The Pride Parade, June 24th, 2007
From the vantage point of Bloor and Charles.
By Stewart Byfield
Posted July 2nd, 2007
Supposedly:
1.) Everyone loves a parade
2.) 1 in 10 people are gay
It's a hot and sunny day here in downtown Toronto, where witnesses estimate an astounding 80,000 people have just congregated at 130 King St. W, perhaps better known as the Toronto Stock Exchange. It appears that at around 2 pm this afternoon, the mob began filling into the TSX, off of the streets and straight through the front door. They have literally flooded the building, quickly overwhelming security and halting the course of the day's trading. At this time there has been no word on why the group has taken station in the city's financial district or how long they plan to stay there. Constable Redderick had this to say:
"The parade itself was fantastic in the truest sense of the word. Huge speakers lashed and even duct-taped to eighteen-wheel truck beds. Disc Jockeys inside waterproof boxes. The effect is remarkable: a song from one passing truck will blend smoothly into the next. Is it planning that always leaves enough distance between each monster sub-woofer?"
The intermittent flurry of colourful beaded necklaces. Elegant evening gowns. Monstrous sequin clown forms. Male and female nudity. That psychedelic bus you sometimes see around the party district. That yellow bus you sometimes see filled with students, but don't this time. Our mayor is pumping his fists as he jogs triumphantly alongside several camera operators.
There are huge animal puppets. Flying condoms. A huge winking bull advertising that you should barbecue and eat it. Narrow blasts of water. An acrobat rolling down the street inside a glistening metal cage-wheel of death! There is also the distinct absence of a representative from our ruling political party.
There are reps from the green, red, and orange parties. Green, red and orange panties. Tuxedos that end with the bow tie and begin again with the loins, all shapes and sizes. Shredded coke-bottle boas. Flying flyers. The persistent thrill of rejoicing!!! And always, always, always, the carefree gyrations of your very friends and neighbours. Every conceivable type of human form could be seen dancing, strutting or posing in nearly every conceivable stage of undress. All this framed fittingly by the facade of the Brass Rail. It was fun-omenal. But is it art?
It has been thirty years since the Ontario Human Rights Commission published the "Life Together" report. It has been twenty-one years since the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to change the Ontario Human Rights Code to recognize any sexual and gender identities as protected adjectives. And it has been five seconds since I last saw a greased man. If there is any strength in these numbers, is it simply because people have been fighting at it for so long? Do the good folks gathered here today come for the party or do they come for the glory? I've heard that some came all the way from San Francisco because their parade is lame.
Well, I'd like to think that we in Toronto are prepared to erase a few lines that have been drawn across our bodies.
I'd like to think that the collective subconscious is nearly finished processing both secular and traditional attitudes towards the meaning of our interactions.
(All together now: The State does not tell us how to love!)
But I know, or rather have seen, that many of us are ready to approach others with a sense of curiosity and wonder rather than rote suspicion. And maybe every once in a while just, like, pile in 80,000 deep and manage to freak the fuck out without any tense vibrations. So why not then focus this awesome, completely peaceful, mass towards another cause? Why not march 80,000 strong down the 401 on a nice sunny afternoon. And don't stop the rockin' 'till the city / province / feds agree to…
- INSERT PROBABLE CAUSE HERE -
Supposedly...
Really...
3) What the officer fails to mention of course, is that during this sudden illegal assembly of 80,000 people inside the TSE, no violence was used. The guards were overwhelmed because they were too few to prevent the masses from joyously, peaceably occupying every available space in the building. The trading was halted because the frantic, bludgeoning atmosphere of the sales floor was quickly diluted with merriment and party tunes. The cops were unprepared to use force to subdue the throng when confronted with the faces of their friends and family members. And the bit about Constable Redderick sending out the abort order along with the phrase: "No-one's gonna tear gas my Nona!" will probably never air.
And hell's yeah the parade counts as art. I'm thinking ain't I?
Special shout out to Kerry Freek for joining me on this quest and for standing two hours straight on tip toes, documenting the whole thing while I stroked my beard and stared at the flash.