TORONTO

So let’s consider this ever-escalating farce we can no longer call the “Pride” parade.

Pride Toronto bent over backwards for Black Lives Matter-Toronto (BLM) and instigated a highly-controversial ban on police involvement in the June 25 parade, because apparently, some members of the LGBTQ community find the police presence in the parade “threatening” and “intimidating.”

So said Pride executive director, Olivia Nuamah at City Hall on May 7.

We all knew that the so-called “intimidated” were the same BLM bullies who hijacked last year’s parade and their ragtag group of fringe leftist supporters who have swallowed the “intersectionality...I’m more oppressed than you” Kool-Aid.

However, Nuamah also made it clear that the sight of Toronto police in uniform protecting BLMers and other marchers was not the least bit intimidating and least of all, the idea of having that $500,000-plus protection being provided free of charge to Pride.

The decision, naturally, has divided Toronto’s LGBTQ community and that — coupled with the lack of public support of the police by Mayor John Tory, many councillors and absolute silence by our lesbian Premier-- has led many to opt to boycott this year’s parade.

Instead, several Toronto police officers have decided to take up New York City up on their offer to march in their parade on June 25.

After a day-long debate at council a week ago, 27 councillors and Tory caved completely and rejected the notion of withholding this year’s $260,000 grant to Pride until officials agreed to allow at least a few police to march in uniform.

And what has BLM done? Slapping everyone who kowtowed to them in the face, they’ve opted not to march this year.

I repeat, the group at the centre of this inane maelstrom, will not be marching in the parade on June 25.

Efforts to reach Nuamah and her PR flak Ryan Connelly were unsuccessful Saturday. Perhaps they’ve run for cover.

But BLM is not listed as participants on their website, not as far as the main parade is concerned. Pride does not list the participants in the #ResistDykeMarch, so perhaps that’s where they’ll spew their hate.

All I can say is game, set, match to BLM.

These bullies played the mayor, two-thirds of councillors and Pride officials for the cowardly fools they clearly are.

Efforts to reach BLM were unsuccessful Saturday as well. However, it did not escape my attention that they even threatened, on their Facebook page, to de-throne councillors who voted against the Pride grant in the next election.

Tory offered his usual milquetoast response through his spokesperson, Keerthana Kamalavasan.

She said the mayor supports the “ongoing discussions” between Pride and the police to resolve the current situation (Read my lips Mayor Tory: There are no ongoing discussions.)

“The Pride festival, the LGBTQ community and the men and women of the Toronto police service all have the mayor’s absolute and unequivocal support,” she said. (Could have fooled me on the latter.)

John Campbell, the councillor who put forward that motion to withhold the $260,000 grant to Pride this year (the motion lost 27-17) told me Saturday that he suspects BLM knew if they marched they would have been “booed” by the parade’s participants.

He said they never seemed “really interested” in working on the solutions to the problems they highlighted either.

Campbell added it’s never too late to invite a small contingent of police to march in the Toronto parade.

“It would go a long way to mending fences,” he said.

Maybe so. But if I were the police, I’d tell all of them to go fly a kite.

I’d give the same advice to long-time members of the LGBTQ community who are considering the idea of boycotting the parade.

It would serve our weak political leaders right.

The mayor, councillors and Pride officials who gave into BLM’s temper tantrums only have themselves to blame for the farce they’ve created.

SLevy@postmedia.com