Nothing to be proud of in Pride vote, DiManno, Jan. 26

Pride Toronto — and all Pride festivals — are gatherings to commemorate and raise awareness about historical and institutional violence against LGBTQ2S people, and also celebrate who we are as a beautiful, diverse and complex community.

We only get a few days each year to bring our histories, our struggles, our art and our activism to a very public platform. Although straight allys are important to building solidarity with, and supporting, LGBTQ2S communities, Pride Toronto is by and for our community.

Rosie DiManno writes that she is “sympathetic to members of the LGBTQ2S community who don’t want their space invaded by cops. If she was gay and had a vote, it would be: No. A purely gut response. But she is straight and her non-vote would be: Yes.”

Although it is great that DiManno is airing her voice on this issue, I would ask her if she has experienced police violence and intimidation firsthand? Has she had her colleagues and peers harassed and assaulted by uniformed officers at the Pride Festival, which is meant to be our space?

DiManno also writes: “Because the parade is in financial peril. Because the parade, hosted by the Gay Village, is an otherwise open invitation to the city. Because attendance was so obviously in decline in 2018, doubtless in part because the gay community was still grieving over its losses, but also, I would argue, due to a public backlash against Pride Toronto.”

This is factually inaccurate. The parade is not in financial peril, and it is most certainly not just “hosted” by the Gay Village. Pride is more than just the Pride Parade. While the non-profit corporation that is Pride Toronto may be showing a deficit of $700,000, this has happened before, and it has ebbed and flowed over recent years.

If Pride Toronto as an organization goes bankrupt, there will still be Pride. That’s the beauty of our community. We will continue to organize and create, remember and take action.