead the organization to fall short of adequately fulfilling its mission statement -- a shortfall that we are compelled to note is where most of the recent community frustrations have stemmed from. Indeed, a failure to uphold any of these principle standards is a failure to recognize and celebrate diversity within Toronto’s LGBTQ community.
2. THE PRIDE FESTIVAL SHOULD BE DEVELOPED BY THE COMMUNITY AND FOR THE COMMUNITY, AS OUTLINED IN PRIDE TORONTO’S MAIN OBJECTIVE *
While we understand that Pride Toronto is actively marketing the festival to people who do not necessarily constitute members of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities to increase its attendance numbers, Pride Toronto’s should always remember that its mission is to accurately, enthusiastically, and unapologetically highlight the historical, political, and cultural specificities of the LGBTQ community each and every single year, and as long as it does not attempt to alter or censor this content just to make the festival more appealing and/or palatable to non-constituent festival-goers. After all Pride Toronto cannot claim to support and celebrate all of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities - - in whatever form it exists at the moment -- if it is also attempting to sanitize the contents of the festival and/or bar certain groups from participating. This contradiction, we are compelled to note, defies the very logic of the organization’s mission statement and will require a much-needed reconfiguration of the organization’s current business practices to ensure that it is in line with its mission.
* Remember: “to stag[e] in the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto an annual celebration and informational, educational and cultural festival by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transgenderal [sic] people of their sexual and gender orientations and identities, and their histories, cultures, communities, organizations, relationships, achievements and lives…”
♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦
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6. RECOMMENDATIONS: PRIDE TORONTO’S VISION
______
6.1 PRIDE TORONTO’S CURRENT VISION ______
1. To run a not-for-profit organization, committed to volunteers and staff.
2. To create a safe space to engage communities in the celebration of their sexuality.
3. To coordinate a series of pre-eminent arts & cultural events, including the annual Pride celebration, that empower and support our communities.
4. To connect with and help develop our communities, fostering essential partnerships.
5. To recognize, celebrate, and build upon the history of Toronto‘s LGBT communities.
6. To provide a platform for education through a significant public presence
______
6.2 FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS ______
1. AMBIGUITITES IN THE LANGUAGE
We found that there is a great deal of uncertainty over what some of these Vision items mean, particularly as it pertains to the kind of relationship Pride Toronto is looking to have with the LGBTQ community it claims to represent. For example:
1. By claiming that it aims to “run a not-for-profit organization [that is] committed to volunteers and staff,” is Pride Toronto indicating that it is only responsive to the needs and interests of the people who work for the organization, or is it also committed to the needs and interests of its constituents?
2. Does the ‘engagement’ in Item 2 include collaboration with its LGBTQ constituents, or does Pride Toronto see itself organizing the space / event alone and simply ‘inviting’ its constituents to take part in it? Additionally, should the celebration also include that of gender identity?
3. What kinds of ‘partnerships’ is Pride Toronto referring to in Vision item 4?
4. And lastly: what exactly does Pride Toronto mean when it claims that it will “provide a platform for education through a significant public presence”?
2. THE BOARD’S FAILURE TO HONOUR THE ITEMS OUTLINED IN ITS VISION
We also found that Pride Toronto has failed to meet some of these Visions given the way it has dealt
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with the QuAIA, Blockorama, and the Trans community this past year. Pride Toronto’s commitments include:
1 coordinate a series of pre-eminent arts & cultural events… that empower and support our communities;
2. recognize, celebrate, and build upon the history of Toronto‘s LGBT communities;
3. and provide a platform for education through a significant public presence .
______
6.3 RECOMMENDATIONS ______
R1. PRIDE TORONTO NEEDS TO UPDATE AND DISAMBIGUATE ITS VISION TO REFLECT A STRONGER COMMITMENT TO THE NEEDS AND INTERESTS OF TORONTO’S LGBTQ COMMUNITIES
Given the ambiguous language (and liberal interpretations) that made last year‘s tumultuous events a possibility, we feel it would be prudent for Pride Toronto to establish a new and unequivocal vision to guide the organization in its future planning. We recommend the following:
Operations
1. To run a not-for-profit organization that is committed to the needs and interests of the LGBTQ community it vows to represent and celebrate
2. To run a not-for-profit organization with transparency, sensitivity and public accountability.
Festival
3. To provide a space where members of Toronto’s LGBTQ constituents can freely express and celebrate their sexuality, gender, gender expression, bodies, beliefs and/or politics, despite the criticism we may receive from governing bodies, individuals, and other organizations for doing so.
4. To develop a series of high-quality arts & cultural events that fairly and accurately represent the interests, needs, practices, politics, and achievements of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, via informational and educational ventures.
Relevance
5. To remember, celebrate, and build upon the history of Toronto’s LGBT communities -- particularly their origins in progressive social movement politics.
6. To critically highlight the rights and liberties that LGBT communities at home and abroad have yet to achieve.
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This will ensure that the Pride Toronto vision is clear to all funders, sponsors and partnering organizations, and that they are aware of Pride Toronto’s undying commitment to fulfilling these items.
R2. PRIDE TORONTO NEEDS TO COMMIT ITSELF TO EMPHATICALLY FULFILLING THE ORGANIZATION’S VISION WITHOUT ANY EXCEPTIONS WHATSOEVER
♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦
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7. RECOMMENDATIONS: PRIDE TORONTO’S VALUES
______
7.1 PRIDE TORONTO’S CURRENT VALUES ______
1. Honour our past by remembering our history.
2. Value Diversity by accepting and respecting differences and working to understand the diverse cultural complexities that influence identity, assumptions, behaviours, expectations, and beliefs.
3. Celebrate with provocative, racy, and outrageous events.
4. Engage the diversity of our community to participate in events and facilitate community development.
5. Recognize and acknowledge the involvement and contributions of volunteers, staff and stakeholders.
6. Respect volunteers, staff, and stakeholders by creating and maintaining an environment where we treat each other with respect.
7. Sustain the organization by ensuring transparency in our actions and accountability with, and to, our communities.
8. Manage with fiscal responsibility and foresight, ensuring the viability of the organization and the fulfilment of its mission.
______
7.2 FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS ______
1. THE ORGANIZATION’S FAILURE TO HONOUR ITS VALUES.
Sadly, and quite remarkably, we found that Pride Toronto has failed on all accounts in its commitment to uphold its values. These include
1. History for shifting the date of the Pride festival to the first week of July instead of the last week of June -- the historic and symbolic Stonewall weekend.
2. Diversity for refusing to reach out to QuAIA and failing to understand its queer- related anti-oppression work; and failing to defend its right to participate in the festival as a legitimate LGBTQ group, even in the face of controversy.
3. Celebrate for attempting to censor QuAIA, a so-called ‘controversial’ community group
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4. Engage for attempting to relocate Blockorama to the Alexander Street Parkette without any input from Blackness Yes! and failing to provide Blackness Yes! with the adequate resources to sustain the event.
for co-opting the Trans March without any community consultation, and then making all participants wait for an hour before starting the march.
for instituting a V.I.P. Pass, effectively setting up a two-tier system in which those with greater financial means are privileged with access to Pride Festival events and features as opposed to those without such financial means.
5. Recognize for failing to listen to various staff, volunteers and stakeholders who expressed concern about the direction Pride Toronto was taking in the last number of years notwithstanding the specific controversies Pride Toronto faced in the past year.
6. Respect for offering honorary awards to the original 2010 recipients, who initially turned down the offer because of the ban on the term ‘Israeli Apartheid’, then not re- offering the awards after the ban was rescinded.
for disrespecting a host of past Gala Award recipients who returned their awards in protest of Pride Toronto’s threat to freedom of speech, all of whom have not had their awards returned.
7. Sustain for failing to be transparent (not to mention honest) with its constituents, particularly with respect to the QuAIA ban; the decision to relocate Blockorama; the decision to take over the Trans March; the details of the secret meeting with Lawless, Elliott, and Hawkes; the details around Tracey Sandilands' resignation and settlement package; and the details about the so-called ’discrepancies’ between the Treasurer’s report provided by Mark Singh at the Pride AGM and the audited financial statements.
8. Manage by amassing $431,808.00 in debt and allegedly failing to catch the conflict of interest behind the contracting of Sandilands’ wife -- or rather her ‘company’ -- and paying her $40,317.00 of the organization’s funds.
2. AMBIGUITITES IN THE LANGUAGE
There is some uncertainty over what some of these Vision Items mean, particularly as it pertains to the kind of relationship Pride Toronto is looking to have with the LGBTQ community it claims to represent. For example:
1 Does “stakeholders” in Value Item 6 include “community members;” and if so, are community members given the same value as other stakeholders -- like the City, for example, or corporate sponsors?
2. Also, we are not sure that Pride Toronto knows what it means to “Engage the diversity of our community to participate in events and facilitate community development.” Quite frankly, it seems like there was an attempt to “string” reputable words like diversity , facilitate , and community development together to give a sense of a means of engagement with Pride
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Toronto. Indeed, we question if the Board truly understands what these words imply.
______
7.3 RECOMMENDATIONS ______
R3. PRIDE TORONTO NEEDS TO UPDATE AND DISAMBIGUATE ITS LIST OF VALUES TO REFLECT A MORE COMMUNITY-DRIVEN AND ENGAGED ORGANIZATION
Given the ambiguous language (and liberal interpretations) that made last year‘s tumultuous events a possibility, Queer Ontario feels it would be prudent for Pride Toronto to establish a new and unequivocal set of values to guide the organization in its future planning. We recommend the following:
1. Leadership To ensure that we lead with integrity, professionalism, and courage.
2. Respect To engage participatory democratic practices that are inclusive, transparent, and respectful of differences, regardless of whether or not we necessarily agree with them.
3. Gratitude To always recognize and acknowledge the contributions made by our constituents, volunteers, staff and supporters.
4. Community To be committed to community outreach, community engagement, community involvement, and community building, which includes listening to what our constituents have to say and committing ourselves to incorporating their recommendations into our planning process.
5. Diversity To recognize, respect, embrace, and protect the diversity of our constituents -- especially the panoply of sexual interests, gender identities, sexual practices, gender expressions, ages, body shapes, skin tones, race, ethnicities, nationalities, physical abilities, mental abilities, lived experiences, educational backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, ideologies, and political views that make up Toronto’s LGBT communities.
6. Inclusivity To strive for the fair, accurate, and comprehensive representation of all of Toronto’s LGBT communities -- even those that include radical, political, unpopular, uncommon, provocative, racy, outrageous or difficult themes and expressions.
7. Context To never forget our history, the reason why we exist, and the reason why we are still relevant to our constituents, young and old.
8. Transparency To function with full transparency in our governance and business practices, including a commitment to be truthful about our actions and to allow our constituents to participate in
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our decision-making processes.
9. Honesty To ensure that we operate with full administrative, fiscal, legal, and ethical responsibility and that we report on our activities honestly and accurately.
10. Consistency To ensure that all the decisions of the organization fulfil our mission, visions, and values.
R4. PRIDE TORONTO NEEDS TO COMMIT ITSELF TO EMPHATICALLY FULFILLING THE ORGANIZATION’S VISION WITHOUT ANY EXCEPTIONS WHATSOEVER
♦♦♦ ♦♦♦ ♦♦♦
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8. RECOMMENDATIONS: COMMUNITY RELATIONS
______
R5. RECOGNIZE THAT THE BODIES PRIDE TORONTO EXISTS TO SERVE FIRST AND FOREMOST ARE THE MEMBERS OF TORONTO’S LGBTQ COMMUNITIES. ______
Given its existence as one of the few events in Toronto that attempts to bring together, showcase, and make conscionable (if not visible) the history, diversity, needs and interests of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, Pride Toronto should recognize that it is fundamentally and ethically accountable to all the members of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities -- not just its legal membership, staff members, or volunteers. That is: the organization should be accountable directly to the people the organization needs to stay in contact with in order to develop a festival that fairly and accurately represents the diversity of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities on the aforementioned grounds.
As such, Pride Toronto will need to start reaching out to as many members of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities as possible to get a sense of who, exactly, constitutes Toronto‘s LGBTQ community and what their needs and interests are. This can be achieved in a number of ways. ______
R6. ACTIVELY AND ENTHUSIASTICALLY INCORPORATE YOUR CONSTITUENTS IN YOUR PLANNING AND DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES ______
One of the benefits of having a membership is that the organization will always have at-hand a body of individuals who can be accessed and solicited for personal and professional feedback on important issues, proposed policies changes, and/or by-law resolutions -- particularly those that will fundamentally change the nature or structure of the organization and/or that of the festival. Not only will this solicitation allow Pride Toronto to access the various views and opinions that exist within the LGBTQ community with respect to the issue and/or the proposed policy or by-law resolution, it will also ensure that the organization takes the most sensible decision possible. That is: one that sensitively takes into consideration the many needs and interests of the community.
To use the membership as the organization currently does -- to push through policies or resolutions with very little opportunity for discussion -- is to abuse the membership and close oneself off to the concerns and interests of community members that need to be heard because of Pride Toronto’s all- inclusive and representational mandate.
More beneficially, the more active integration of community members will also ensure that the festival actually reflects the needs and interests of Pride Toronto’s constituent groups, and not, as is currently done, to reflect the needs and interests Pride Toronto thinks the community holds. There is a key difference between the two approaches.
Indeed, Pride Toronto needs to stop being so possessive of the Pride festival and should play down its directive role for a more facilitative, though no less supportive role for Toronto’s LGBTQ community groupings, unless otherwise asked.
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______
R7. REGULARLY AND ACCURATELY REMIND YOUR CONSTITUENTS OF THE CONTENTS OF YOUR BYLAWS, SO THAT THEY CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT THEIR RIGHTS, PRIVILEGES, RESTRICTIONS, AND BARRIERS ARE WHEN ENGAGING WITH THE ORGANIZATION ______
This includes:
1. The right to attend General Meetings. According to Bylaw 6(a):
Every member in good standing of each year is entitled to… Attend General Meetings of the Corporation
2. The right to vote at General Meetings. According to Bylaw 6(b):
Every member in good standing of each year is entitled to… Vote at General Meetings of the Corporation
3. The right to run for Board and be elected. According to Bylaw 6(c):
Every member in good standing of each year is entitled to… Hold office of the Corporation
NOTE: Given Bylaw 6(c) above, the Board’s practice of pre-selecting candidates for election via the interview process mandated in Bylaw 11(d)(ii) 12 is in direct violation of this Bylaw -- a discriminatory act that gives only certain Board-approved members the opportunity to be voted onto the Board, while denying non-approved members that same opportunity.
The lack of equal opportunity established by the interview process and the lack of choice it provides the membership creates a restrictive, secretive, closed-door environment that privileges those pre-selected for consideration. This process fails the test of integrity in engaging the community to participate directly on Pride Toronto’s board and, as such, we recommend:
R8. That Pride Toronto abolish Bylaw 11(d)(ii) so that, all members in good standing have the opportunity to hold office, as mandated by Bylaw 6(c).
4. The right to designate a proxy-holder who need not be a Pride Toronto member. Bylaw 8:
A member may vote at an annual general meeting by proxy in writing or by email delivered to the secretary no later than forty-eight hours prior to the meeting.
5. The right to add items to the agenda of a General Meetings. According to Bylaw 11:
The following business shall be conducted at the annual general meeting: (a) Report of the Co-Chairs (b) Report of the Executive Director
12 Bylaw 11(d)(ii): “The Board shall review the nominations through a rigorous selection process consistently applied to each nominee and shall decide, in its sole discretion, which nominees will stand for election.”
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(c) Presentation of the financial reports (d) Election of Directors i) Any member of the Corporation can self-nominate or nominate any other member of the Corporation for the position of Director ii) The Board shall review the nominations through a vigorous selection process consistently applied to each nominee and shall decide, in its sole discretion, which nominees shall stand for election (e) Appointment of auditors and fixing or authorizing the Board of Directors to fix the remuneration of the auditor; and (f) Any other business that may be properly brought before the meeting
Of course, given that the Pride Toronto lawyer ruled at the September 2010 AGM that the making of motions from the floor was “inappropriate,” we recommend:
R9. That Pride Toronto clarify exactly what process a member must take to ‘properly’ add business items to a General Meeting agenda (with deadlines, if any).
6. The right to make a motion for the Board to reconsider a bylaw amendment when a bylaw amendment is being proposed. A provision which, everyone should note, forces the implementation of the amendment during the review period, regardless of the membership’s clear dissatisfaction with it. According to Bylaw 49:
Any amendment to the by-laws approved by the Board of Directors shall be brought forward to the membership at the next General Meeting. In this General Meeting, the membership may bring a motion requesting that the Board of Directors reconsider any or all amendments to the bylaws. If this motion passes by a majority vote, the Board of Directors must reconsider the amendment(s) and at the next General Meeting present the outcome of its deliberations.
(a) Between the two General Meetings, the amended bylaws(s) remain in effect unless the Board of Directors chooses to repeal the amendment(s)
(b) If the Board of Directors chooses to retain the amendment(s), the membership may bring forward a motion at the second General Meeting to repeal the amendment(s). If this motion passes by a majority vote, the amendment(s) are repealed effective immediately.
(c) If the Board of Directors chooses to amend the amendments, the membership may bring forward a motion to reconsider the amendment(s) which must pass a majority vote to take effect, or may bring forward a motion to repeal the amendment(s) which must pass by a 2/3rd majority vote to take effect.
On that point, it should be noted that the decisions that were made by the board under the still- in-effect-while-being-reviewed amendment(s) will stay in place even after the amendment has been repealed; unless, of course, the membership wants to “revisit” them. If it does, then the membership must do this within two months of the repeal of the amendment, and via a complicated process that is the responsibility of the membership itself to make happen. And if for whatever reason the membership cannot get its act together, the decision becomes final. According to Bylaws 50 and 51:
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Decisions made by the Board under the authority of any amendment(s) subsequently repealed through the process set out in Bylaw 49 shall, in the general case, remain in effect.
Only following the repeal of an amendment may the membership seek to revisit the decision of the Board made under the authority of the amended bylaw and only within two (2) months of the repeal of the bylaw amendment in question. The membership may review such decisions by the board by:
(a) Convening a subsequent general meeting within one (1) month of the date of repeal.
(b) Establishing a special committee of investigation at this subsequent General Meeting, comprised of six (6) members at large (i.e., non-director, non-staff members), four (4) directors and one (1) staff member. The Chair of this committee shall be chosen from among its members by a majority vote.
(c) Directing the special committee of investigation to: i) Review any or all Board decision(s) made under the authority of the repealed amendment; ii) Decide within one (1) month of being convened whether to allow to stand, modify or nullify any or all such decision(s)… iii) Report on its decision(s) at the next Annual General Meeting.
In the event the timelines set out in Bylaw 51 are violated, the decisions of the board made under the authority of the repealed amendment shall stand.
Given the undue process Bylaws 49 (c), 50 and 51 place onto the membership, and the fact that they clearly disrespect the decision of the membership to not put into effect the proposed bylaw amendments as they were proposed , we recommend:
R10. That Pride Toronto abolish Bylaws 49(c), 50, and 51(a)(b)(c)
Besides, this by-law is a direct violation of Section 17(5) of the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, which states that:
If a by-law, amendment or repeal ceases to have effect, a subsequent resolution of the directors that has substantially the same purpose or effect is not effective until it is confirmed or confirmed as amended by the members.
And in case there were any doubts, Section 17 (4) states that a by-law, amendment or repeal ceases to have effect:
If it is not submitted by the directors to the members as required under subsection (2) or if it is rejected by the members.
7. The right to force a General Meeting to discuss a specific topic by garnering the support of 10% of the entire membership. According to Bylaw 13(d):
Directors shall call a General Meeting… If at least ten (10) percent of the members of the Corporation request that a Meeting be called.
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Of course, for a member to know exactly when they have reached the 10% mark, they will need to know exactly how many members the organization has. As such: considering that Pride Toronto refuses to publish its members list online -- citing privacy considerations, which we completely understand -- alternative means can be put into place that informs the public of the number of members Pride Toronto has at any given time, without publishing its members’ names. Therefore, we recommend:
R11. That Pride Toronto at least install a ‘members counter’ on its website where individuals can know precisely how many members the organization has at any given moment.
R12. That the counter be the official number against which the 10% member support is calculated.
R13. That Pride Toronto make these member rights available to the membership at least 60 days prior to a General Meeting or Annual General Meeting.
We recommend that Pride Toronto make these member rights available to its membership at least 60 days prior to a General Meeting or Annual General Meeting so that Pride Toronto members fully understand what they can or cannot do at the meeting -- or in advance of the meeting -- and the deadline(s) they have to meet for each action, if any.
Of course, this will require that the Pride Toronto Board, take the time to read and understand the organization’s Bylaws and both understand and observe the procedures that are outlined therein, particularly at your General Meetings and Annual General Meetings.
______
R14. LOOSEN THE MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA SO THAT MEMBERSHIP AND VOTING PRIVILEGES ARE ACCESSIBLE TO AS MANY CONSTITUENTS AS POSSIBLE. ______
By doing so, Pride Toronto will ensure that as many possible community voices are heard and considered at its General Meetings and other business ventures, which is essential for the organization if it is to be representative of the many needs and interests of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities. This includes LGBTQ people who work and volunteer for the organization, those who do not, and those whose views the organization does not necessarily agree with. To do otherwise is to deny access and a voice to the various views and interests of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities and to exclude those people who do not have the privilege or luxury of fulfilling Pride Toronto’s current criteria. Accordingly:
In fact, the Pride Toronto Board should not be in the business of approving or denying membership if it is, indeed, to be open and accessible to as many LGBTQ individuals as possible -- not to mention representative of them. Any provisions that do so should be struck down and abolished entirely.
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R15. ESTABLISH A COMMUNITY OUTREACH COMMITTEE OR A COMMUNITY LIAISON PERSONNEL POSITION TO ACTIVELY AND CONTINUALLY GATHER FEEDBACK FROM PRIDE TORONTO’S VARIOUS CONSTITUENT COMMUNITIES ______
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That is: if the Board -- as the body of individuals who were elected to represent the needs and interests of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities in all matters related to Pride Toronto -- are not willing to do this themselves.
If the Pride Toronto Board is truly committed to organizing a festival that actually celebrates the history, courage, diversity and future of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, then it would need to maintain a thorough and intimate understanding of who its constituent community groupings are, what their particular needs and interests are, and what they want to see happen at (or happen to ) both the organization and the festival. And most importantly: WHY . This will ensure that the Board is as up-to-date as possible with developments within Toronto’s LGBTQ communities -- including the formation of new groupings and the dissolution of others -- which will ensure not only that the festival is as representative as possible of all of Toronto’s LGBTQ community groupings, but, most importantly, that it doesn’t inadvertently overlook or exclude any of them.
Needless to say, it is essential that the Board fill these positions with individuals who are competent and sensitive enough to do the task well, and to effectively communicate their findings to the Board. In turn, the Board should take its direction from the needs and interests communicated by the Committee or Liaison to ensure that the organization and the festival remain as current and as relevant as possible.
More proactively , this Committee or Liaison will provide a means for members of Toronto’s LGBTQ community groupings to share any concerns, comments, or recommendations they may have, so that they can be received, addressed, resolved, and/or implemented by the Board. For aside from ensuring that the festival remains as current and as relevant as possible, this Committee or Liaison will ensure that the Board remain as responsive to the needs of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, as opposed to just their complaints -- as was the case in 2010.
A Word of Caution
Given the bureaucratic nightmare this added layer of communication may create between the Pride Toronto Board and its constituent communities -- most notably the extra layer of separation between the Pride Toronto Board Members and the constituent communities they are supposed to represent -- we would actually recommend that this Committee or Liaison position be taken as a last resort.
That is: because the Pride Toronto Board was elected to represent and advance the needs and interests of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities in all matters related to Pride -- from its policies, to its planning, and its communication with third parties -- we believe that it is the Pride Toronto Board itself , and not another body, that should be reaching out to Toronto’s various LGBTQ communities and receiving feedback.
Of course, the Board will need to establish a systematic way of receiving information, and since we recognize that it will be difficult for the Board to meet with community members each and every time someone has a comment or concern, we recommend that Pride Toronto at least give serious consideration to this recommendation and engage in a discussion to determine how best to operationalize it so that it meets the important goal of remaining engaged with its constituent groups.
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R16. SET UP AN ACCESSIBLE, EASY-TO-FIND, INTERACTIVE PUBLIC FEEDBACK FORUM ON THE PRIDE TORONTO WEBSITE TO ACTIVELY AND CONTINUALLY RECEIVE FEEDBACK FROM MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY ______
This will allow the Board to have a direct, written record of the feedback they receive from community members regarding all things related to Pride Toronto, and that fellow community members can respond to and discuss proposed recommendations. Do note that…
By Accessible we mean: a forum that is accessible to members of the community who are differently- abled, including those with alternate visual and mobility needs.
By Easy-to-Find we mean: a forum that is easily locatable on the Pride Toronto website by being clearly labelled on the very first page, where no scrolling is required to locate it.
By Public we mean: visible to the public so that anyone can see the feedback that has been provided to the Board. Or, more specifically: so that anyone can see precisely what the Board is seeing; and
By Interactive we mean: feedback that is open to further feedback from other community members and/or the Board itself. Indeed, we imagine this Forum being a place where individuals can indicate if they like someone’s feedback and have any additional points to add, and/or discuss an item if they feel the need to. We also see this as a space where the Board can pose important strategic questions to the community to receive feedback on any key decisions that need to be made.
However, we have two conditions for this Feedback Forum:
1. That it be accessible to everyone , including non-members (see Recommendation R14); and 2. That it be actively advertised -- on every Pride Toronto newsletter, for example -- so that community members are well aware it exists and are welcome to make use of it.
Its relation to the proposed Community Outreach Committee or Liaison Personnel
The Forum need not be mutually exclusive with the Community Outreach Committee or the Liaison Personnel, since the forum may very well be one of the tools used by the Committee or the Liaison Personnel to receive information. However, the Forum should be the minimum requirement for interactive -- as opposed to the hierarchical top-down -- communication Pride Toronto has with its constituents.
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R17. BE FAIR AND BALANCED IN YOUR ENGAGEMENTS WITH THE COMMUNITY
R18. PROTECT THE DIGNITY OF ALL YOUR CONSTITUENTS, PARTICULARLY THOSE YOU DISAGREE WITH POLITICALLY OR EXPRESSIVELY
R19. STOP VILIFYING PEOPLE
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R20. FIGHT AGAINST AND RECTIFY THE VILIFICATION OR MISREPRESENTATION OF CONSTITUENT COMMUNITY GROUPINGS BY PARTIES WITHIN AND WITHOUT THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY ______
Given Pride Toronto’s mission to be a celebratory and all-encompassing organization, it is important for Pride Toronto to actively and proudly include all communities / groups in the festival, despite any qualms or prejudices the Board may have towards these groups. Remember: the organization exists to represent and celebrate all LGBTQ communities / groups and no prejudice on the Board’s part -- and much less on the part of non-constituent stakeholders -- should deny any communities / groups the right to partake in the festival. Indeed, we understand that this is difficult, and that it may require a lot of work (community relations is never easy anyway), but this objectivity is key to being effective directors.
Part of the challenge will involve being sensitive to the needs and interests of each community/group, and consulting directly with them to get a better sense of what it is they want to see happen to (or happen with) the festival. Of course, this will require that the Pride Toronto Board actually take the time to reach out to community members, and that you take the time to truly understand the very needs and interests of each community / group so that the organization can find the best possible way of incorporating them into the festival, in a respectful and, if need be, educational manner.
Respecting the diversity of the LGBTQ communities means embracing a multitude of orientations, identities, expressions, values, viewpoints and perspectives. Not all of these characteristics will be congruent and some will be in direct conflict with one another. Yet, this is the very essence of diversity. As such, Queer Ontario urges that Pride Toronto avoid engaging in processes of determining inclusion and exclusion regarding Pride Festivities as this will be a direct affront to freedom of speech, freedom of expression and respect for diversity.
Indeed, providing a space for all community groups / community groupings within the Festival should be Pride Toronto’s number one priority, not , as has been the case, to appease the sensibilities of its funders or of non-constituent organizations, corporate sponsors, or community groups. The Pride Festival is about the LGBTQ community after all -- indeed, organized for the community and by the community -- so any extraneous voices should be given very little importance .
Should conflict arise, there needs to be a clear and accessible Conflict Resolution Process that is democratic and responsive to the parties involved; not one that determines a solution in private after gathering some preliminary information from the parties, as would be the case with the proposed Dispute Resolution Process.
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R21. RECOGNIZE COMMUNITY FRUSTRATIONS -- AND LEGITIMIZE THEM ______
It is important for Pride Toronto to realize that anger and/or frustration is legitimate and comes from a point of contention with the organization and/or its practices. In many cases, it is the result of:
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1. decisions made without adequately consulting the group(ing)s that would be affected; 2. decisions that go against the complex history and/or values of the organization; 3. a failure by the organization to inform its constituents about its plans; 4. a failure by the organization to report on its plans honestly or accurately; and/or 5. a failure by the organization to recognize a group as a legitimate part of Toronto’s LGBTQ community, and thus not allowing it to participate in the festival – the greatest insult of all
Indeed, it is wholly misleading and insensitive to claim, as many have done, that those who complain about Pride Toronto are just ‘fringe groups’ that will complain about Pride Toronto because it is somehow in their nature to do so, or because they have an agenda to ‘bring down Pride.’ It is equally as disappointing to know that Pride Toronto won’t even bother to challenge these claims and defend the groups whose perspectives are being discredited by such accusations.
It is important for Pride Toronto to realize that those who complain about the organization and its practices do so because they are concerned with the direction the organization is heading in (particularly with respect to the exclusion of marginalized and politicized groups), not only because they have the best interest of the organization in mind, but also because they actually want to help Pride Toronto get back on what they feel is ‘the right track.’
Indeed, rather than dismiss these complaints as mere noise, it would be prudent for Pride Toronto to take the time to listen to the underlying messages being made by the grievances and to recognize that they are being voiced as legitimate concerns by groups and individuals who see themselves as excluded or discriminated members of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities -- the communities Pride Toronto claims to represent and to celebrate.
Rather than antagonize its constituents and misrepresent the interests, needs, and demands of those it disagrees with -- particularly if it feels their demands are a ‘hindrance’ to the organization’s particular vision for the festival -- Pride Toronto should
1. take the time to listen to what the constituents are demanding, 2. make sure it understands what it is they are asking for and why , 3. engage in a dialogue with constituents issuing concerns and 4. work with such constituents to find a way of incorporating their demands into its vision of the festival.
The last point being of crucial importance Pride Toronto owes it to the group to have their recommendations and demands included in the festival since they too are part of Toronto’s LGBTQ community.
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R22. WHEN ADDERSSING DISPUTES THAT ARISE BETWEEN COMMUNITY GROUPS, TAKE A DIPLOMATIC STANCE AND TRY TO FACILITATE AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CONFLICTING PARTIES
R23. FAILING AN AGREEMENT, REALIZE THAT AN ‘AGREE TO DISAGREE’ SOLUTION IS VALID, AND THAT PART OF WHAT CONSTITUTES RECOGNIZING AND EMBRACING DIVERSITY IS TO NOT REQUIRE ANY GROUP TO COMPROMISE THEIR POSITIONS
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R24. UNDERSTAND THAT GIVEN PRIDE TORONTO’S MANDATE TO CELEBRATE ALL OF TORONTO’S LGBTQ COMMUNITIES, NO COMMUNITY GROUP SHOULD BE BARRED FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE FESTIVAL ______
Pride Toronto board and staff need to be willing to work directly with its constituents. Queer Ontario took issue with Pride Toronto secretly appointing a group of individuals, without community consultation, in forming the C.A.P. assigning this group with the responsibility of gathering feedback on Pride Toronto’s current situation. This clearly signified Pride Toronto’s unwillingness to deal directly with its constituents on the latter’s expressed concerns. Since the release of the C.A.P. report Pride Toronto in principle endorsed it wholesale. This was done in advance of the communities’ review of the report itself. Since then, Pride Toronto has struck both an Implementation Committee and a Dispute Resolution Process (DRP), again both without community consultation and via closed-door appointments.
In undertaking the above actions Pride Toronto has failed to consider that there are those in the LGBTQ communities who are not necessarily endorsing the C.A.P. report wholesale, even in principle. Three times over, Pride Toronto struck committees in such a way that is a direct insult to basic community development principles. The final insult to injury is setting up a mechanism that encourages an environment in which community groups are pitted against one another overseen by a quasi-judicial body that is charged with arbitrating complaints. The outcome of this is to determine who is included and excluded from the Pride Festival. Given that these bodies are arms length from Pride Toronto absolves Pride Toronto of its direct responsibility to its constituents and loads power on to these secretly appointed bodies for which the LGBTQ communities have very little recourse. How does this amount to community engagement and community development?
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R25. ALWAYS STAND UP FOR THE RIGHTS, NEEDS AND INTERESTS OF ALL YOUR CONSTITUENTS -- NOT ONLY WHEN ADDRESSING INTERNAL DISPUTES, BUT ALSO WHEN ADDRESSING INDIVIDUALS OR ORGANIZATIONS OUTSIDE OF TORONTO’S LGBTQ COMMUNITY
R26. PLACE THE NEEDS AND INTERESTS OF YOUR CONSTITUENTS BEFORE THE INTERESTS OF ANY GOVERNMENT AGENCY, FUNDING BODY, OR CORPORATE PARTNER ______
Given that Pride Toronto’s mission is to celebrate the history, diversity, courage, and future of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, there is an expectation that Pride Toronto be…
1. proud of the history, diversity, and courage of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, regardless of the manifestation these communities have taken;
2. excited to include all LGBTQ community groups and community members in the festival;
3. willing to defend the rights of its constituent community groups and community members to participate and express themselves at the Pride festival, especially since the festival exists to celebrate them .
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This includes the communities, groups, and community groupings that the Pride Toronto Board does not necessarily agree with or endorse, not the least of which are QuAIA and TNT! Men. Coming out and recognizing these groups as part of Toronto’s LGBTQ community and protecting these groups from attack – be it external and internal -- is an important first step in faithfully fulfilling your mandate. Indeed, all LGBTQ groups should be allowed to participate in the festival by virtue of them being LGBTQ groups alone.
Following this, it would make absolutely no sense for Pride Toronto to be conceding to the interests and demands of its funders -- including the City and sponsoring corporations -- by limiting the participation of certain groups from the festival. Pride Toronto should under no circumstances be accepting funds from organizations that are not 100% supportive of the festival and its mandate, and much less if the organizations are making demands of Pride Toronto to somehow limit or alter the nature or content of the festival. After all, Pride Toronto exists to hold a festival that fairly and accurately represents the history and diversity of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, not a festival that panders only to certain interests or sensibilities.
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R27. PROVIDE YOUR CONSTITUENT COMMUNITIES / COMMUNITY GROUPINGS THE FREEDOM AND AUTONOMY TO DETERMINE FOR THEMSELVES HOW IT IS THEY WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FESTIVAL, AND WHAT EVENTS OR ACTIVITIES THEY WANT TO PLAN AND ORGANIZE
R28. LIMIT PRIDE TORONTO’S ACTIVITIES TO A COORDINATIVE AND SUPPORTIVE ROLE, PROVIDING THESE COMMUNITIES / GROUPINGS WITH THE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES THEY NEED TO REALIZE THEIR ACTIVITIES ______
If the Pride festival is to be “an annual celebration and informational, educational and cultural festival by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual transsexual and transgenderal [sic] people” (emphasis on by and for ), then Pride Toronto must be prepared to relinquish most of its organizational, planning, and programming responsibilities so that they fall into the hands of Toronto’s various LGBTQ communities. This will ensure that the Pride Festival remains an event that is necessarily by the community and is reflective of its many needs, desires, and interests. In other words: organized according to their own terms.
In turn, Pride Toronto should become a primarily coordinative organization that works for and with these community groups in supplying them with the resources (including moral, administrative, legal, technical and financial support) to plan and organize their events. Indeed, Pride Toronto does not need to do everything and, in fact, should not be attempting to do everything .
Of course, this does not absolve Pride Toronto from all planning or organizational duties. Not at all! As an organization that is supposedly knowledgeable of and in-touch with the community, and as an organization that is meant to be representative and celebratory of all community groups, it is the responsibility of Pride Toronto to identify the groups that are in-need of organizational and planning assistance and to help them develop to the same quality events that are being planned by the other participating (and more privileged) groups.
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And, as it has been doing ever since its inception: Pride Toronto should still be responsible for organizing the more ‘broader’ and ‘all-encompassing’ events, like the Pride Parade and the Community Fair.
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R29. DISSOLVE PRIDE TORONTO’S ‘HIRED’ COORDINATOR POSITIONS AND ALLOW MEMBERS OF TORONTO’S VARIOUS LGBTQ COMMUNITIES TO SELECT A COORDINATOR FROM AMONGST THEMSELVES
R30. CHANGE THE PROCESS USED TO ELECT INDIVIDUALS ONTO THE BOARD SO THAT MEMBERS OF TORONTO’S VARIOUS LGBTQ COMMUNITIES SELECT A BOARD REPRESENTATIVE FROM AMONGST THEMSELVES
R31. ALLOW SELECTED PRIDE COORDINATORS TO DOUBLE AS BOARD MEMBERS IF THIS IS WHAT THE INDIVIDUAL / THE COMMUNITY IN QUESTION PREFERS
R32. MAKE BOARD TERMS ONE YEAR IN LENGTH (WITH POSSIBILITY FOR RE- ELECTION) SO THAT ONLY THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN BEING ON THE BOARD SIT ON THE BOARD, AND SO UNDESIRED BOARD MEMBERS CAN BE REPLACED BY THEIR PEERS ______
Yes, we are advocating for a Board selection process that occurs at the community-level and not, as is currently the case, from a Board level where Board members issue a Call for Director, review the applications, interview the individuals, and allow only a select few to stand for election. Clearly, this process has produced a Board that is unrepresentative of and, worst of all, ‘out of touch’ with Toronto’s LGBTQ communities and needs to be revamped entirely.
We propose that a new board selection process be put in place -- one that has the potential to merge Board Directorship with Pride Toronto’s current Coordinator Positions so that individuals who are selected to be contact persons for Pride Toronto can also serve as members of a Steering or Organizational Committee, effectively called The Pride Toronto Board. Or, if the contact person does not wish to double as a Board Member and/or if the community wants to appoint another person as a Board Member: to be able to appoint two separate individuals to fill each respective position. This will ensure that Board Members are not only trusted members of Toronto’s constituent communities but, also, that they are intimately familiar with and largely supported by their respective communities, making the Board a more ‘representative’ and ‘engaged’ body of individuals than what is currently the case.
And so, we would have, for example, organizers from groups like Blackness Yes! and the Trans Pride Committee be selected / elected by their peers to be the point person for all Pride-related affairs, who, if so willing, and if so chosen to do so by their peers, could also sit on the Pride Toronto Board to direct the organization on their community’s behalf. There, they will work with other community representatives / event organizers to help co-ordinate the festival in a way that is fundamentally responsive to the needs of the various communities that are represented on the Board (provided, of course, that the selected individuals have the skills and experience to do so effectively).
Of course, depending on how many community groups put forward a member, the Pride Toronto Board could grow to reach up to (if not more ) than the mandated 12, which will require that Pride
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Toronto maintain the positions of Executive Director, Financial Officer, Operations Director and even Parade and Community Fair Manager to provide the Board with the administrative and logistical support to keep the organization up and running. Needless to say, this will make Pride Toronto a collaborative effort, and one that requires the full participation of all selected / appointed members and the support of its constituent communities.
Its Feasibility Under The Ontario Corporations Act and Not-For-Profit Corporations Act
While indeed a radically different way of appointing Board Members, it should be noted that this is in no way a violation of the articles in the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act. Section 22 (1) states that a corporation must have at least three Board Members (or “Directors”) providing no rule whatsoever for a cap. The maximum number of Board members, then, according to Section 22 (2) of the Act, is entirely up to the direction of the membership (by virtue of a special resolution) or the Board (again, by virtue of a special resolution, but only if the by-laws allow the Board to do so), which means that a Board can, in effect, go beyond the ‘industry standard’ of 12-15 members. And, best of all, Section 129(1)(g) of the Ontario Corporations Act allows the Board of a Not-for-Profit organization to determine, for themselves, “the time and manner of election of directors.” Meaning that the only thing the Pride Toronto Board needs to do to make this election / selection process a possibility is to propose an amendment to the Pride Toronto Bylaws and have it approved by the membership
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R33. ACTIVELY REMEMBER YOUR ROOTS -- OUR ROOTS! ______
Not only because it is Pride Toronto’s mission to do so, but also because the Pride Toronto Board has much to learn from its more seasoned constituents, many of whom were active in the struggles that have granted us the freedoms of association, of free speech, and free expression that have made such a large Pride festival possible. Indeed, it would be foolish for Pride Toronto to not take an active role in recording and remembering Toronto’s LGBTQ histories, particularly the history of our most marginalized and easily-overlooked groups, like our racialized and Aboriginal queers, our trans members, people living with HIV/AIDS, and queers with different needs or abilities.
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R34. DROP THE A FOR ALLIES IN THE LGBTTIQQ2SA ACRONYM ______
Given that Pride Toronto is one of the only festivals of the year where members of the LGBTQ community can come together, en masse, to celebrate their history, courage, diversity, and future, they should have a festival that is dedicated to them only; especially given the lack of queer and trans visibility and recognitions that still exist in Canada with the systemic privileging of heterosexual desires, procreative sex, two-partnered monogamous relationships, cisgendered identities, and binarily-sexed bodies. Our allies -- the supporters who do not identify as LGBT or Q, who are aware of and understand our marginalization, and who are able to successfully navigate those social structures -- should be more than capable of understanding the need for such a festival and yield their recognition in the LGBTQ acronym. Though just to be clear: this in no way precludes us from including them, recognizing them and thanking them for their contributions at the festival.
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9. RECOMMENDATIONS: CORPORATIZATION
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R35. SCALE BACK THE SIZE OF THE FESTIVAL TO MAKE IT MORE SUSTAINABLE AND LESS DEPENDENT ON MAJOR FUNDING BODIES AND/OR CORPORATE SPONSORS
R36. EXPAND AND DIVERSIFY YOUR SOURCES OF FUNDING
R37. ESTABLISH A COMMITTEE OF SKILLED AND EXPERIENCED FUNDRAISERS TO ASSIST WITH RECOMMENDATION R36 ______
We are well aware that Pride Toronto needs the assistance of government and/or corporate funds to support a festival of the size and scope of the ones that have been organized by Pride Toronto these past numbers of years. However, we believe that it is detrimental for the organization to become dependent on government and/or corporate funds to support the festival, and much less if a pursuit of government and/or corporate funds means the organization will start ignoring or compromising the needs, interests, or demands of its constituent communities.
To make the financing of the festival more manageable, and to decrease Pride Toronto’s dependence on public funds, we recommend not only that it control the size of the festival and its compulsion to bring in costly, high-profile, international artists (like Cyndi Lauper or Kelly Roland), but that it also expand and diversity its funding sources to minimize the effects of a sponsorship withdrawal. This would include, of course, actively seeking out and applying to grants at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels; and actively seeking out progressive organizations that are 100% supportive of the festival and its mandate, despite of – or, rather, because of – its so-called ‘contentiousness.’
Of course, we realize that neither the Pride Toronto Board nor the Pride Toronto fundraising committee have the skills, the time, or the experience to do this effectively; so we recommend that Pride Toronto establish a team of skilled and experienced fundraisers to assist with this. Given the financial woes Pride Toronto has had in the past, we are surprised Pride Toronto has yet to do this. ______
R38. ESTABLISH A TRUST FUND WHERE CORPORATIONS CAN DONATE MONEYS TO THE ORGANIZATION WITHOUT THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLACE CONDITIONS ON THOSE FUNDS
R39. REQUIRE THAT ALL DONATING OR PARTNERING CORPORATIONS BE IN FULL SUPPORT OF PRIDE TORONTO’S MISSION, VISION AND VALUES, WITHOUT ANY EXCEPTIONS WHATSOEVER (AS IS CURRENTLY EXPECTED OF PRIDE TORONTO’S MEMBERSHIP)
R40. ENSURE THAT ALL DONATING OR PARTNERING CORPORATIONS UNDERSTAND THAT A DONATION OR PARTNERSHIP DOES NOT GUARANTEE REPRESENTATION IN THE FESTIVAL
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R41. ENSURE THAT ALL DONATING OR PARTNERING CORPORATIONS UNDERSTAND THAT THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO DICTATE THE FORM OR CONTENT OF THE FESTIVAL
R42. HAVE ALL DONATING OR PARTNERING CORPORATIONS SIGN AN AGREEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING THAT OULINES ITEMS R38-R41 ABOVE BEFORE ALLOWING THEM TO DONATE TO OR PARTNER WITH PRIDE TORONTO ______
Currently, it seems like corporations and other funding bodies have far too much influence on the nature and content of the festival – a festival that should be driven by the communities Pride Toronto purports to represent.
Given that Pride Toronto should be receiving funds from corporations that are 100% supportive of Pride Toronto’s mandate, Pride Toronto should convert its donation system into a Trust Fund that will allow corporations to donate to Pride Toronto in support of its work, without necessarily expecting to receive any economic gains in return. That is: the Fund will allow Pride Toronto to receive funds from organizations that are supportive of what it does, because they believe in what Pride Toronto stands for, and not just because it wants to market its goods and services to us. This would, after all, be a fair gesture for corporations who are otherwise non-invested in actively developing our communities or advocating for our rights and causes, and will show precisely how genuine and altruistic the donation really is. 13
The creation of the Trust Fund will ensure that donations remain arms-length, giving sponsoring corporations zero ability to dictate the form or content of the festival (since they will, in principle, be supporting the festival as-is) or to request that their name or identity be placed on Pride property (since the donation will, in principle, be charitable). To ensure that these expectations are clear, we recommend that Pride Toronto draft an Agreement of Understanding that all donating or sponsoring organizations will require to sign before any transaction takes place.
Indeed, Pride Toronto must display a depth of integrity in its selection of corporate sponsors if it is to organize a festival that is uncompromisingly representative and embracing of its constituent communities; which is why the need individuals who are knowledgeable and experienced in fundraising who can locate and secure various sources of revenue is so important to the future of Pride.
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R43 ENSURE THAT ALL DONATING OR PARTNERING CORPORATIONS HAVE POLICIES AND PRACTICES THAT ARE ANTI-DISCRIMINATORY, ANTI- OPPRESSIVE AND GLOBALLY RESPONSIBLE
R44 ADVOCATE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INDEPENDENT HUMAN & ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS REVIEW BOARD TO SCRUTINIZE AND SCORE EACH CORPORATION’S COMMITMENT TO LGBTQ AND OTHER HUMAN AND EVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ISSUES
13 Of course, Pride Toronto can also formally mention its sponsors in official documentation, which would signal some form of exposure – so this Trust Fund is not entirely one-sided.
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R45 ENSURE THAT ANY CORPORATION THAT IS ALLOWED TO DONATE TO OR PARTNER WITH PRIDE TORONTO HAS AN EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH SCORE IN THEIR HUMAN & ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS REVIEW ______
Currently, the rules governing corporate participation in the festival is such that it allows the participation of corporations that have a basic record of LGBTQ rights protection (not to be confused with advocacy , or community support and development) and/or a poor record of LBTQ and other human and environmental rights protections both in Canada and abroad. Indeed, it appears that the sole criteria for corporate participation in the festival is the existence of an LGBT-friendly equity policy, which includes the extension of spousal and other benefits to LGBTQ employees and their (one) partner. And while this is definitely a worthwhile feature for all corporations to have -- indeed, the bare minimum -- we urge Pride Toronto to go far beyond this sole criteria for an organization‘s participation in the festival.
If Pride Toronto is indeed committed to issues of human rights and environmental responsibility – as it must be given its support of the Human Rights Conference, and its formation of the Green Coordinator last year – it should also be checking to make sure its sponsoring organizations have policies and business practices that engage in ethical, non-exploitative practices, not only when it comes to their labour force, but also the communities in which they conduct their businesses, and the environments they use for their resources. Indeed, how responsible would it be for Pride Toronto to receive funds from an organization that is supportive of its LGBTQ employees, while also engaging in practices that exploit their workers or engage in destructive mining, for example, or deforestation?
To help in this review of sponsoring corporations, then, we urge Pride Toronto advocate for the establishment of an independent (that is, not Pride Toronto or other organization-owned) Canadian Human & Environmental Ethics Review Board that will take the time to review organizations interested in sponsoring or partnering with Pride Toronto. This should be modelled after the Corporate Equality Index of the Human Rights Campaign in the United States, but should also look into the ethical treatment of employees, consumers, and investors – and not only on homophobic or transphobic grounds – as well as its commitment to sustainable business practices. Only this way will we have a more thorough and comprehensive background into the ethicality of corporations who wish to get involved. 14
Needless to say, organizations that are allowed to donate and/or participate in the festival should have a high rating in their Human & Environmental Review. Pride Toronto should only be so proud to work with such high-calibre organizations.
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R46. HAVE A CONTINGENCY PLAN IN CASE SOME FUNDS GET DROPPED BY A FUNDING BODY OR CORPORATE SPONSOR THAT DOES NOT SUPPORT THE WHOLE OF PRIDE TORONTO’S WORK ______
14 Recall the work of the Glamorous Outcasts, a crop of activists who developed a Code of Ethics in the early 2000s that was to be read and signed by every corporation that was looking to participate in the Pride Festival. This Code required the corporation to submit a copy of its terms of references and equity, anti-oppression, and anti-harassment policies to ensure that they were up to standard.
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This is fairly self-explanatory and should, of course, be developed alongside the body of skilled and experienced fundraisers proposed in Recommendation R37 above.
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R47. HONOUR THE DEMANDS SET OUT IN THE PRIDE COMMUNITY CONTRACT ______
This will demonstrate Pride Toronto’s undying commitment to the needs and interests of the local LGBTQ community, and it will show that you are committed to placing the needs and interests of its various communities above any and all corporate ones.
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R48. IN SHORT: STOP PANDERING TO CORPORATE AND GOVERNMENT INTERESTS. IT IS NOT PRIDE TORONTO’S MISSION TO DO SO. ______
As an organization that is meant to celebrate the history, courage, diversity, and future of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, Pride Toronto should be solely accountable to the members of those communities and no one else. After all, the festival does exist to represent and feature them , completely and accurately, and as such, should take its direction from these communities alone.
Indeed, a pandering to corporate and government funders -- particularly those that are demanding a change to the content of the festival and/or the exclusion of certain groups or forms of expression -- goes squarely against Pride Toronto’s mission to celebrate in the history, courage, diversity and future of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities since they are effectively asking Pride Toronto to compromise the completeness and integrity of the festival: to downplay the politics of the festival (as CP24 did with its broadcast of the Parade), or to remove community groups from participation (as the City of Toronto has been doing). Pride Toronto simply cannot tolerate this, and should be fighting against these forces via advocacy and education.
By adopting the recommendations above, then, Pride Toronto will demonstrate that it is committed to the needs and interests of its constituents first and foremost, and that corporate funds are used to support the needs and interest of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities, not override them.
They will ensure that local not-for-profit organizations are given the respect and representation they deserve after contributing to, and actively developing, our communities throughout the year.
That is: they will ensure that Pride Toronto is receiving funds from organizations that are themselves committed to ethical business practices and the fight for human rights, and/or who are contributing positively to the lives of their employees, customers, and neighbouring communities.
They will also posit Pride Toronto as an advocate for the fair and ethical treatment of persons and communities since it will demonstrate a zero tolerance policy for poor or damaging business practices -- a very honourable position to take as an organization committed to equality and human rights, and one that will drive up better business practices given that the covetedness of the LGBTQ market.
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10. WHAT IF PRIDE TORONTO IS UNABLE OR UNWILLING TO ADOPT THESE RECOMMENDATIONS? ______
SPECIAL REQUEST ______
If the Pride Toronto Board, for whatever reason, finds that it is incapable or unwilling to take on the recommendations set out in this report, then we at Queer Ontario feel it is due time for the Board at Pride Toronto to either:
R49 Step down and make way for a more competent, experienced, and sensitive Board that will follow the recommendations
OR
R50 Change the mission statement, vision, and values of Pride Toronto so that it accurately reflects what the Board is capable of achieving, and the stakeholders it seeks to serve
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RATIONALE ______
1. This will ensure that groups and organizations that are willing to work with the community to develop a festival or event that is more representative and inclusive of Toronto’s LGBTQ constituents will be able to do so without there being much overlap or conflict with Pride Toronto’s mission. Besides, by changing the Pride Toronto mission statement -- say, for example, to indicate that it is no longer representative of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities as a whole -- the Pride Toronto Board will finally be able to disassociate itself from the histories and community groups that it feels are a hindrance to its more mainstream, corporate, and international interests.
2. This will also help Pride Toronto establish a mission statement that the Board knows it will be able to achieve. To attempt to be everything to everyone knowing -- or, rather, believing – full well that it is an impossible task is to constantly set oneself up for failure, not to mention the resultant criticism that will come from members of the LGBTQ community who feel that their needs and interests are not being adequately met or represented by the organization. Specifying Pride Toronto’s mandate will at least help to alleviate this pressure and make the responsibilities of the Board a lot more manageable.
3. Lastly, this will ensure that an organization that is not interested in fairly representing, protecting, or celebrating the needs and interests of all of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities does not claim for itself the history , courage , diversity and future of those it refuses to represent; much less to profit from them.
It’s only fair.
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11. APPLIED RECOMMENDATIONS: THE PRIDE FESTIVAL
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R51. PICTURE THE PRIDE FESTIVAL AS A COMMUNITY FAIR THAT SHOWCASES THE UNIQUENESS, DIVERSITY, HISTORY, CULTURE, AND POLITICS OF TORONTO’S LGBTQ COMMUNITY GROUPS / COMMUNITYGROUPINGS ______
Given that one of the objectives set out in Pride Toronto’s Articles of Incorporation is to…
stag[e] in the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto an annual celebration and informational , educational and cultural festival by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transgender [sic] people of their sexual and gender orientations and identities, and their histories, cultures, communities, organizations, relationships, achievements and lives” (emphases added)
… it would be prudent for Pride Toronto to imagine the yearly festival as a community fair that features local community groups and organizations (plus their histories, their cultures, their achievements and their relationships), which is planned, developed, and organized by the community groups that want to see themselves included in the festival.
This will mean that Pride Toronto will need to take a more marginal -- but no less important -- role, in organizing the festival; namely that of a moral, administrative, security, legal, material, and financial supporter / facilitator for all participating groups / organizations. Or, if a community group / organization is interested in, but unable to, organize their own event, for whatever reason, then it would be the responsibility of Pride Toronto to organize the event in collaboration with that community group.
That is: this proposed structure does not give Pride Toronto the permission to ignore a group if it is unable to organize its own event. For if Pride Toronto is to be an organization that stages a comprehensive annual informational, educational, and cultural festival, then it would need to do the best it can to reach out to and include all interested community groups.
Of course, this does not preclude or require the eradication of the massive street party-and-live stage format Pride Toronto has taken over the last decade. What it does mean is that Pride Toronto will have to invest more time and energy into developing the informational , educational , and cultural aspects of the festival, which we cannot help but notice have been effaced from the festival either in part or in full, save for a few educational opportunities like the Human Rights Conference and the now costly -- and in many cases, the community-inaccessible -- Community Fair.
The festival, in other words, should not be imagined as a massive street party for the City of Toronto (and other organizations) to claim as their own for touristy or profitable purposes, nor even as a Board-organized festival that is intended to ‘entertain’ Toronto’s LGBTQ communities; but rather, a powerful representational agent for Toronto’s LGBTQ communities during one of the few times of the year when they can all come out and showcase themselves, en masse, to the City and the world.
As such, we propose the following recommendations:
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R52. TAKE A LESS POSSESSIVE AND MICROMANAGERIAL APPROACH TO THE PLANNING OF THE PRIDE FESTIVAL
R53. ALLOW YOUR CONSTITUENT COMMUNITY GROUPS TO DETERMINE FOR THEMSELVES WHAT COMMUNITY EVENTS THEY WANT TO HAVE AT PRIDE
R54. ALLOW YOUR CONSTITUENT COMMUNITY GROUPS TO PLAN AND ORGANIZE THESE EVENTS AS THEY SEE FIT ______
For the reasons outlined in Recommendations 27-28, it would be prudent for the Pride Toronto Board to become less controlling of the annual Pride festival, the way it is planned, and the way it is organized, so that the it can establish a more collaborative and community-driven planning process that results in a festival that is considerably more reflective of the needs and interests of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities.
We recommend that it take a so-called ‘satellite’ approach to organizing festival events where constituent community groups are given the responsibility, the power, and the autonomy to develop, plan, and organize their own events, much the same way Blockorama and the Trans March Committee currently do for Pride. Which would mean that Pride Toronto needs to play a more arms-length and assistive role that helps these community groups realize their events.
Do note, however, that this ‘arms-length’ does not absolve Pride Toronto from all planning and organizational duties. As an organization that is supposedly knowledgeable of and in-touch with its constituent communities, Pride Toronto is also responsible for identifying the many groups that are in need of planning assistance and should be helping them develop events that are of the same quality as those being organized by other, more privileged community groups.
Of course, this does not mean that Pride Toronto should be actively seeking out and encouraging the participation of community groups that choose not to participate in the festival or to keep their event unaffiliated with Pride. Rather, Pride Toronto should respect the autonomy of all community groups and should provide them all with the same degree of moral support, regardless of whether or not they want to take part in the official Pride festivities.
Indeed, this may seem like a lot of work, but we truly believe that it is necessary if Pride Toronto is committed to fulfilling its objectives and holding a festival that is by and for the community.
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R55. REINSTATE THE INFORMATIONAL PROGRAMMING THAT HAS DISAPPEARED OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS BY DEVELOPING A HISTORICAL AND/OR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM TO HIGHLIGHT LOCAL COMMUNITY GROUPS / GROUPINGS. ______
This will ensure that the Pride festival remains relevant to our aging community members, and that it becomes a place of learning, community-building and context for our youth (recognizing, of course, that learning, community-building, and context are never things that are lost with age).
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It will also provide a place where people can learn about the history of Pride Toronto, Toronto’s LGBTQ communities and, indeed, the City itself, and to gain a greater appreciation for them all.
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R56. REINSTATE THE CULTURAL PROGRAMMING THAT HAS DISAPPEARED OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS BY ORGANIZING EVENTS THAT FEATURE AS MANY FORMS OF LGBTQ CULTURAL EXPRESSION AS POSSIBLE ______
Including LGBTQ music, literature, film, video, dance, visual art, pornography, and poetry.
Adding variety to -- and indeed, simply adding to -- the offering of artistic content (as opposed to content categorized as ‘entertainment’) will ensure that Pride Toronto has a robust Cultural Program that more actively incorporates its vast community of artists, and provides a more comprehensive survey of the kinds of works that are currently being produced by LGBTQ artists in Toronto.
A more varied Cultural Programming will also ensure that Pride Toronto appeals to a variety of visitors -- not just those interested in music and dancing -- and that it engages as many of the senses as possible, a generally good idea to attract and retain festival-goers with various degrees of perceptive and/or processing capabilities.
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R57. ELIMINATE THE VIP PASS ______
The Pride festival is a community affair that belongs to all Toronto LGBTQ constituents. Everyone should have the same access to Pride events, regardless of socioeconomic status; that is: public recognisability, popularity, public input or personal and/or household income. To do otherwise is to create a two-tiered class system that permits those in higher economic strata to have privileged access to some (if not all) Pride events. This is unfair and, quite frankly, unbecoming of an organization that is supposedly committed to principles of equality.
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R58. HONOUR THE TERMS SET OUT IN THE PRIDE COMMUNITY CONTRACT ______
Artist Relations
R59. Make it a priority to feature local and Toronto-Area LGBTQ artists; and
R60. Pay these artists for participating in the festival. At minimum, the rate set out by each artist’s respective union, regardless of whether or not they are members of that union.
Community Groups and Not-for-Profit Organizations
R61. Make it a priority to feature local community groups and not-for-profit organizations; and
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R62. Ensure that these groups and organizations are given a spot both in the Parade and The Community Fair at a cost that is as close to zero dollars ($0) as possible.
Independent and/or LGBTQ Businesses
R63. Make it a priority to feature local independent and/or LGBTQ businesses, at a cost that is, at most, 25% of that which is required of similar corporations.
Partnerships
R64. Make it a priority to partner with local and/or LGBTQ businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and community groups, and work with them to promote their goods and services.
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12. APPLIED RECOMMENDATIONS: FEATURED EVENTS
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12.1. THE PRIDE PARADE ______
R65. Move the day of the Parade back to the last Sunday of June -- the Stonewall weekend.
Please see Section 5.3, Case 7 (The Shifting of the Parade Date to the Canada Day Long- Weekend) for more info.
R66. Develop clear and unequivocal guidelines that recognizes the right for all community groups to participate
This should be based on their self-identification as an LGBTQ group; on their mandate to accommodate the needs and interests of LGBTQ persons; and/or their mandate to eradicate the form(s) of oppression faced by LGBTQ persons around the world -- including here in Canada.
While it is advisable that Pride Toronto bar the participation of groups that do not identify as LGBTQ and/or that actively oppress us -- including corporations -- it would be contrary to the mission of Pride Toronto for the Board or any other body (i.e. the arms-length DRP Committee) to serve as adjudicators that screen and dictate which groups are allowed to march in the Parade and which groups are not.
It is the responsibility of Pride Toronto to know its constituents -- that is: who forms part of Toronto’s LGBTQ community, who doesn’t, and why -- and to allow those groups to participate by virtue of their status as key community groups, without excuses whatsoever.
It is the responsibility of Pride Toronto to fight for the inclusion of these community groups within the parade, regardless of the ramifications this dispute may have on the organization’s funding since the role of the organization is to provide a festival that is representative and celebratory of all LGBTQ community groups. Again, there can be no excuses for this. Pride Toronto needs to be true to its mission and stand by it.
R67. Reduce the size of the festival, preferably by limiting the presence of corporations.
As per Recommendation 35, it would be prudent for Pride Toronto to scale back the festival so that its expenses become a lot more manageable than they have been in the past two years. The aim, of course, would be to establish a festival that is more self-sustainable than not, and one that does not depends on the funds of a few major sponsors of governing bodies to run, since the organization runs the risk of losing major funds if either one of these funding bodies or corporate sponsors retract their contributions because of some issue they may have with the festival.
That said, it would also be prudent for Pride Toronto to limit corporate participation in the parade only to organizations that actively contribute to LGBTQ initiatives and are committed to fair and ethical business practices, as per Recommendations 43 to 45.
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R68. Make available basic amenities like food, water, shade, and toilets to the parade participants, especially if you will be requiring them to stand outside in the sun for up to two hours before allowing them onto the parade route.
This is particularly important for our elder participants, participants with children and participants with disabilities and/or other health conditions. But, ideally, these should be available to all.
R69. Allow various exit points along the Parade route -- say, for example, at every major intersection -- so that people can leave the Parade at will.
Again, this would be a key accommodation for older participants, participants with children, and participants with disabilities or other health conditions.
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12.2 THE DYKE MARCH ______
R70. Allow the Dyke March to continue as the political march it was meant to be without having its principles compromised by Pride Toronto.
Autonomy is key. Pride Toronto should only serve as a support system, as per Recommendations 53-54, and allow members of the Lesbian community (and the various communities that exist therein) to come together and plan their own Pride activities. Which would mean that Pride Toronto should only plan the Dyke March and any related lesbian- focused events if it has been requested to do so by members of the Lesbian community.
If it is asked to serve a more active, organizational role, Pride Toronto should a) develop the event in conjunction and in consultation with lesbian, bisexual, cisgendered women (and trans groups alike); b) invest as much time and energy into planning the event as with all other Pride events; c) plan the march so that it leads to a space -- say, Allan Gardens -- where participants are treated to a day of programming and/or are given the liberty to hold their own gathering.
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12.3 THE TRANS MARCH ______
R71. Allow the Trans March to continue as the political march it was meant to be without having its principles compromised by Pride Toronto.
Autonomy is key. Pride Toronto should only serve as support system, as per Recommendations 53-54, and allow members of the Trans community (and the various communities that exist therein) to come together and plan their own Pride activities. Which would mean that Pride Toronto should only plan the Trans March and any related trans- focused events if it has been requested to do so by members of the Trans community.
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If it is asked to serve a more active, organizational role, Pride Toronto should a) develop the event in conjunction and in consultation with trans groups; b) invest as much time and energy into planning the event as with all other Pride events; and c) plan the march so that it leads to a space -- say, Allan Gardens -- where participants are treated to a day of programming and/or are given the liberty to hold their own gathering.
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12.4 THE HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE ______
R72. Continue with the global focus it has always had with respect to highlighting the injustices that are faced by LGBTQ persons around the world.
It is worth noting that many of our respondents were satisfied with Pride Toronto’s approach to the Human Rights Conference, but were wary of the fact that, up until now, it has focused on international injustices because of a notion that we, as members of a nation that grants a number of right and privileges to our LGBTQ citizens, are in a position to provide perspectives and, indeed, a model for an LGBTQ-affirming society.
However, what this framing essentially does is focus on the comparable lacks that exist in other countries without respecting the agency and resiliency of those in those countries. Also, this focus fails to pay attention to the injustices and inequalities that still exist here in Canada. As such, we recommend that Pride Toronto:
R73. Also include a Canadian-specific focus to highlight the injustices that are faced by LGBTQ persons here at home.
This is particularly important to highlight the injustices and inequalities faced by trans people, queer women, racialized queers and queers of colour, LGBT youth, LGBT seniors, effeminate men, butch women, LGBT persons with disabilities, persons living with HIV/AIDS, LGBT persons with low-to-no income, newly-immigrated queers, persons in polyamorous relationships, single people, and sex workers. Highlighting domestic LGBTQ issues and concerns emphasizes the need and relevance of our annual Pride events.
R74. Work against a model of human rights discourse that posits the identitarian North American ‘LGBTQ’ model as the most liberal and liberating model for sexual and gender expression.
This, of course, would require two kinds of actions.
On the one hand, to recognize and legitimize the many local and indigenous ways people around the world come to make sense of, understand, and express their ‘gender’ or ‘sexuality’, and to work towards understanding and preserving them by not having them be overpowered or ‘colonized’ by the ‘LGBTQ’ globalization movement and the internationalization of Pride festivals around the world.
On the other hand, to work with people around the world (including and especially those who have embraced the North American LGBTQ globalization movement) to work towards an appreciation and respect for a greater diversity of sexual and gender expression. That is:
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to fight not only for people’s rights to define for themselves how it is they want to articulate and express their gender or sexuality, but to also recognize the legitimacy of their self- definitions and protect them from discrimination or oppression of all kinds.
That is: Pride Toronto should help establish a liberationist kind of social justice that would provide a more nuanced, non-universalizing, and indigenous-respectful conference that seeks to engage, challenge and inspire conference participants and delegates alike.
R75. Publicize the conference with as much zeal and enthusiasm as you do your arts and entertainment events.
Because it is a staple of the festival, and would demonstrate Pride Toronto’s dedication to human rights issues.
R76. Situate the conferences in a more easy-to-find, centralized, and accessible location to accentuate its prominence in the festival.
Same as above.
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12.5 THE COMMUNITY FAIR / MARKETPLACE ______
R77. Actively showcase community groups at the fair, so that they may have a space to discuss and share their information with the public.
Indeed, rather than functionally provide a space where community groups and other organizations that purchase a spot along the fair route, Pride Toronto should be taking a more proactive approach to the community fair, using it as an opportunity to educate and orient the public about LGBTQ groups and issues. As such, we recommend that Pride Toronto actively reach out to all community groups and plead that they take part in the fair.
Similarly, Pride Toronto should be actively finding ways of covering the costs of the community fair so that community groups can pay as close to zero ($0) as possible to take part.
R78. Actively highlight our local and Toronto-area LGBTQ non-profit organizations.
Pride Toronto should recognize, celebrate and give prominence to the many not-for-profit organizations that service Toronto’s LGBTQ communities on a day-to-day basis. Much like the case with community groups above, Pride Toronto should be using the community fair as an opportunity to educate and orient the public about LGBTQ not-for-profit organizations and their goals. As such, we recommend that Pride Toronto actively reach out to as many non-profit LGBTQ organizations as possible and plead that they take part in the fair.
Similarly, Pride Toronto should be actively finding ways of covering the costs of the community fair so that non-profit organization can pay as close to zero ($0) as possible to take part.
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R79. Allow larger businesses to participate as well, but only if they score highly on the proposed Human and Environmental Ethics Review outlined in Recommendation 45.
As an organization that is committed to human rights in Canada and around the world, as evidenced by its commitment to host and organize a Human Right Conference, it would be unconscionable for Pride Toronto to provide a space in the marketplace to organizations that engage in unethical and destructive business practices. As such, we recommend that Pride Toronto scrutinize the policies and business practices that show an interest in the marketplace to ensure that it is not endorsing and/or giving a platform to an organization that, while LGBTQ-friendly, is treating other groups and communities with less dignity and respect. That is: only allow the participation of businesses that score exceptionally high in the Equality and Global Responsibility Index.
Similarly, because they are not necessarily LGBTQ-identified organizations or organizations with a mandate to accommodate the needs of LGBTQ persons, or to eradicate the forms of oppression that affect LGBTQ persons worldwide, it would be prudent for Pride Toronto to charge these groups considerably more for their participation in the marketplace. Perhaps even high enough to cover the costs for all other local, independent, community groups.
R80. Plan the placement of the booths, the food vendors, and the stages more strategically so that traffic is distributed evenly and all booths are given equal and steady traffic.
While indeed a challenging task, it would be greatly appreciated if Pride Toronto experimented with the arrangement of the stages, the booths, and the beer tents to make this balance possible.
One suggestion would be to place vendors along the residential areas of the Church- Wellesley corridor so that they do not interfere with the traffic of our local businesses, and to place the community groups and non-profit organizations closer to the heart of the Church and Wellesley intersection.
Also, ensure that community groups do not need to compete with the noise and traffic from the entertainment stages.
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12.6 40 PLUS PROGRAMMING ______
R81. Rather than provide 40 Plus programming in a festival that is clearly marketed to younger audiences, provide a 40 Plus focus to the festival every so often to infuse it with a 40 Plus ‘sensibility’.
It should be noted that there are a number of elder LGBTQ individuals who feel that they have ‘outlived’ the festival because the core events at Pride are fundamentally ageist. It would be a good idea to start ‘theming’ the festival so that it focuses on key segments of Toronto’s LGBTQ community, which would give Pride Toronto the space to better showcase the uniqueness, history, diversity, and culture of these key communities. More specifically,
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this would be a great opportunity to highlight the lives and achievements of our 40+ generation, many of whom are still doing great things for Toronto’s LGBTQ community.
R82. Be more conscious of the needs of your elder LGBTQ constituents throughout the festival.
This includes everything from providing more shaded places to sit for individuals who need to rest more frequently, to providing a stage for elder performers who may no longer have the space to perform. In fact, much like the Trans and Dyke Marches above, we recommend that Pride Toronto:
R83. Allow your elder constituents to plan their own programming if they so wish to do so, without having their needs or interests pre-figured by Pride Toronto.
Pride Toronto should only serve as support system, as per Recommendations 53-54, and allow the elder members of Toronto’s LGBTQ community (and the various communities that exist therein) to come together and plan their own Pride activities. Which would mean that Pride Toronto should only plan the festival’s so-called ‘40 Plus’ events if it has been requested to do so by members of Toronto’s elder LGBTQ community.
If it is asked to serve a more active, organizational role, Pride Toronto should: a) develop the event in conjunction and in consultation with our elder community groups; b) invest as much time and energy into planning the event as with all other Pride events; c) promote the event with as much zeal as it does its other arts & entertainment programming
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12.7 FAMILY PRIDE ______
Our respondents were ambivalent towards family programming. On the one hand, they recognized that LGBTQ parents should bring their children to the festival and partake in the festivities along with them; however, they were concerned that a focus on archetypical “Families” and “Children” may turn into a discursive means to ‘tone down’ and/or limit the participation or expression of certain community groups -- namely, “for the sake of the children”. That is: our respondents want LGBTQ parents to be able to celebrate their Pride with their children; however, the presence of children should in no way hinder a person’s ability to express themselves sexually or otherwise.
If Pride Toronto can guarantee this then, definitely , Family Pride should be organized based on the needs and interests of LGBTQ parents and their children, as with all the other events.
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12.8 YOUTH PRIDE ______
R84. Provide a Historical Education component to teach LGBTQ youth about LGBTQ heritage and the legacies they are acquiring by virtue of being LGBTQ persons.
Aside from providing entertaining youth programming and an opportunity for LGBTQ youth to express themselves-- what with its partnership with SOY (Supporting Our Youth) and the Fruit Loopz stage -- Pride Toronto should also aim to provide educational and historical programming to teach LGBTQ youth about the history of Toronto’s LGBTQ communities and the realities faced by LGBTQ youth some 10+ years ago.
In fact, it would be great if Pride Toronto could partner LGBTQ youth with the 40 Plus community groups to engage in a dialogue and transfer of anecdotes, stories, and perspectives to close the wide gap that exists between the two groups. But of course, much like the Trans March and the Dyke March, we recommend that Pride Toronto:
R85. Allow your young constituents to plan their own Pride events if they so wish to do so, without having their needs or interests pre-figured by Pride Toronto.
Pride Toronto should only serve as support system, as per Recommendations 53-54, and allow the younger members of Toronto’s LGBTQ community (and the various communities that exist therein) to come together and plan their own Pride activities. Which would mean that Pride Toronto should only plan the festival’s youth events if it has been requested to do so by the younger members of Toronto’s LGBTQ community.
If it is asked to serve a more active, organizational role, Pride Toronto should: a) develop the event in conjunction and in consultation with youth groups; b) invest as much time and energy into planning the event as with all other Pride events; and c) promote the event with as much zeal as it does its other arts & entertainment programming
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12.9 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ______
R86. Make local LGBTQ artists, writers, and performers a programming priority for Pride Toronto’s Arts & Entertainment offerings.
R87. Honour the demands set out in the Pride Community Contract.
This will ensure that Pride Toronto’s arts & entertainment programming stays local- and community-focused, and that it provides a platform for as many of our local artists as possible. Indeed, it is worth noting that LGBTQ artists do constitute a community of people and that they, too, should have time and energy invested in them like Pride Toronto does for all other Pride communities.
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The details of such a support system are laid out in the Pride Community Contract.
R88. Expand your Arts & Entertainment programming to feature LGBTQ artists that work beyond the realms of music and dance.
It would be good if, aside from featuring dancers and musical performers, Pride Toronto also included the programming of artists who work in the visual arts, in theatre, and in film. It would provide for a more robust arts & entertainment programming and one that engages various senses and artistic interests.
This can be done in conjunction with community organizations like the Inside / Out Film Festival and Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, as well as larger artistic institutions like the Art Gallery of Ontario, The Canadian Opera Company, or the National Film Board of Canada.
Partnerships with local neighbourhoods and elementary, secondary, and post-secondary programs would also be an interesting approach to this program.
R89. Allow artists and performers to express themselves politically.
All artists and performers should be permitted to express their political views regardless provided they stay within the realms of Pride Toronto’s anti-discrimination policy and are supportive and affirmative of LGBTQ people. Restricting artists and performers from making political statements is a form of artistic censorship that completely overlooks the dialectical relationship art and politics have for many artists and performers.
R90. Develop a Historical Programming feature.
Arts & entertainment programming, as you are well aware, need not be spectacular or ‘entertaining’ for it to be worthwhile; it, too, can also be informative, educational, and thought-provoking, as is the case of the Human Rights Conference. As such, we recommend that Pride Toronto develop historical programming that looks rigorously at the history of Toronto / Ontario / Canada’s LGBTQ histories, particularly the unwritten and oral histories of Toronto’s more marginalized LGBTQ communities -- like its women, trans, racialized and immigrant communities.
This can be done in conjunction with key community organizations like the Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives and the Pink Triangle Press, as well as larger historical institutions like the City of Toronto Archive and the Archives of Ontario.
Partnerships with local businesses and neighbourhoods would also be an interesting approach to this program.
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12.10 DIS/ABILITY SERVICES ______
It should be noted that respondents have, for the most part, noticed quite an improvement when it comes to accommodating the needs of festival-goers with dis/abilities. However, there are two recommendations that came forward:
R91. Make the Pride Toronto offices wheelchair accessible
This is fairly self-explanatory.
R92. Provide viewing stands on Church Street to provide individuals in wheelchairs and other mobility devices an unobstructed view of the stages.
Indeed, just like you do for the Pride Parade.
R93. Recognize that your disabled constituents do have a sexual and artistic culture; and
R94. Allow your dis/abled constituents to plan their own Pride events if they so wish, without having their needs or interests pre-figured by Pride Toronto.
Pride Toronto should only serve as support system, as per Recommendations 53-54, and allow the members of Toronto’s dis/abled LGBTQ community (and the various communities that exist therein) to come together and plan their own Pride activities. Which would mean that Pride Toronto should only plan the festival’s dis/abled events if it has been requested to do so by the members of Toronto’s dis/abled LGBTQ community.
If it is asked to serve a more active, organizational role, Pride Toronto should a) develop the event in conjunction and in consultation with disabled groups; b) invest as much time and energy into planning the event as with all other Pride events; c) promote the event with as much zeal as it does its other arts & entertainment programming
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APPENDICES
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A1. THE PRIDE COMMUNITY CONTRACT
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PRETEXT ______
Since 1981 Pride Toronto has publicly represented Toronto’s queer and trans communities. In 2014 it will be representing us to the entire world. But we, the undersigned, feel that the Pride board has increasingly lost sight of its roots, history and responsibility to our local communities.
A philosophy of growth at any cost has meant that Pride is now completely dependant on its corporate sponsors and government funding. Community support and development has been eclipsed by the demands of marketing and tourism. Pride has therefore become vulnerable to external interests and political pressures that increasingly dictate the shape of the festival.
This is unacceptable. It is time to restore community accountability to Pride.
With this in mind, we propose the following contract between Pride Toronto and the Toronto LGBT community. We welcome comments from the community.
Note: Items in blue-gray have been added by Queer Ontario to complement and build upon the original contract.
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THE CONTRACT ______
1. All Pride events and activities must be financially, socially, and environmentally sustainable and accessible to all.
• Nonprofit community based organizations must not be charged unreasonable rates for their participation in Pride Festivities (i.e. participation in the Community Fair)]
2. Freedom of expression must be guaranteed:
• All queer and trans groups and individuals must be free to express themselves politically, culturally, etc. [within an anti-oppressive framework] as they see fit at Pride.
• Pride event spaces must be kept secure and safe so that queer and trans groups and individuals can express themselves freely without fear of discrimination, violence, etc.
3. Non-for-profit grassroots community events at Pride must always take precedence over corporate sponsorships and corporate events:
• Community-based events (including, but not limited to Blockorama, FunkAsia, and the Trans stage) must always have first priority in choosing stage areas.
• Once a “hub” of community events is established, the playing field may be opened to others.
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• Free events should be given priority over events with entrance fees.
4. Local queer and trans artists must be given preference over “headliners”:
• 75% of all artist and cultural-related expenditures must be focused on the GTA local community.
• Queer and Trans artists, including those from outside the GTA, must be given preference over artists from outside these communities.
• All artists must be free to express their political views.
• All artists must be paid for their work – at minimum, the artist fee that is mandated by their union, regardless of whether or not they are union members
5. Local small businesses must be given preference over corporate sponsors:
• Vendor space must be allocated with preferential choice for local community queer and trans businesses.
• Participation fees for local businesses should be set at 25 % of similar corporate fees.
• Advertising expenditures should be focused on bringing new customers and tourists to local queer and trans businesses.
6. Pride volunteers should be valued and given opportunities for skills development and deeper involvement in the community:
• Pride should be a training ground for community leadership.
• Volunteers should be encouraged to voice their opinions and give input into the shape of the festival.
• Ideas need to come ‘up’ from the volunteers to the Board, not just the other way around.
7. Corporate donors and sponsors must demonstrate meaningful commitment to the wellbeing of local queer and trans communities:
• All corporate donors and sponsors must demonstrate equitable queer and trans positive human resources policies.
• Corporate donors and sponsors will support and endorse Pride events and services, without expecting advertising, logo placement or other benefit beyond agreed upon public acknowledgement and thanks
8. Demonstrated involvement in LGBT communities should be a requirement for all Pride staff.
9. Transparency in decision-making:
• There must be ongoing, accessible and varied opportunities before and after Pride each year for members of the LGBT community to express their ideas or concerns about how Pride should be organized.
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• Pride events that purport to represent a particular element of the LGBT community (e.g. Dyke March, Trans stage), must be developed with meaningful and direct involvement of those communities and in good faith.
• Minutes from all Pride board meetings must be publicly available and posted on line.
10. Transparency in financial affairs:
• Pride must provide to the community a detailed projection of estimated income and expenditures at least 90 days in advance of Pride Week.
• Pride must provide to the community a detailed, audited breakdown of actual income and expenditures at its Annual General meeting.
• The AGM must be adequately publicized and held in an appropriate and accessible location.
11. All of Pride’s bylaws and procedures should reflect and exemplify the principles of the community contract.
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A2. THE QUEER ONTARIO PRIDE TORONTO SURVEY
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TO THE QO PRIDE REPORT READER ______
Note that this survey was comprised of two parts.
1. PRIDE TORONTO, THE ORGANIZATION
The first part focuses on eight key aspects related to Pride Toronto’s governance, structure, and business practices, particularly as they relate to the organization’s handling of the controversies around QuAIA, Blockorama, and the Trans community, as well as its conduct during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) this past September. These include Pride Toronto’s…
* Mission * Vision * Values * Governance Structure / Internal Communications * Business Practices / External Communications * Relationship to Funders, Political Parties, and/or Corporations. * Relationship to the LGBTQ Community and/or its Membership * The inclusion of ‘Allies’ at the end of LGBTTIQQ2S * Other
2. THE TORONTO PRIDE FESTIVAL
The second part focuses on the 11 key festival components listed on Pride Toronto’s website. We ask that you through the list and provide your assessment of their ‘adequacy’ (however it is you want to define the terms) in satisfying Pride Toronto’s mission, vision, and values. These are:
* The Dyke March * The Trans March * The Annual Pride Parade * The Human Rights Conference * The Street Fair & Market Place * Arts and Entertainment * 40 Plus Programming * Dis/Ability Services * The Free Zone * Family Pride * Youth Pride * Other
Once the respondent had gone through these, they were then asked to provide some general feedback on your thoughts around Pride Toronto’s approach to festival programming.
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1. PRIDE TORONTO MISSION STATEMENT ______
Please take a moment to review Pride Toronto’s mission statement…
Pride Toronto exists to celebrate the history, courage, diversity and future of Toronto's LGBTTIQQ2SA communities.
Given the way Pride Toronto has conducted its business these past couple of years…
1. Would you say it has effectively carried out its mission statement? Why or why not? (Please provide examples to illustrate your answer, if possible)
Generally speaking, I think this is a very good mission statement in that it is concise yet comprehensive. Sadly, I think PT has failed on every aspect of their mission of late.
1. They are currently showing a complete disrespect for history by quietly shifting the date of the festivities from the Stonewall anniversary to the Canada Day long weekend for economic and tourism reasons disregarding the essence of pride’s historical beginnings and the rise of the contemporary LGBTQ movement
2. They have displayed a complete lack of courage in defending free speech values and concept of human rights as demonstrated in their woeful response to the QuAIA debacle
3. They have demonstrated a low regard to the sensitivity of diversity in how they have rudely treated the Blockorama component and co-opted the Trans March
4. The covert introduction of the VIP Pass this past year is creating a two-tier class system that permits those with a higher income direct access to many PT Festivity Events over the majority of attendees
5. There also appears to be an over emphasis on the needs of allies (A) than those of the LGBTTIQQ2S communities
Given their attempt to squeeze QuAIA out of the parade, I’d say they’ve gone from celebrating to attempting to shape the future in very specific ways. They also fall down on the diversity mandate in that the event is still very white, very male, and very gay. Have I even seen a 2-spirited event at Pride? Are there are 2-spirited groups in Toronto they could have asked. What have they done that’s relevant to the intersex or questioning attendees?
No, to celebrate diversity, to me, means respecting the diverse voices and freedom struggles including those of QuAIA and Blockorama etc. This is basic free speech and also solidarity politics.
No. It compromised with businesses to present a 'market-friendly' version of ourselves to the larger world.
Over the years I believe that Pride has tried to carry out the mission statement. Recently it seems to have yielded to lobbying, particularly lobbying that threatens Pride financially, and compromised its commitment to the mission statement.
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No. Our history of resistance to oppression and support for other oppressed and marginalized people has been forgotten. Censorship and attempts to define Pride as not being political work against the history, courage, diversity and future of our communities.
No. But in fairness, with each letter that was added to that cluster-fuck in front of the word “communities,” it has become harder for ANY organisation to be totally effective. The sad truth of the matter is that the histories are not the same; the courage is not found in the same levels or types; the conception of diversity varies wildly, and there is little to no agreement on any kind of vision for the future. So, what follows is tempered with the realisation that the many elements of “community” have handed a single organisation a Sisyphean task. That said, I think there are a few distinct but related things (see #2 below) upon which the various elements of “community” might possibly agree.
Specific examples of lack of effectiveness related to the mission: 1) no real effort to combine politics and partying (in fact, a distinct effort to shunt politics – surely an extremely important part of our history – to the sidelines). 2) measuring success by size (this ain’t the internet!) and all that huge size brings: a) need for City support; b) need for sponsorships in ever-increasing number and quantity; c) downplaying of community elements
2. If you feel Pride Toronto‘s business practices have not been consistent with its mission statement, why do you think this is?
Threats to finances.
Because we are assaulted by advertising and companies that have nothing to do with our struggle or history.
PT has become too top-down, rather than a bottom-up, grassroots organization representing the diversity and democratic impulses in the queer community
I think the board was poorly chosen. This is probably because it’s a thankless job that nobody wants. But the current board has been just dreadful. Their relationship with the local community seems to have been antagonistic from the start.
The priority appears to have shifted from the needs and expressions of the LGBTQ community to that of the City of Toronto, corporations, the media and mainstream society. The PT Festival has become far less about LGBTQ people and more so a ‘fun family event on Toronto’s list of summer festivals and annual parades.’
There have been too many concessions to corporate sponsors who are not always our friends. The Pride events have become way too commercialized.
The first is that the event has become less and less about US and more and more a spectacle. Why? Probably everybody wanted the event to be a success. But there is no agreement on what “success” means. Is it just “bigger each year?” I don’t think so. But there’s no doubt that “success” (almost however it is defined) takes money. And the need for money drives organisations in the direction of potential sponsors. And sponsors need to get something back, so all but the most committed of them want bigger and bigger … more potential customers for the sponsors. Moreover, are ANY of the sponsors truly committed to the “Mission” of Pride, or are they just engaged in a sponsorship that they hope will be good for business?? I’m not suggesting that sponsors should be subjected to some kind of “ideological purity” test, but surely this event is about more than just providing a spectacle. It’s not
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that I have anything against spectacles … in fact I support them sincerely. But this spectacle isn’t even being provided for US anymore … the audience is increasingly straight and increasingly just interested in a good time. They could go to the Santa Clause Parade.
There was a time also when it was really, really important to attract straight allies to the political struggle. I’m not so convinced that this remains a particularly compelling reason in 2011.
3. What recommendations would you give Pride Toronto to ensure that its business practices line up with its mission statement?
They could read their own mission statement. They could interact with people who’ve done the job before and get some perspective and insight into the job. The organization as a whole should have a thorough vision audit after every year. The usual post-mortem isn’t sufficient.
I would recommend that Pride Toronto recalibrate by going back to their mission statement and terms of reference and establish along with the LGBTQ communities what its priorities need to be. This will then set the tone for how they carry out their business practices without losing site of the LGBTQ communities as their anchoring point. PT needs a serious realignment, as they have clearly lost their way and have demonstrated a lack of political skills to get back on course.
PT needs structures to ensure real representation: whether on its board (change proxy vote system so elections cannot be stacked by current board members), have regular town hall meetings to develop policy for PT, other similar initiatives to ensure democratic participation.
Be prepared to modify Pride’s expenses and seek alternate financial resources if being pressured to abandon the mission statement.
There needs to be a clear statement of ethics and responsibility for corporate sponsors and other business involvement. This needs to include not only support for queer liberation but also the rights of trans people, women, people of colour, workers and unions, people living with disabilities etc.
I would ask if a company wants to donate – how would they feel if we didn't allow them to advertise anywhere? This would go to the heart of their motives. Are they donating to help overcome past social wrongs and help us to know our history (a very good motive if one believes in equality), or do they just want to feed off a market?
We should also ask about the transparency of what other causes and politics they support. To hand out money to pride but be involved in child-labour, or support anti-gay politicians, for example would be the height of hypocrisy. Do we want their blood money?
I sort of hate to say it, but I think Pride has to return to its roots. It needs an organisational shake-up to ensure that the structure of the organisation actually supports the mission, and doing that will require a much more open and transparent process of putting in place decision makers. Perhaps my institutionalist roots are showing here, but I think a lot of the problems stem from the fact that the organisation has grown away from the people it is intended to serve, work with, and celebrate. Whenever the leadership of an organisation gets the “we know what is best for you” attitude, it is time for them to go. But how do we, as a community, get them gone? Not easy, in the current structure.
Second, I think part of the “return to the roots” is to deliberately downsize. The event needs to get back to being about OUR community, reflecting both inward and outward. If that can be successful, it may be that it can again expand to fill the party/spectacle needs of the broader community. But for now, it
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should focus on consolidation and strengthening the base. This is particularly important in an era when many younger folk have no knowledge of history and ask, quite openly, “why do we need this notion of ‘community’?”
4. Do you have any other thoughts or comments on Pride Toronto‘s mission statement?
It was a huge undertaking to create (I was a co-chair back then) and it‘s a shame they haven‘t paid more attention to it.
It should probably be re-written to make it clear that queer liberation and progressive politics is central to what pride should be.
It does occur to me that maybe the mission statement itself needs to be revisited. I don’t really have a problem with it as it is, except for my extreme annoyance at the use of a multi-lettered acronym that is both incomprehensible and, as noted above, problematic.
I don't see anything about commerce in the statement. Why is it allowed to have such an affect?
I think the mission statement itself is very good.
See above
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______
2. PRIDE TORONTO’S VISION ______
Please take a moment to review Pride Toronto’s Vision…
1. To run a not-for-profit organization, committed to volunteers and staff. 2. To create a safe space to engage communities in the celebration of their sexuality. 3. To coordinate a series of pre-eminent arts & cultural events, including the annual Pride celebration, that empower and support our communities. 4. To connect with and help develop our communities, fostering essential partnerships. 5. To capture and build upon our organization's and our communities' history. 6. To provide a platform for education through a significant public presence
Given the way Pride Toronto has conducted its business these past couple of years…
1. Would you say it has effectively fulfilled its Vision? Why or why not? (Please provide examples to illustrate your answer, if possible)
Not really. The situation with respect to the “vision” is approximately the same as it is with respect to the “mandate,” and for the same reasons.
Pride hasn’t really been a showcase for Toronto. I feel there’s been too much focus on getting big names who aren’t local. This is supposedly to attract tourists, but globe-trotters can see Cyndi Lauper anywhere. We should be having lower budgets and more local talent.
I haven’t seen much partnership building or education for that matter. How about partnering with some of the universities we have to put on events on campus?
Efforts have been made by PT to fulfill its vision on all fronts, some with success and others with disastrous results:
1. It appears that they have increasingly improved the accommodation needs of disabled attendees particularly with regard to watching the parade
2. Gender identity appears to be absent from the vision (particularly the 2 nd point), which makes PT’s co-optation of the Trans March that much more insulting
3. The vision merely speaks to making a connection with the community, yet not a commitment to it (reserved only for staff and volunteers). A commitment to the LGBTQ communities is desperately needed
Censoring floats does not add a platform for education.
2. If you feel Pride Toronto‘s business practices have not fulfilled its Vision, why do you think this is?
Because PT’s values have shifted away from the LGBTQ communities towards that of corporatization and appeasing City of Toronto concerns
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The vision is too limited, and too focused on obtaining and spending money. This is partly because their members have come from the corporate sector where they’re used to just spending their budgets. They need the experience of people who’ve been doing activism on shoestring for years.
With respect to the specific points of the vision:
1. I think it’s a victim of its own success with respect to this, and that’s part of the problem (see #4 below).
2. I think it’s hidden behind the interpretation of “safe space” to behave in ways that no democratic organisation should tolerate.
3. The issue here is the extent of “empowerment and support” the events engender. People who disagree with the dominant ideas of the group are not feeling very empowered right now, I don’t think. Similarly, turning factions within our community against each other doesn’t’t sound to me much like “support.” Similarly many Black members of the community don’t seem to feeling very supported just now.
4. It’s pretty clear that connections have failed to be made and those that existed have been strained. The inclusion of the language of “essential partnerships” is troubling because I don’t think this has been interpreted as INTRA-community partnerships, but rather as partnerships with external sponsors, organisers, promoters, etc.
5. It’s pretty clear to me that any effort to promote the history of our “community” must recognise, honour, and possibly emulate, the political dimension. For some, that kind of serious business gets in the way of a good party. For the conflict-adverse others, that kind of serious business threatens to provoke (gasp!) controversy. Despite the fact that controversy and discomfort have been pretty constant in the slow march toward equality, it’s quite clear that Pride Toronto would prefer to distance itself from serious consideration of such themes.
6. Don’t make me laugh. Education??? What kind of education? How to sell a soul to corporate sponsors? How to vilify parts of one’s own constituency with whom you disagree? How to sweep under the rug major issues that require serious engagement, debate, and resolution? How to run an organisation in ways that fail to meet the most basic tests of democratic control? Pride Toronto has provided an education all right, but it hasn't been a very positive one.
3. What recommendations would you give Pride Toronto to ensure that its business practices line up with its Vision?
They need ways to hear back from the participants. They really have no idea what needs changing. They just keep stabbing in the dark and hoping it works out.
This has to be addressed through a completely new vision. We can't take money and then allow any entity to have any influence on our pride. The money must be a donation NOT a business partnership.
Businesses that donate need to be totally scrutinised for their values. As I mentioned, just because they are supporting our gay rights in appearance, does not mean that they aren't hurting others with business policies elsewhere. Eg. We can't allow Israel to show itself off as a 'gay positive' place – when their human rights record is appalling. As Gandhi once said "An injury to one, hurts all of us." If we believe in human rights for glbttqq, then we have to believe in it for all, everywhere.
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My first recommendation would be to revisit the Vision statement has some problems. See #4 below. Once there is, in place, a vision statement that isn't just politically-correct pablum, the organisation should require that any and all initiatives state very clearly in their proposals exactly how they will further the mandate and vision of the organisation. The only way to make a large and complex organisation honour its mandate and vision is to ensure that the mandate and vision is front and centre of EVERY decision. Eventually, it becomes ingrained part of the normal way of doing business. But that takes a very long time. It isn't going to happen when an organisation is trying to weave and bob and twist everything to fit other preconceived notions of how things should be.
As per 1. above, the vision needs to be reviewed and the values re-oriented in order to begin to ensure that business practices are lined up with a Vision that truly partners with and is committed to the LGBTQ communities .
4. Do you have any other thoughts or comments on Pride Toronto‘s Vision?
They should try using it.
I believe that the vision itself is flawed in two important ways…
1. The organisation should be committed to more than its volunteers and staff. The notion that only those who volunteer or accept paid positions have anything to say about something as important as Pride Toronto is just offensive. Imagine what would happen if the Archives, the 519, or any other important organisation were to limit their commitment in this way. Unacceptable. There needs to be a way to engage the broader community. One way, as I suggested above, is to reform the structure such that people who have a commitment to the ideals can just join, vote, elect, and participate.
2. The notion of a “safe space” is politically correct blather that, unfortunately, is used to marginalise and silence any kind of dissent. Like most po-mo organisations, “safe space” has come to be interpreted as “a place where nobody can criticise anything, engage in meaningful debate, or differ with the dominant thought police.”
3. The phrase “essential partnerships” in #4 of the vision statement is dangerous. What is “essential?” Organisations that provide money? Or organisations that might help Pride Toronto live up to the balance of its Vision and of its mandate? What happens when those interests collide?
… So, I would like to see that vision statement revisited by a Board installed by a reconstituted organisation.
It seems the commitment is becoming more to the staff and pre-eminent events than empowering and supporting our communities.
I'm troubled by the phrase "essential partnerships" and its lack of definition or clarity. I think this line needs to be struck from the vision. It is far too ambiguous and allows too much space for a glossing over of responsibility.
See above.
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______
3. PRIDE TORONTO’S CORE VALUES ______
Please take a moment to read Pride Toronto’s purported values…
1. To honour our past by remembering our history.
2. To value diversity by accepting and respecting differences and working to understand the diverse cultural complexities that influence identity, assumptions, behaviours, expectations, and beliefs.
3. To celebrate with provocative, racy, and outrageous events.
4. To engage the diversity of our community to participate in events and facilitate community development.
5. To recognize and acknowledge the involvement and contributions of volunteers, staff and stakeholders.
6. To respect volunteers, staff, and stakeholders by creating and maintaining an environment where we treat each other with respect.
7. To sustain the organization by ensuring transparency in our actions and accountability with, and to, our communities.
8. To manage with fiscal responsibility and foresight, ensuring the viability of the organization and the fulfilment of its mission.
Given the way Pride Toronto has conducted its business these past couple of years…
1. Would you say it has effectively upheld its Values? Why or why not? (Please provide examples to illustrate your answer, if possible)
None of this seems to have been done. I know it’s a hard job, but they’ve really disappointed.
Once again, sadly, PT has failed on all fronts regarding their values:
1. History, shifting of date of festivities without consultation (see above)
2. Diversity, disrespectful to QuAIA, Blockorama, Trans March (see above)
3. Celebrate, its attempts to censor free speech
4. Engage (see 2 nd point and above). PT’s disastrous handling of the free speech issue had negative implications on its human rights program
5. Numerous stories of disrespect towards volunteers and staff internally at PT
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6. PT’s handling of their most recent AGM demonstrate a complete lack of transparency and accountability
7. PT has acquired an increasing debt over the past few years
No, but I don’t fully agree with some of these “core values” so I would again urge that the Board of a newly constituted and more fully representative organisation revisit these values and solicit public input to see whether they are really aligned with the “core values” of the core constituency of Pride.
1. It’s pretty clear to me that any effort to promote the history of our “community” must recognise, honour, and possibly emulate, the political dimension. For some, that kind of serious business gets in the way of a good party. For the conflict-adverse others, that kind of serious business threatens to provoke (gasp!) controversy. Despite the fact that controversy and discomfort have been pretty constant in the slow march toward equality, it’s quite clear that Pride Toronto would prefer to distance itself from serious consideration of such themes.
2. I see this is inherently problematic simply because there is a LOT of difference to be accommodated in a single organisation. There is no way that we are going to magically arrive at a point where agreement springs from those differences. So the alternatives are to have an organisation that does very little (because almost anything that it might do will offend some part of its constituency); have a membership that accepts an organisation that will occasionally do things of which they don’t approve; or have an organisation where a small group of administrators tries to be all things to all people. We’ve seen how that last works.
3. yes
4. See #2 above. No, the existing Pride Toronto has not done this terribly well, but I’m not convinced that it CAN be done terribly well.
5. ugh! who’s driving this bus? Again, it seems like the volunteers and staff are at the forefront. In most nonprofits, the staff (both paid and volunteer) work in service of a broader mission, goals, objectives, and vision. In this organisation they seem to be both the membership and the staff. What’s missing from this is democratic control by the broader community. And “stakeholders”? What does that mean? The corporate sponsors, or the broader community that has an interest in the success or failure of Pride? Should mean the latter, but I suspect it’s likely more of the former than the latter.
6. see #5 above. What about treating the broader community with respect? Mutual love-ins of the key players don’t really solve much.
7. This is the big – and fatal, in my view – flaw. First of all, it is necessary to establish what “our communities” really means. Hence my call for an open membership where people can voluntarily associate themselves with the organisation. Those with sufficient commitment to do so should then be the people who are nominating, electing, and making fundamental decisions. Those who choose to sit on their hands should be invited to buy a membership and, if they don’t, the organisation has no particular obligation to listen to them any further. But the point is that now, many people who have strong views, who would really contribute something, are not invited to the decision-making process. The worst of all worlds.
8. There are certainly some problems on this front as well. I don’t feel that I know enough to comment, but it has always been a bit of a mystery to me how an organisation that runs a very
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similar event each year cannot be better able to predict costs, be better able to live within its budget, and be better able to either raise the funds necessary to put on the kind of event that they want, or downsize the event to fit the funds at their disposal. This seems to me to reflect poor management, an absence of fundamental checks and balances, and imperfect post hoc evaluations of the whole picture. But as I said at the outset, I don’t know enough about the inner workings of the organisation to say this with any degree of certainty.
Your meetings have been fraught with a lack of democracy and transparency. Anyone who reads Xtra! knows this.
2. If you feel Pride Toronto‘s business practices have not upheld its Values, why do you think this is?
They’ve been too caught up in being part of the establishment. It’s easy to do when so much of the job involves meeting with police, the TTC, and City Hall. They’ve lost their transgress edge, and their sense of their own power. They seem to be afraid of their financial backers.
Well, what are its business practices? Where is the code of conduct? Who vets whom? Where are the rules?
Because the whole organisation is run backward. Staff, volunteers, and sponsors, have undue influence in important decisions. There is insufficient buy-in from the broader community. The “broader community” is actually a whole bunch of “communities,” most of which don’t agree with each other on very much. Bottom line? The problem is mostly structural.
Same as previous section as well as points outlined in 1. Above.
As per 1. above, the vision needs to be reviewed and the values re-oriented in order to begin to ensure that business practices are lined up with a Vision that truly partners with and is committed to the LGBTQ communities
3. What recommendations would you give Pride Toronto to ensure that its business practices line up with its Values?
Similar to its Vision, PT needs to recalibrate regarding its values in order to establish the trust and partnership with the LGBTQ communities first and foremost before establishing a set of business practices that will align with current set of Value they have.
They need to be willing to say no to money that come with strings attached. They need to have the guts to set the terms of financial support. They should try being more financially independent.
Define the constituency. Fix the structures so that the organisation reflects the constituency (however that ends up being defined). Get a Board in place that has widespread support within the constituency (again, however defined). Have the Board revisit the key governance documents (bylaws, constitution, mandate, vision, goals, values) and ensure that they are consistent and reflect an agreed-upon overall direction. Get an E-D that is a competent manager of a large and complex organisation that has multiple (and sometimes conflicting) values and goals. Ensure that staff (both paid and volunteer) are working in the service of the policies decided by the governance structure, and that they understand that it is not their role to BE the governance structure. Ensure that every single public decision is help up against the mandate, values, etc. and that its relationship to those foundational documents is clear, visible, and unambiguous. Do a LOT of PR work to fix relationships in the broader community.
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4. Do you have any other thoughts or comments on Pride Toronto‘s Values?
These are great ideals, but without concrete plans for putting them into action, they‘ll never become good practice.
Very similar to the comments made about the Vision. Also see above.
I’m troubled by the word 'stakeholder'. Isn't the LGBTTQQ community our stakeholder? Who else is it about? Why is it about anyone else?
Pride seems to have weakened on engaging diversity and ensuring transparency.
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______
4. PRIDE TORONTO’S GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE / OPERATIONS ______
Please take a moment to review Pride Toronto’s policies and news releases: http://www.pridetoronto.com/docs and http://www.pridetoronto.com/pressreleases/2010/
1. What are your thoughts on the way Pride Toronto has managed its decision-making processes / lines of communication these past couple of years, particularly in light of this year’s controversies around QuAIA, Blocko, and the Trans community, and/or its handling of the Annual General Meeting?
Absurdly, horrifyingly out of touch w the community
PT appears to have become increasingly insular in its work, shielding itself from the LGBTQ communities. Secretive and public comments about segments of the community (i.e. “the howling left”, “anyone whose anyone of the LGBTQ community”) have not helped matters.
The AGM has always been a clusterfuck. It’s never been a two-way communication because it’s never been meant to be. It’s purpose is to silence dissent and corral people into volunteering instead of critiquing. The train wreck that was their response to Queer Women Colouring the Century and World Majority Lesbians proved that beyond all doubt. The bureaucracy is intended to stifle communication and action.
Appalling lack of foresight, analysis, democracy and transparency. Let's just imagine one scenario. There are numerous Christian and Muslim organisations that think we're blasphemous. And there's certainly those among them that say our various religious pride groups are anti-Christian or anti Islamic. Do we listen to, or care about their concerns? No, because we know in the big picture we are on the side of human rights. But when our brothers and sisters from QuAIA become concerned about human rights – we allow an outside, religiously-defined entity to try to influence their expression? What's that about? Why do we all of a sudden allow them a voice? They say QuAIA is anti-Semitic. Well there're a lot of Christian groups that say we're anti-Christian as well. Do we give them voice? No, because it would be ridiculous. Allowing any group to try and silence our plea for human rights is antithetical to everything we've fought for in the last 40 years.
I think it’s been an unmitigated disaster, with very few exceptions. However, I would also add that I don’t see the problems as simply the result of incompetent people with self-serving agendas. The organisation has serious problems that range from an nebulously-defined “base” through to a governance structure that – in a desire to make sure nobody is excluded, offended, or made to think – has reduced commonly understood democratic principles to meaninglessness.
More focus on “Roberts Rules” that sincerely trying to hear and address concerns raised by the community.
2. Is there anything you feel Pride Toronto has done particularly well when it comes to its governance, decision-making processes, lines of communication and/or operations?
Not lately.
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Unfortunately, I can’t think of any.
No. Although establishing a commission to review things was probably a good idea.
They had a pretty good structure of coordinators. Sadly, they get little support from the board, which is very separate and has little accountability.
3. Is there anything you feel Pride Toronto has done rather poorly?
Let me see … oh never mind! [sarcasm]
Yeah. Filled pride with non LGBTTQQ/human rights interests.
They’ve failed to stay in touch with the participants. They’ve created a top-heavy organization that fails at internal communication, let alone communicating outside the organization. Their inability to talk to the press is so shocking it’s almost as if they’re doing it poorly on purpose as some kind of performance art.
Complaints regarding staff and volunteer relations problems, splits on the board, divisiveness in its community relations, lack of transparency, secretive closed door processes (i.e. CAP), withholding of information and backhanded decisions (i.e. AGM, appointing of board member), financial losses, etc.
4. Was there anything that you found to be downright offensive?
Their attempt to remove a queer group from the parade because they held political views with which others disagreed. If we only did what City Hall wanted there would never have been a Pride Parade in the first place.
Their shuffling of Blockorama and their failure to help grow the events has been flat-out racist. It’s disappointing but not surprising given their terrible track record on race.
The initial censoring of QuAIA.
Attempts to ban QuAIA and lack of respect for Blocko.
Allowing right-wing Jewish voices to prevail.
Yes, QuAIA marching in the parade with their stupid signs and slogans was downright offensive. They ruined the parade in 2010. Everybody left and went back to the Village as soon as they turned the bend. I wish they had video evidence to show what happened at Yonge/College last year when QuAIA passed by and everybody left. That’s not something Xtra reports. The Pride Coalition for Free Speech and its role in supporting QuAIA under the false banner of ‘free speech’ was also offensive, especially considering they were there to inflate support and censor opposition to QuAIA. The phrases ‘Viva Viva Infantida” and “Whose Pride -- Our Pride -- Queers Against Apartheid” gave me a sick feeling. Such language has no place at any public event in Canada. I wish the ban on QuAIA had stayed in effect because I was downright offended by their presence. They also used images from a popular gay Israeli porno film to condemn all of Israel, associating Israel with some kind of perversion, the same tactic used by hate groups to condemn gay people.
Charging community groups for a space at the Community Fair without even offering a table and chairs, attempting to vet all messages and limiting free speech in the parade, among others.
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Depends on what is meant by “offensive.” It did several things that sort of offended me. But I do not labour under the misimpression that I have a right not to be offended. Unfortunately too much of the Pride constituency DOES labour under exactly that misimpression. My own view is that everybody needs to grow up and realise that this organisation, and what it does, is bigger than we are as individuals. It’s one thing to wish to see reforms (and I do); it’s another thing to continue to nourish feelings of grievance, mistrust, and betrayal. Those feelings only enhance the “cult of victimhood” that is already far too well entrenched in a variety of queer organisations. Let’s get real here … it’s one thing to whine and moan and complain about being oppressed by external forces, but this is OUR baby. It’s OUR responsibility. We can either fix it or lose it. As I mentioned above, I favour fixing it, and have very little time for those who would rather “burn down the house and start again.” Anarchist principles have never done much for me. All the hard work of all kinds of good people gets flushed down the drain along with the problems, and you get a new, weak, organisation, unencumbered by any kind of history or institutional memory. And guess what? In very short order, it’s making the same mistakes as its predecessor organisation, losing members, and generally suffering from the aridity and disenchantment of the very people it’s supposed to represent and serve. How is that progress? So I can swallow whatever offended me. But I would like to see some recognition, by the “leaders” of the organisation, that some actions DID offend.
5. What recommendations would you give Pride Toronto to improve its decision-making, communicative, and operational processes?
To work more closely with the LGBTQ communities to develop the meaningful partnerships required in order to develop support and respectful decision making, communication and operational processes.
Openness. Allowing all at meetings to speak. Stop listening to threats from the city and sponsors.
Have an annual meeting where the public speaks more than the board does. Have more access for people to complain / report incidents. Have a coordinator whose job is collecting public feedback, not just being a mouthpiece for the board.
How about committing to having a board that’s representative of the community?
Define the constituency. Fix the structures so that the organisation reflects the constituency (however that ends up being defined). Get a Board in place that has widespread support within the constituency (again, however defined). Have the Board revisit the key governance documents (bylaws, constitution, mandate, vision, goals, values) and ensure that they are consistent and reflect an agreed-upon overall direction. Get an E-D that is a competent manager of a large and complex organisation that has multiple (and sometimes conflicting) values and goals. Ensure that staff (both paid and volunteer) are working in the service of the policies decided by the governance structure, and that they understand that it is not their role to BE the governance structure. Ensure that every single public decision is help up against the mandate, values, etc. and that its relationship to those foundational documents is clear, visible, and unambiguous. Do a LOT of PR work to fix relationships in the broader community.
Try to act as a moderator of conflicts rather than being drawn into them.
And, more controversially…
1. Given the mishaps of this year, do you feel that the members of the Board should resign? Why or why not?
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Yes. They obviously have lost touch with what pride is about.
I believe all members of the board in place prior to the fall 2010 PT AGM should resign, due to their ineptness at dealing with the challenges of this past year and continued lack of confidence in their work since then.
I’d love to have a new group in there. But is there anyone else to do the job? It’s not as if people are lining up for it. It’s a load of work and very frustrating.
No. They were put there through the processes at hand. What should happen is that the processes should change and, as that happens, it is quite likely that membership on the Board will change as the result of a more democratic process. In any event, responsibility for whomever is on the Board will properly rest with the broader community, and we will get the government we deserve. If people in the broader community don’t participate and get involved, a new structure won’t save anything. But at least there will be nobody to blame but ourselves if it goes off the rails. Good structure won’t automatically produce a strong and effective Board, but POOR structure will almost certainly produce problems.
No.
2. Given the mishaps of this year, do you feel that the Executive Director should resign? Why or why not?
Yes. Ditto.
They probably should, but then of course they’ll never learn to change.
I believe strongly the ED of PT needs to resign, as she has proven to be both disrespectful of the LGBTQ communities and incompetent in the job.
No. I think there should be a new structure put in place, which will result in the Board membership being revisited. The Board that results from that process should then conduct a performance review and act upon it. I simply don’t know enough about the inner workings of the organisation to determine where “blame” for the shortcomings properly rests.
No.
3. And lastly: do you feel that the current staff should resign as well?
No. See #2 above. Same thing should happen with staff.
I’m not sure the staff need to resign, as they appear to be at the mercy of the board and ED. I would recommend a concerted effort be made to have LGBTQ-identified staff committed to a recalibrated mission, vision and values of the organization that respects the diversity of the LGBTQ communities
The staff do what they’re told. I don’t hold them responsible.
The staff likely don't have that much to do with decision making – but if there's a culture of business that deeply ingrained there, it might be best they go as well.
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No.
4. If you answered affirmatively to the resignation of any body above, what do you see happening with Pride Toronto / the Pride festival this year?
Another reason why I don’t think there should be mass resignations. That is just a variation of “burning down the house and starting again.” What is needed here is a long term view, clear goal- and agenda-setting, and then actions that operationalise the whole thing. Mass resignations would actually set the organisation back. Further, with the right leadership, existing staff may adapt.
They really ought to scale back and focus on local quality over spectacle. They want a bug show but they’re going about it the wrong way. They should be starting in September and talking to key community groups about what they plan to do, what support they need, and what they’d like to see happen in June. They don’t know how to build community support and involvement. As it is, they’re just hosting a party and hoping people go.
An emergency process could be put in place to replace these individuals (i.e. ED and Board) even if on an interim basis until post Pride 2011. As for this year’s festivities, they will take place regardless. Even if it has to be a scaled down, lower key affair, a community-based, grass roots approach may actually be good for the festivities.
If things don't change we will see more fractioning and factionalisation. Pride will be struck with protests and a lack of co-operation and, most likely, alternative events and celebrations. This, on a cultural level, may be the best thing to happen because it will stop the board from having a sense of ownership. It will hopefully also allow business interests to see their utility in pride as waning, and make them re-examine what they are doing there. And crowds might shrink. The less power and investment the city has will also hamper their ability to control celebrations. It may also make the city sit up and take notice – if their golden egg is threatened they may actually start listening to the community, rather than the board.
On the other hand, factionalising will give us less of a political force. And the backsliding of our gained freedoms is always at threat, unless we are unified. Neither situation is best, but change MUST happen.
5. Do you have anything else to add with respect to its governance structure?
They should advertise the positions instead of trying to fill them in the haphazard way they do now.
People who are not genuinely committed to resolving rather than oppressing conflicts should resign. Alternatively the governance structure should be set up so they can be removed if that is the will of the communities.
See 3.3 above
.
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______
5. BUSINESS PRACTICES / EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS ______
With the policies and newsletters (above) in mind…
1. What are your thoughts on the way Pride Toronto has conducted its external business these past couple of years, particularly in light of this year’s controversies around QuAIA, Blocko, the trans community, and/or its handling of the Annual General Meeting?
There is a general disrespect to listen to the views, perspectives and experiences of numerous community groups (i.e. QuAIA, Blocko, Trans March) and community activists.
2. Is there anything you feel Pride Toronto has done particularly well when it comes to its business practices?
Unfortunately, no.
If someone threatens to cut your funding unless you do something against your principles, you take the hit. You refuse the money and explain to the community why you did so. It’s what being a responsible and accountable adult is about. That way, the blame sits where it belongs -- on the funders -- and your event stays true to its values and mission. Anything else is collaboration.
3. Is there anything you feel Pride Toronto has done rather poorly?
Communicating directly with the LGBTQ community. They hold no consultations but rather barricade themselves in their offices with police guard, when the community does come knocking (i.e. May 2010 press conference, Return of awards, June 2010).
They seem to have lost their ability to work cooperatively with the press.
Allow numerous businesses to become a part of Pride without outlining their own policies/concerns/human rights responsibilities.
Allowed businesses to present a 'market-friendly', sanitised version of ourselves to the larger world.
We are assaulted by advertising and companies that have nothing to do with our struggle or history.
4. Was there anything that you found to be downright offensive?
The fact that PT’s ED presented a public face on pressure from the City of Toronto to ban QuAIA’s participation in the parade, only to have it later revealed she was in cahoots with the City all along.
Banks that support pride that also support mining operations in South America that are involved in cultural genocide. (they know who they are)
Their classism was pretty offensive. Is hosting a golf day really a priority?
5. What recommendations would you give Pride Toronto to improve its business practices?
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Transparency, open access to information, a strengthened relationship with the LGBTQ communities that prioritizes the needs of these communities.
Learn to do more with less. Actually meet some activists.
Businesses that donate need to be to be totally scrutinized for their values. As I mentioned, just because they are supporting our gay rights in appearance, does not mean that they aren’t’ hurting others with business practices elsewhere.
Conduct a thorough ethical scrutiny of all donors.
Require that they [donors] do not advertise at pride.
Allow them [donors] no decision making influence whatsoever.
6. Do you have anything else to add with respect to Pride Toronto’s business practices?
They‘ve become what they used to oppose. What can be said? It‘s pretty sad.
“Business practices” is simply a euphemism for “the way in which mandate, goals, objectives, and vision are operationalised. There is no point talking about the “business practices” in isolation from the deep-seated issues of governance. If the suggestions of 3.3 above were acted upon, better “business practices” would follow.
Pride needs to acknowledge rather than just react to or defend itself from the anger that is out there. It should try to find remedies to resolve that anger.
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______
6. FUNDERS, CORPORATIONS AND POLITICAL PARTIES ______
1. What are your thoughts on Pride Toronto’s increasing dependence on public, private and/or corporate funds to support the festival?
Community needs and practises trump finding. Didn’t cost a thing back in the 80s...
I do believe that a festival of this size requires corporate funding if its going to continue to be held and accommodate the numbers it has attracted. Nevertheless, a more balanced approach to public, private and/or corporate funding would ensure better adherence to its terms of reference.
Funding isn’t as much an issue for me as what they do for and with the money. Their accountability ought to be their community first, not to people cutting the cheques.
Charge corporations WAAAY more and require them to contribute to a fund for community organizations
I have no ideological bias against sponsorship (whether public or private) but anybody has to be at least slightly delusional to deny that such sponsorship comes at a cost. While few sponsors are so crude as to make open attempts to “drive the bus” with respect to the events, their very presence does cause those driving the bus to behave somewhat differently than they would if the sponsors were nowhere in the scene. Of particular concern to me is the inherent impetus to “bigger and better” that comes with sponsorship. Support is predicated on the notion of increased market, so any sponsor wants two things: 1) the biggest audience possible; and 2) to cultivate the most positive image possible among the target demographic without alienating the image in other demographics. These factors combine to produce an unpalatable situation. Almost by definition, anything really controversial is anathema to sponsors. But if Pride is to deliver on its vision and goals, it can scarcely, given our collective history, be uncontroversial. So the question then becomes “how much controversy will the sponsors tolerate before they move their support to less controversial things?” As long as we (and by that I mean the broader community, not just the Pride Directors) are OK with where that line gets drawn, I don’t have any problem with sponsors.
A second major issue, that EVERYBODY should be thinking about is the issue of dependence. The reality is that our community simply can’t run the kind of Pride to which we’ve become accustomed without major sponsorships. So, the real question for the broader community is whether it is prepared to accept a much-scaled-back Pride as the price of autonomy. Those who insist that it’s possible to have both are operating in some kind of parallel universe in which financial accountability is strangely absent.
2. What are your thoughts on Pride Toronto’s policy allowing corporations to participate in the festivities (including the marches and the booths)?
I’m fine with corporate presence. I think it ought to be scaled down, but queers need to know who’s on side financially because it helps us vote with our money.
I would not like to see a totally “open” invitation extended. What I would REALLY like to see is a Canadian version of the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index , so that Pride organisers could disqualify any corporation that failed to achieve a certain pre-determined score. But,
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in the absence of credible third-party evaluation of corporations, I’m not sure I want to set up the Pride organisation and judge and jury of corporate participants any more than I want them to be judge and jury of community organisations.
Businesses that donate need to be totally scrutinised for their values. As I mentioned, just because they are supporting our gay rights in appearance, does not mean that they aren't hurting others with business policies elsewhere. So we need:
Require that they do not advertise at pride. Allow them no decision making influence whatsoever. Thorough ethical scrutiny of all donors.
I would be pleased to see them all removed. Yet, if there is a place for them in the Festivities, they would need to demonstrate having LGBTQ-positive policies in place rather than using our Festival as a platform to market their products.
3. What are your thoughts on Pride Toronto’s policy allowing politicians and political parties to participate in the festivities (including the marches and the booths)?
From the perspective of freedom of expression and free speech within a democracy, I think politicians and political parties should be permitted to participate in the festivities. They should also be aware that the reception they receive may depend on their political performance on LGBTQ issues.
Politicians having booths is fine by me. I don’t want someone policing who can and cannot be in the parade or the community fair.
Again, I wish for an independent third-party ranking of individual politicians and parties. I think it is completely ridiculous to allow those who would oppress us to participate in a PR event. But I recognise that this is a minefield. And again, I would NOT want to set up the Pride organisation as judge and jury. In my experience, it’s largely been self-policing up until now. I don’t recall seeing too many overt homophobes in the parade and I don’t expect to see any anytime soon.
These also need to be totally scrutinised for their values. As I mentioned, just because they are supporting our gay rights in appearance, does not mean that they aren't hurting others with policies elsewhere. Can Conservatives be allowed when they defund pride and ban gay men as organ donors? What hypocrisy? How can we fight for anything when our values are so sullied?
4. What advice / recommendations would you give Pride Toronto to help it better manage its funding / corporate relations at Pride?
Remember that the balance of power ought to be with Pride, who controls access to millions of consumers / voters, not with the companies and departments offering the money. And how about not spending every penny you get? How about investing some of that income so the event becomes self- sustaining?
I think Pride Toronto has to: 1 Ensure all corporate involvement are from corporations that have LGBTQ-positive policies 2 Make a concerted effort to strike a balance between the various funding partners so that the interests of the highest donors don’t dominate 3 Implement the ‘Community Contract’ that was proposed in spring/summer 2010
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My view is that this, too, is an operationalisation of core mandate, vision, mission, goals, and objectives. The problem isn’t a PR problem. The problem is that there are internal inconsistencies that are simply reflected in these decisions. Fix the former, you fix the latter.
5. Do you have anything else to add with respect to funding / corporate representation at Pride?
In a perfect world we should have no corporate funding – or at least completely invisible funding. we used to, in the eighties, and we still had a great pride .
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______
7. THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND THE PRIDE TORONTO MEMBERSHIP ______
1. What are your thoughts on Pride Toronto’s relationship to the LGBTQ community / membership, particularly in light of this year’s controversies surrounding QuAIA, Blocko, and the Trans community, and/or its handling of the Annual General Meeting?
Membership has always been a joke. If they want you to be a member, they just put you in. If they want you out, they find a loophole. Their guidelines reflect a deep fear of the community they serve.
It’s out of touch with the broader community. This is a product of a structure that almost ensures such a result. That said, I have serious doubts, as I’ve articulated above, that the “broader community” is at all cohesive, united, or even coherent.
General lack of respect, open communication and transparency. See above
2. Is there anything you feel Pride Toronto has done particularly well when it comes to its relationship with the LGBTQ community / its members?
Not necessarily.
It seems to represent the upper middle class white men pretty well.
3. Is there anything you feel Pride Toronto has done rather poorly?
They have no clue what anyone who isn’t a circuit party boy wants to do during Pride.
Adding insult to injury during a tumultuous year, was the secretive, closed door process of setting up the CAP with so-called ‘respected leaders of the community’ some of whom were self appointed.
4. Was there anything that you found to be downright offensive?
Their attempt to use the “you’re not a member” stick to beat people with was pretty offensive. I became a member and a co-chair on the same day because they wanted it to happen. Their “rules” are just there to keep some people out when it’s convenient.
I think it’s pretty offensive when an organisation like Pride gets to thinking that it is independent of the broader community.
# 3 above was one of the truly low points of this dreadful year.
5. What recommendations would you give Pride Toronto to help improve its relationship with the LGBTQ community and/or its members?
See 1. above and previous comments.
They need to stop being afraid that people will swamp the AGM and vote in something weird.
6. Do you have anything else to add with respect to Pride Toronto’s relationship with the
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LGBTQ community / its members?
I get the feeling that Pride needs to upgrade its membership policies to make it more inclusive.
They ought to do outreach regarding membership to empower people to attend and vote on important issues.
Define the constituency. Fix the structures so that the organisation reflects the constituency (however that ends up being defined). Get a Board in place that has widespread support within the constituency (again, however defined). Have the Board revisit the key governance documents (bylaws, constitution, mandate, vision, goals, values) and ensure that they are consistent and reflect an agreed-upon overall direction. Get an E-D that is a competent manager of a large and complex organisation that has multiple (and sometimes conflicting) values and goals. Ensure that staff (both paid and volunteer) are working in the service of the policies decided by the governance structure, and that they understand that it is not their role to BE the governance structure. Ensure that every single public decision is help up against the mandate, values, etc. and that its relationship to those foundational documents is clear, visible, and unambiguous. Do a LOT of PR work to fix relationships in the broader community.
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______
8. AND LASTLY, THE QUESTION OF ALLIES ______
Simply put, should Pride Toronto keep or remove the A in LGBTTIQQ2SA, which was included last year to acknowledge the ‘ Allies’ who took part in the festival? Why or why not?
I think the ‘A’ needs to be removed until a more thorough justification for their inclusion can be made along with a caveats such as a respect for priorities and space for the LGBTQ communities first and foremost.
I have no problem with Allies as long as they don’t try to take control.
This is a little philosophical. If we have "queer", which by most definitions means "resisting of heteronormative hegemonies" then ally is already included in that. I can't see how anyone that identifies as an ally would not consider themselves queer. So yeah, the term is redundant (and a little vague).
CANCEL the A. They have 364 days a year!
Personally, I think that whole appellation is a disaster-in-the-making. I am indifferent about the inclusion of “allies” since I have far more in common with many “allies” than I have with other identities represented under the supposedly-inclusive LBGTTIQQ2S heading. And that is a big problem. Many (most??) people in our “community” just operate as though there is some kind of automatic affinity between all of its component elements. But, when pressed, they have an awful hard time trying to articulate what that might be. The only intelligent answer I’ve ever heard involve some element of repression and/or oppression based on sexuality or gender. In the past, there might have been an element of transgressiveness included in the criteria, but now that wealthy conservative gay stockbrokers can marry each other, are we going to kick them out of the family? Hmmm. Does that make a “community?” Maybe, but we’re all dreaming in technicolour if we think that it isn’t an extremely diverse “community,” the elements of which really have little in common with each other.
So, basically, the solution has been to give “membership” to anybody who wants to self-identify as part of this “community.” How post-modern of us. And maybe that’s the only way to think about it. But if we’re thinking forward to governance questions, we should be able to realise that we’re creating an entity (the “community”) whose members have almost nothing in common … and that the lack of commonality is going to make decision-making difficult if not impossible. Anyway, once you open the door to self- identification as the key element, I don’t really see how “allies” can be excluded. Many straight people in my acquaintance are a hell of a lot more transgressive in terms of their sexual tastes, preferences, and activities than the aforementioned married, gay, conservative, wealthy stockbrokers … who are economic elites, social elites, and not the least bit interested in any kind of social change that might threaten their privileged positions.
Straight allies do volunteer for the event and have worked hard. Some queer people, including those who have held positions in Pride Toronto, are in relationships with straight-identified people. Lots of straight allies attend the event. The Dyke March has had straight male volunteers. Refusing to acknowledge that is an offensive lie.
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______
9. OTHER ISSUES ______
Is there anything else to add with respect to Pride Toronto’s Structure, Governance, or Business Practices -- or is there anything we may have forgotten to include? Do let us know…
They really don’t know how to be open and accountable. They need help.
END OF PART 1: THE ORGANIZATION ______
START OF PART 2: THE FESTIVAL
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______
1. THE DYKE MARCH ______
From the Pride Toronto website: http://www.pridetoronto.com/festival/dyke-march
The Dyke March is a grassroots event where women and trans people in LGBTTIQQ2SA communities take over the streets of Toronto. The Dyke March is not a parade - it is a political demonstration of critical mass; a moment seized to revel in the strength, diversity and passion of LGBTTIQQ2SA women and trans folk. We encourage groups to work within the theme for Pride Week 2011 in order to express their values. Raise your voice! Join us as we celebrate our diversity, our passion and our pride.
The Dyke March is organized by the Dyke March Committee, based on the Guiding Principles [broken link] created from the 2006/2007 Community Consultations. The Dyke March Committee, the Dyke March, and all other events organized by the Dyke March Committee are trans inclusive.
Because of the incredible growth of the march, we need your help in order to prepare a safe marching route. Individual marchers are welcome to register, though it is not required. We do however, ask that all participating groups and organizations register in order to assist our planning. Registration for vehicle entries and sound systems is mandatory.
Note: Queer Ontario did not participate in this event last year. It decided to support our wonderful members at the Take Back the Dyke march instead. ______
1. What are your thoughts on the shape the Dyke March has taken these past couple of years?
PT’s actions against free speech offended large segments of the dyke communities that a split happened in which the ‘Take Back the Dyke March’ was held as a counter action to the ‘Dyke March’ simultaneously during the Pride 2010 Festivities, proving the former was capable of a huge success without the support of PT. This is not to mention the boycott of the 1 st choice Honoured Dyke 2010 at the Dyke March.
I’ve always been pretty happy with the way the march has gone. Pride Toronto shelters the march from corporate sponsorship by paying for the costs without requiring them to become a sea of logos. Having a permit for the march means that women can feel safer participating, especially if they bring their children. At the same time, Pride is frightened of militant lesbians and this fear has enabled the march coordinators to have influence on how Pride Toronto runs by forcing them to be politically responsible in ways they don’t want to be, such as cultural competency training, including trans people in their mandate, and addressing issues of racism.
As Take Back the Dyke and the Take Back the Night Marches show, you don’t have to nave a permit if you’re willing to risk the possible repercussions. And that keeps the march from becoming a possession owned by Pride Toronto.
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Indifference. It represents, to me, precisely what I argue above about the problem of trying to cast our disparate elements as a “community.” If we were really a community, there’d be no need of a separate event, because all members of the “community” could feel included in a single event. The fact that they don’t suggests the need for the Dyke March. But how does it get away with being a “Dyke March” if it’s specifically “trans-inclusive?” Why isn’t it the “LGBTTIQQ2S March?” Isn’t, in fact, the “G” the only thing that is explicitly EXCLUDED? And don’t get me wrong … I have no problem with being excluded. But it’s an act of extreme hypocrisy to insist that the broader organisation must be somehow inclusive of LGBTTIQQ2SA yet this doesn’t. Are we moving toward having a march and/or a parade for each of the letters? Seems to me a logical conclusion. And at that point, maybe there’ll be a separate organisation for each letter. While that would, in my view, be tragic, as it would showcase our own inability to find common ground, it would certainly solve a whole lot of governance issues that start (and end, usually) with the question of “constituency.”
2. Ideally, what would you like to see happen with (or happen to) the Dyke March? What would you change about it, if anything?
I would like to see the Dyke March continue as the political march it was meant to be without having its principles compromised by PT.
I would like the march to be more financially independent.
3. What recommendations should Queer Ontario make to Pride Toronto in attempts to develop a ‘better’ Dyke March (however it is you want to define ‘better’)?
Same as my response to question 2 above.
More openness and accountability. The march administration is too white.
4. Other thoughts or comments?
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______
2. THE TRANS MARCH ______
From the Pride Toronto website: http://www.pridetoronto.com/festival/trans-march
Pride Toronto is very honoured to be supporting the Toronto Trans March 2011, and grateful to last year's organizers and participants. For 2011, Pride Toronto will carry the torch and tradition of the 2009 first ever Trans March down Church Street!
Note: Queer Ontario participated in this event last year. ______
1. What are your thoughts on the shape the Trans March has taken these past couple of years?
I was proud that the trans march emerged and I thought it needed to march down Church because it’s still a site of trans oppression.
There are big questions being raised about how PT stepped in and co-opted the Trans March in 2010. To this end PT’s involvement resulted in a March that started one hour later than advertised.
It’s good but too short and ends nowhere. Should end either in Allen Gardens with a free flowing party or at least by arriving at the South Stage for an evening of trans programming. We need Honoured Trannnies [sic] of the year too – a gal a guy and a genderqueer
Don’t know much about it. No strong views about whether there should be one. My strong views are reserved for the notion of a “community” that embraces elements that want “community” on some occasions but “separation” on other occasions. Maybe that’s OK too … but let’s stop pretending that we’re all one big happy family … and by extension that means we need to recognize that no Board of Directors, no Executive Director, no Staff, no Volunteers are EVER going to be able to make all the elements of this community happy. If we could acknowledge that reality publicly, maybe we could get on with designing some kind of a system that would work for the diverse elements.
2. Ideally, what would you like to see happen with (or happen to) the Trans March? What would you change about it, if anything?
Make it more structured.
I want it kept in trans hands, accountable to trans people.
I would like to see the trans community determine for themselves what they would like in a Trans March, and whether that includes PT or not, that PT respect their decision.
3. What recommendations should Queer Ontario make to Pride Toronto in attempts to develop a ‘better’ Trans March (however it is you want to define ‘better’)?
See response to question 2 above.
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Support a stable trans march committee with ties to its historical emergence.
Because of the many variances the transgender group has {see below) there has to be some basic requirements from Pride;
1. In no way should the march be billed as a freak show! ( As last year’s ‘When Harry became Sally’ hurtful title implied.
2. This is very much a protest march, as public acceptance of transgender individuals is all over the board. The ‘Apartheid’ issue was only that because of Pride’s mishandling of the situation.
3. More sympathetic information needs to be put forth by Pride to the public that helps explain much of the above prior to the Trans Pride march.
4. Lastly the Trans march needs to have equal visibility as all other marches involved during the Pride events.
4. Other thoughts or comments?
The Trans community is the most diverse group of all the LGBT groups. It is this way for many reasons, and while this may seem like a boast, it is actually the opposite. In fact it is this diversity that makes it most difficult to group as one and actually March together.
In order for pride to ever begin to treat the Trans community with respect they have to understand these fundamental facts.
1. The Trans population is not determined by sexual orientation. Gay, lesbian and bisexuality exists in all groups within the Trans community.
2. On one end of the Trans spectrum you have those who have known and felt their gender to be opposite almost from day one and then spend a good portion of their everyday lives trying to figure out how and when to deal with this always thinking of the day when they can actually change all physical attributes to match their felt gender. Of course depending on culture, family and local society acceptance this could take many years. If not done in time, the shear hatred for the misaligned physical gender parts and the feeling of helplessness quite often will lead to suicide. Transpulse reports attempts as high as 50% for this group.
3. On the other end you have those who are driven by sexual desires and fetishes. Cross dressers who also enjoy their natural gender as well. Of course the myriad of all those in between who prefer no gender or something entirely different.
4. .Lastly there are those who are young, and or those just discovering and who are unsure exactly where they fit in.
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______
3. THE ANNUAL PRIDE PARADE ______
From the Pride Toronto Website http://www.pridetoronto.com/festival/annual-pride-parade
At the heart of Toronto's Pride Week stand the members of our LGBTTIQQ2SA communities. Each year the collective creativity, talents and energy of these communities come together to wow the world. This is YOUR chance to gather a group together and show your Pride. The 31st annual Pride Parade will be held on Sunday 3rd July 2011, starting at 2pm at Bloor & Church.
Pride Toronto, as the organizer of the Pride Parade, encourages everyone to have an open, tolerant and supportive attitude. After all, the parade is not only about Pride in your community, but celebrating diversity and the variety of life in Toronto while respecting subtle differences amongst its citizens and visitors, and creating an inclusive experience for all. Pride Toronto encourages participation by all groups, be they community groups, businesses or organizations.
This year, Pride Toronto celebrates 31 years, while reflecting on the past, and building for a future. Tell us your stories through Art Direction, Costume Design, Choreography, (Sound/Music) Mix and Special Effects. Go glitz & glam. Be colourful and creative. Go big. And have fun.
Note: Queer Ontario participated in this event last year, marching with the Pride Coalition for Free Speech and QuAIA near the back of the parade (between the two, to be exact). ______
1. What are your thoughts on the shape the Annual Pride Parade has taken these past couple of years?
I resent the date being moved away from its historic importance in order to reap the economic and tourist benefits of the Canada Day Long Weekend.
It’s become too big and too repetitive.
Appallingly corporate. Too big
Way too many corporate floats. The cheers of "why are you here?"…"what makes you queer?" really brought home the point this year.
I still like the parade a lot. I don’t go every single year, but when I do, I can’t help but be captured by the energy, the enthusiasm, and the general good spirits. Yes, there are elements that I don’t like, but I also recognise that somebody out there probably doesn’t like my very favourite elements. If we’re serious about respecting diversity, everybody needs to just chill out and enjoy.
2. Ideally, what would you like to see happen in (or happen to) the Pride Parade? What would you change about it, if anything?
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Get rid of for-profit sponsors.
Better television coverage with some commentators who have two clues what’s going on.
I would like to see a very clear statement that any/all are welcome to participate. Period. As I noted in 6.2 and 6.3 above, I would have no hesitation about barring the participation of those who actively oppress us … but I recognise that we lack the impartial third-party evaluators to make that practical. So I think having the Pride Toronto Board or staff step into this void is infinitely more dangerous than just letting anybody participate who wants to.
Stop the incessant rigidity of registering, positioning of groups, barricading the crowds, attempting to limit free speech (i.e. QuAIA) and freedom of expression (i.e. TNT Men). Some of these procedures are needed for safety reasons, but let’s be rational about them.
3. What recommendations should Queer Ontario make to Pride Toronto in attempts to develop a ‘better’ Pride Parade (however it is you want to define ‘better’)?
Get rid of for-profit sponsors.
Have their own sound systems at intervals so they don’t have to rely so much on big corporate trailers for sound.
Work directly with the LGBTQ communities to ensure the Annual Pride Parade is carried out in a way that people understand and respect in order to deter anger and resentment from developing.
4. Other thoughts or comments?
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______
4. PRIDE TORONTO’S HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAMMING ______http://www.pridetoronto.com/festival/human-rights
From the Pride Toronto website
Pride Toronto once again stands in solidarity with LGBTTIQQ2SA communities around the world with its human rights program, called 2011 Global Human Rights for Queers: What OUT is About . The program promotes the awareness of queer human rights abuses around the world, ranging from anti-sodomy laws to the death penalty in a number of countries.
The first step is to promote awareness. Find out what you can do for change. ______
1. What are your thoughts on the shape the Human Rights Conference has taken these past couple of years?
Great.
Don’t know enough to comment knowledgeably.
I‘ve never paid attention to it. My focus is more local.
Far better publicity is needed for the Human Rights events. Some of its past Human Rights exhibits were hidden away as if not to disrupt ‘the party’. Also, ensure that PT is itself politicized, otherwise it will continue to face a scenario in which Human Rights speakers boycott the programming as happened in 2010.
2. Ideally, what would you like to see happen with (or happen to) the Human Rights Conference? What would you change about it, if anything?
Bigger. More news drawn to it. more integration into the parade.
I would like to see the conference focus on some combination of “big issues” and “global hot spots” in each year, to try to shine the light of publicity on some truly reprehensible practices in some parts of the world. I would recommend that we be a lot less concerned about whether, in speaking out, we are “imposing western values on local cultures.” I frankly don’t feel any obligation to respect local cultures that permit the stoning of young gay men to death, or other such atrocities.
The Human Rights Program has a commendable global scope. Nevertheless, it could be expanded to include the national, provincial/territorial and local community perspectives and the intersections between them. There is a sense that we are so privileged here in Canada that we need to turn our attention to the ‘poor others’ out there without respect for their agency and incredible resiliency. Truth be known, we have a heck of a lot of other issues here at home with our own heterosexist and cisgendered mainstream society, not to mention political differences within the LGBTQ communities itself. Broadening the scope and deepening the level of interrogation would really strengthen this Program.
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3. What recommendations should Queer Ontario make to Pride Toronto in attempts to develop a ‘better’ Human Rights Conference (however it is you want to define ‘better’)?
Bigger. More news drawn to it. More integration into the parade.
See response to question 2 above.
4. Any other thoughts or comments?
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______
5. STREET FAIR AND MARKETPLACE ______
From the Pride Toronto website http://www.pridetoronto.com/festival/street-fair
The Pride Toronto 2011 Community Fair and Marketplace will educate, entertain and intrigue you with an exciting array of artisans, retail vendors, community organizations and much more. There’s something for everyone!
Pride Toronto creates a Market Place for vendors, a Community Fair for groups and services, and prime locations for Food Vendors across the Festival Site. Create a booth in the middle of the action, and interact directly with Pride Week attendees right in the centre of the action. ______
1. What are your thoughts on the shape the Market Place has taken these past couple of years?
gets better all the time. but more scrutiny into the ethics of corporations there.
I think it has been better the last couple of years.
The cost and lack of services (tables etc.) for non profit community groups is discouraging.
It’s been too scattered. The best marketplace was the one in the parking lot on Wellesley. It was like a big gay mall.
It feels like nothing short of gouging that PT charges community groups for a space at the Community Fair, without offering table and chairs like they once did. This imposes a huge burden on cash strapped and volunteer-deprived community groups.
2. Ideally, what would you like to see happen with (or happen to) the Market Place? What would you change about it, if anything?
Consolidate consolidate consolidate.
I would like to see a much more visible presence of the organisations that make things happen in our community week in and week out throughout the year(s). I think those kinds of community organisations should be allowed to locate in prominent places at reasonable prices.
I think Pride Toronto should 1 Include a table and two chairs per community group in the Community Fair, as was once available, and lower the registration fee to a far more reasonable rate 2 Section off the Community Fair from the Market Place and Food Vendors, so that each can be more easily found 3 Do not separate each of the categories geographically, as some groups ended up in obscure locations with minimal traffic flow 4 Lengthen the geographical district for the overall Street Fair and Market Place to spread out the
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density of the crowds
Likewise, I think pride of place must be given to the businesses on Church Street who, in addition to supplying us with goods and services throughout the year, often are the sponsors of community events throughout the year. It must be very aggravating for businesses to have access to their establishments cut off by competitors who appear once each year and then vanish into the mist, taking a lot of money with them.
As noted in #1 above, I do think Pride Toronto has done a better job on these issues the last couple of years. But more needs to be done, I think.
more scrutiny into the ethics of corporations there.
3. What recommendations should Queer Ontario make to Pride Toronto in attempts to develop a ‘better’ Market Place (however it is you want to define ‘better’)?
more scrutiny into the ethics of corporations there.
Improve access to the marketplace for first-time participants and small queer-run businesses. See response to question 2 above.
4. Other thoughts or comments?
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6. ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT AT PRIDE TORONTO ______
From the Pride Toronto website : http://www.pridetoronto.com/festival/arts-entertainment-2010
Pride Week features a three day street festival with eight stages of live music, performance and DJs, and additional week-long arts and cultural activities including literary, film, dance, and other multi-disciplinary events.
Highlights from 2010:
Pride Week 2010 featured approximately 300 artists over ten days from Friday, June 25 to Sunday, July 4 including Cyndi Lauper, The Clicks, Dragonette, Jully Black, Lea Delaria, Vogue Evolution and Honey Dijon.
And that's not all - as part of our commitment to increase overall community involvement we created the Transverse program which featured performances by professional transgender, transsexual and genderqueer performers, including Girlyman, Buck Angel, Katastrophe, activist Andrea Jenkins, writer/storyteller Alec Butler and author/speaker S. Bear Bergman. ______
1. What are your thoughts on how Pride Toronto has managed its Arts & Entertainment programming these past couple of years?
Too much music, not enough of the other arts.
Over emphasis on high profile, high priced entertainers adds to financial problems.
Too much emphasis on big name acts. Not enough local talent.
It is a shame that PT is giving priority to national/international, big name celebrities over local up and coming LGBTQ artists. Also, the prohibiting of any political messaging on the entertainment stages (either by artists or activists) is a form of censorship that should simply not be tolerated.
I’m largely indifferent as this is not all THAT important to me in terms of my Pride experience
It should focus on the one big-ticket concert and a few smaller stages, keeping it simple, and let the privately organized events do their thing (better).
2. Ideally, what would you like to see happen with (or happen to ) Pride Toronto’s Arts & Entertainment programming? What would you change about it, if anything?
Too much music, not enough of the other arts.
Make local artists the priority for the entertainment program
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Allow freedom of speech on the entertainment stages (whether by artists or activists)
I’d like to see the entertainment line-up nailed down and advertised much farther in advance. The week before Pride is far too late. People have schedules to coordinate, and need to book time off. Some of us actually have to choose between working Saturday or Sunday, and need to know which day to choose a month ahead of time.
3. What recommendations should Queer Ontario make to Pride Toronto in attempts to develop a ‘better’ offering of Arts & Entertainment (however it is you want to define ‘better’)?
Too much music, not enough of the other arts.
I would like to see more emphasis on local talent, but I recognise that (like the Canadian content broadcasting rules) this is a problematic area.
Put more work into promoting and nurturing local artists. Have fewer stages but better equipment (ex: a backstage area for performers to prepare. Some drag queens and kings have to put their gear on in store washrooms). How about a rehearsal?
4. Any other thoughts or comments?
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7. 40 PLUS PROGRAMMING AT PRIDE ______
From The Pride Toronto website http://www.pridetoronto.com/festival/40-plus
The Pride Toronto website does not have a description for this, but it list a series of featured events, which include
Not Going Back – a place where volunteers and employees of Fudger House talk about our fears about going back in the closet as we get older.
La Cage Aux Folles Cabaret – a series of performances from spoken word artists Nicki Ward and Duncan Armstrong, writer Jeff Kirby, sketch artists-comedians Paul Bellini, Heather Ramsay and Michael Riordon… with a surprise or two.
Yonge Street is Flaming – a queer walking tour that explores Toronto’s queer world since the 1950s, complete with drag shows, Queen Bee beauty contests, lesbian bank robbers, and same- sex slow dancing.
Yogapalooza – a celebration of peace love and pride at Queen’s Park as thousands of people get together for the largest Yoga class in Toronto. ______
1. What are your thoughts on the shape its 40 Plus programming has taken these past couple of years?
I think over 40 programming is a good idea.
I haven’t participated in the formal programming.
Have not participated.
Do they have any?
2. Ideally, what would you like to see happen with (or happen to) Pride Toronto’s 40 Plus programming? What would you change about the event, if anything?
No comment on the formal events.
I’d like a dance that starts in the afternoon, plays music I recognize, and ends by 10pm so I can go to bed.
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3. What recommendations should Queer Ontario make to Pride Toronto in attempts to develop a ‘better’ offering of 40 Plus programming (however it is you want to define ‘better’)?
General recognition that there are many, many people over 40 who participate and many more who would like to participate. Rather than thinking about specific events geared to people over 40 (although that’s OK too), I’d prefer to see some effort to just have a bit of “over 40 sensibility” in terms of the entire event. More places to sit for those who can’t stand all day; some major entertainers from … ahem … “an earlier time,” etc. In other words, like any other element of the community, demonstrate some commitment to exclusion in the total event.
4. Other thoughts or comments?
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8. DISABILITY RESORUCE SERVICES AT PRIDE ______
From the Pride Toronto website http://www.pridetoronto.com/festival/disability-resource-services/
Dis/Ability Resources Dis/Ability Resources planning goes year round and works to ensure that the activities of Pride Toronto do not exclude any person due to unnecessary barriers. We work to facilitate the participation of persons who use wheelchairs, scooters, and other assisted devices; who are visually impaired; who are deaf and hard of hearing; who use the assistance of working animals; who require attendant care; and people with other visible or invisible disabilities
Dis/Ability Headquarters Our headquarters is a rest, social and information centre with a shaded sitting area, water and a scooter-accessible washroom. Come to HQ to access our wheelchair lending service, attendant care worker, American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting services, services for the visually impaired and access to mobility assistants. Dis/Ability Resources Headquarters is located at the North/East corner of Maitland and Church during the street festival.
Dis/Ability Viewing Areas and Entertainment Stands Accessible seating is available along the Dyke March and Pride Parade routes and at our largest entertainment stages. This seating is for people who will be unable to stand for the duration and for their partners or companions. These wheelchair- and scooter-accessible viewing stands are shaded from the sun and will have chairs, attendant care, water and accessible washrooms. The stands are non-smoking and are offered on a first come, first served basis. It is recommended that people arrive early for performances and/or to watch the Dyke March and Parade, as seating and access to the D/A areas may be limited. ______
1. What are your thoughts on the shape Dis/Ability Services has taken these past couple of years?
This appears to have improved greatly over the last few years.
I think it’s gotten worse.
2. Ideally, what would you like to see happen with (or happen to) Dis/Ability Services at Pride? What would you change about it, if anything?
I have not heard many complaints personally about this, thus no changes are offered at this time.
There should be more effort made to find out what the barriers are.
3. What recommendations should Queer Ontario make to Pride Toronto in attempts to provide ‘better’ Dis/Ability services (however it is you want to define ‘better’)?
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None for now.
Meet with the relevant groups and listen to their issues and suggestions.
4. Other thoughts or comments?
I have been impressed with efforts to provide Dis/Ability services for the Parade. The community fair less so. Perhaps a similar viewing stand on Church Street.
My only observation on this subject is that people with mobility issues have a tough time at the parade and at the shows. This is mostly due to the thoughtlessness of other participants. It’s not cool to stand in front of somebody in a wheelchair. Apparently we need to tell people this. Would probably need a small army of parade marshals and event staff, but in an ideal world, it would be a good thing.
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9. FAMILY PRIDE ______
From the Pride Toronto website: http://www.pridetoronto.com/festival/family-pride
Family Pride returns with a rich and exciting line-up of events on the Saturday and Sunday of Pride Week. Family Pride is an oasis and a destination for families of all kinds. The Saturday and Sunday of Pride Week, Family Pride sets up camp on the grounds of the Church Street Junior Public School (southeast corner of Church Street and Alexander Street) offering inclusive, family- friendly activities and events. Check out the children's entertainers on the Family Pride Stage, make arts and crafts, visit the Style Zone, cool off in our H2O zone, have fun with bouncy inflatables or relax in the Meeting Place. With all of this excitement it's sure to be fun for the entire family! Activity hours for both days are from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Family Pride is organized by the Family Pride Committee, in collaboration with community partners, such as the LGBT Parenting Network and the 519's Queer Parenting Programmes. ______
1. What are your thoughts on the shape Family Pride has taken these past couple of years?
I think facilitating participation of families at pride is wonderful but should not be allowed to take over the entire event. Comments like “this is a family event” in objecting to nudity etc. should not be welcome.
I have very mixed feelings about “Family Pride.” On one hand, I do understand that those in our midst who have children would like those children to participate in what is a big event. But on the other hand, I can see a day coming – in the not too distant future – when many of the parents in our midst are going to start making demands that things be “toned down” “for the sake of the children.” And that’s where I draw the line. This event was not, is not, and should not be, “for the children.” If parents don’t want their kids to see nudity, simulated sex, or stoned twinks, they shouldn’t bring them to Pride. The End.
At least there is one. I remember when it stated and they opposed it every step. It’s gotten much better.
2. Ideally, what would you like to see happen with (or happen to) Family Pride? What would you change about it, if anything?
More organization. The dancing bear was pretty cool. They need more supervision with inflatables and water events or they’re in for a huge liability issue. They need more events parents can participate in with their kids.
3. What recommendations should Queer Ontario make to Pride Toronto in attempts to develop a ‘better’ Family Pride (however it is you want to define ‘better’)?
Maybe a separate day/parade???? OK .. just kidding.
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Talk to queers with kids. Reach out to the queer parenting groups.
4. Other thoughts or comments?
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10. THE FREE ZONE ______
From the Pride Toronto website http://www.pridetoronto.com/festival/free-zone/
Free Zone is a drug & alcohol free space allowing those in recovery a safe place to enjoy Pride Week 2011. Festivities will include a DJ and a stage with live performances, holistic services, green lawn and confidential recovery meetings. Free Zone provides clean and sober fun in a family friendly environment. It’s a great alternative to the beer gardens! This year Pride Toronto has decided to take the Free Zone to the next level and has invested a significant commitment into making it a two-day event. Come on out to the Free Zone and be part of this wonderful supportive recovery community.
Please Note: Free Zone is committed to a harm-reduced environment. No drugs and alcohol should be present and this should be respected at all times. ______
1. What are your thoughts on the shape the Free Zone has taken these past couple of years?
Don’t know much about it, but it’s a great idea.
I’ve never gone, but it’s nice that it’s there.
2. Ideally, what would you like to see happen with (or happen to) the Free Zone? What would you change about it, if anything?
3. What recommendations should Queer Ontario make to Pride Toronto in attempts to develop a ‘better’ Free Zone (however it is you want to define ‘better’)?
4. Other thoughts or comments?
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11. YOUTH PRIDE ______
From the Pride Toronto website http://www.pridetoronto.com/festival/youth-pride/
The Pride Toronto Youth Committee will once again dedicate their efforts during Pride Week 2011 to creating more youth specific and youth-friendly events for the Queer Youth Community. Our goal is to increase the visibility, awareness and inclusion of youth within the greater Queer Communities during Pride Week.
Each year, the Pride Toronto Youth Committee organizes a Youth Contingent made up of youth organizations and individuals to march together in the Pride Parade. The Pride Toronto Youth Committee will also continue to have a Youth Contingent in the 2011 Dyke March! The great turn out for it’s first time last year means that we will continue this awesome way for any Youth to participate in the Dyke March festivities. Whether it’s a group of friends or a single person, all LGBTTIQQ2SA Youth and allies are welcome to march with us in the Parade and Dyke March!
The Youth Contingent aims to increase the visibility of LGBTTIQQ2SA youth during Pride Week by bringing together different queer youth organizations and individuals to march in the Pride Parade (Sunday, Jul 3rd 2011), increasing awareness about queer youth and connecting them with the larger LGBTTIQQ2SA communities that share in the Pride celebrations.
The Youth Contingent will also be a part of the Dyke March. Youth women and trans folk are encouraged to march together in order to further increase the participation and visibility of youth in the Pride Toronto experience. ______
1. What are your thoughts on the shape the Youth Pride has taken these past couple of years?
Don’t know much about the specific efforts made to include youth. My casual observation is that a lot of youth do participate.
I’ve never gone, but it’s nice that it happens.
2. Ideally, what would you like to see happen with (or happen to) Youth Pride? What would you change about it, if anything?
3. What recommendations should Queer Ontario make to Pride Toronto in attempts to develop a ‘better’ Youth Pride (however it is you want to define ‘better’)?
More input from Fluid, SOY and other groups with queer youth.
Back to the business of education and history and politics … It would be great if there were subtle (no preaching please) messages that would assist with an inter-generational transfer of knowledge.
4. Other thoughts or comments?
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12. GENERAL PROGRAMMING QUESTIONS ______
Given the program offerings / descriptions provided to you in the pages above…
1. What are your thoughts on Pride Toronto’s program offerings for the 2011 festival?
A number of changes are required to avert the numerous problems that arose in the 2010 Pride Festival.
I have some concerns about changing the date.
Too scattered. Too difficult to get from one stage to another.
2. What are your thoughts on the way it has presented these program offerings to the public?
The Pride Guide came out way too late.
I think this has been poorly done, as they are attempting to ride on the previous year’s Festivities, much of it problematic, yet without direct consultation on how to improve it (CAP notwithstanding).
3. Is there anything you feel Pride Toronto has done particularly well when it comes to its programming?
I will say, despite all the problems there is no denying an enormous amount of work goes into providing the programming that is offered each year.
4. Is there anything you feel Pride Toronto has done rather poorly?
See above.
Some stages were poorly attended. Need more promotion and some kind of screening process. Some of the acts were not ready for prime-time.
5. What would you like to see change when it comes to its program offerings and/or Pride Toronto’s approach to programming?
See above.
More stand-up comedy. More seating for events. Make it more like a licensed outdoor bar.
6. Are there any specific groups, interests, or needs you would like to see better represented at Pride?
Bisexual, trans, 2-spirited, and everyone who isn’t white.
Political groups (QuAIA, PCFS, QO), diverse programming (Blockorama, Trans March) need to be better respected and included, not to mention community groups in general (i.e. participation in the Community Fair).
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7. What recommendations would you give Pride Toronto to ensure that all this happens?
Better communication, ongoing consultation, sensitivity training, etc.
Take your clues and rub them vigorously together until fire appears. If this fails, talk to people who already have clue-fire. Enza Anderson has enough clue fire to burn your house down.
8. And lastly: do you have any other thoughts or comments on Pride’s programming?
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12. OTHER ITEMS ______
Is there anything else you would like to add with respect to Pride Toronto’s Festival, Events, or Services -- or is there anything we may have forgotten to include? Do let us know…
The people who sucked so much this year are volunteers. I realize that. I’m still pretty burned out from when I was dyke march co-chair over ten years ago. It’s a tough job. But they make it 100 times more difficult if they try to run it like a business instead of running it like the protest-celebration it is. Sidelining the political not only saps your drive, it sucks the soul out of the event.
And it’s great that Queer Ontario is doing this survey, but Pride Toronto ought to have been doing this long ago.
END OF THE SURVEY ______
THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH FOR PARTICIPATING!
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