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Cops!

Toronto’s first pride event, held in 1981, was largely an anti-police protest march held in the wake of Operation Soap, a raid of four Toronto bathhouses that resulted in the arrest of more than 300 gay men. Over the last decade, however, the one-time targets of the Pride parade have become active participants. Toronto police chief Bill Blair has been making an appearance at the parade since 2005. In addition to the occasional rainbow-bedecked police cruiser, this year’s parade is expected to feature officers from the RCMP, OPP, Halton, York, Peel and Durham Regional Police.

Swastikas expected … but not to worry

Neo-Nazis are not the only ones who should be able to hoist swastikas at a parade, claims the International Raelian Movement. At Pride, the Quebec-based UFO religious sect will host a booth attempting to rehabilitate the symbol’s pre-Nazi connotations. “The goal is to return the swastika’s true meaning of peace and harmony to this ancient symbol regretfully hijacked by the Nazis,” movement spokeswoman Brigitte Boisselier told Postmedia.

Shake your moneymaker

As one of North America’s largest pride events, Toronto Pride Week routinely fills restaurants and hotels with LGBT tourists from around the world. In 2009, an economy impact study estimated that Pride Week attracted $139 million in local spending.

Gay Iranians to prove existence

For the first time ever, an Iranian contingent will appear in the Toronto parade. Ever since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, homosexuality has been a capital offense in the country. Officially, the Iranian government has even denied they exist. “In Iran we don’t have homosexuals like in your country,” said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a 2007 to students at Columbia University. Fifty gay Iranian refugees will appear in Sunday’s parade. Some will be concealing their faces to protect family members back home.