QUEER ONTARIO’S DEPUTATION ON THE FUNDING OF PRIDE TORONTO

Item Ex5.1: Compliance with the City of Toronto's Anti-Discrimination Policy

As presented by Nick Mule, founder and chairperson at Queer Ontario, at the City of Toronto
Executive Committee Meeting on May 24, 2011

Mission

Queer Ontario is a provincial network of gender and sexually diverse individuals — and their
allies — who are committed to questioning, challenging, and reforming the laws, institutional
practices, and social norms that regulate queer people. Operating under liberationist and sex-
positive principles, we fight for accessibility, recognition, and pluralism, using social media
and other tactics to engage in political action, public education, and coalition-building.

Position

Queer Ontario’s Position regarding Pride Toronto’s Compliance with the City of Toronto's
Anti-Discrimination Policy is that it was never a question for us that Pride Toronto was ever
not in compliance with this policy since we do not see the inclusion of QuAIA in the Pride
Toronto parade as contravening the policy in any way. As such, we see no merit in the City’s
consideration of funding cuts to Pride Toronto festivities based on this reasoning and urge the
City of Toronto to continue to support Pride Toronto both in grants and services.

Rationale for Pride Toronto’s Compliance with the City of Toronto's

Anti-Discrimination Policy:

Our view that Pride Toronto was not in violation of the City of Toronto’s anti-
discrimination policy has now been supported by City staff findings outlined in city
manager Joseph Pennachetti’s report, which under no equivocal terms states that the term
‘Israeli apartheid’ does not contravene the policy. As such, we urge that city politicians
recognize this staff conclusion and move on.

We at Queer Ontario recognize QuAIA’s decision not to participate in this year’s Pride
parade, which in and of itself should nullify this discussion. Some opponents of QuAIA’s
participation (i.e. the Canadian Jewish Congress) also now see the matter as closed, given
this decision.

We believe that further attempts to punish Pride Toronto – by withholding funds until
after the event or cutting funds altogether; or entertaining a motion requiring Pride
Toronto to guarantee QuAIA’s non participation, as Councillor Mammoliti is doing – is a
form of politically imposed censorship on a local LGBTQ grassroots group, regardless of
where one stands on their positions.

We would also like to point out that QuAIA has participated in a number of other Pride
parades nationally and internationally without incident.
Rationale for the City of Toronto to continue funding Pride Toronto festivities:

Economic Value: The statistics around Pride Toronto’s economic benefit Pride Toronto
provides to the city – in terms of tourism dollars for travel, hotels, and restaurants, for
example – are already well known. Therefore, we urge politicians to undertake a cost
analysis that must take into consideration the presumed short-term savings versus the
long-term losses due to the effects of a scaled back Pride Festival that cannot
adequately accommodate its numerous attendees.

Cultural Value: Arguably one of the largest Pride festivities in North America and the
world, the City of Toronto itself should be proud of this cultural event and help support
Pride Toronto’s contributions to the city’s diversity.

Social Value: For the many LGBTQ people that attend Pride festivities, the event holds
great social meaning as one day of the entire year where they can enter a space that gives
them the freedom to express themselves as they see fit, without concern that they will be
judged, harassed, or discriminated against by others.

Social Value: There are also provincial implications for this, since numerous LGBTQ
individuals and organizations travel to Toronto for the festivities, given that their own
communities cannot support such an event due to negative climates, fear of
discrimination, and threat of harassment.

Social Value: Correlated to this is the fact that the City of Toronto will reduce or cut
funding to one of the most marginalized communities in this City. Toronto’s queer
communities face a lot of intolerance as they are throughout the year; we do not need our
own City to perpetuate this intolerance during one of our most festive seasons.

Underscoring Theme

Freedom of speech and freedom of expression are fundamental and core values at the heart of
freedom and democracy in this country. As this country’s largest city, recognized by the UN
as one of the most diverse in the world, the City of Toronto must give serious thought to the
implications behind the imposition of an ideological perspective that is legally
unsubstantiated and socially discriminatory. At Queer Ontario, we are of the position that
Pride Festivities need to be an inclusive event of groups and individuals that value and
support LGBTQ people of all kinds – and that neither the City of Toronto nor Pride Toronto
need to engage in a process that regulates what is ‘appropriate’ in the parade by excluding
otherwise worthy groups from participating. Such a process is the antithesis of free speech
and free expression and insults a core value of Pride Festivities, which is that of diversity.

Thank you.