June is Pride Month again in Toronto. A lot of local communities across Canada also celebrate Pride this month, while many others do so at different times of the year.
This is a time to celebrate the history and diversity of the 2SLGBTQ+ community (which stands for Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning and additional sexual orientations and gender identities).
It’s also the first year since the COVID-19 pandemic began that many Toronto Pride events will be happening in public. The full month of programming began on June 1, and will conclude with the annual Festival Weekend on June 24-25-26, 2022.
The long-awaited return will include the annual Trans March, Dyke March, Bi+ Pride Programming, Blockorama by Blackness Yes, the Pride Parade, the street fair and multiple stages featuring over 300 2SLGBTQ+ artists. Please click here on Pride Toronto’s website for more details.
If you choose to participate in Pride public events this year, please be safe, remember to social distance, and respect everyone you encounter.
Please take some time to reflect on the histories of this land we call home. The tragic discoveries of unmarked graves in recent years near former residential schools continue to trigger horrific memories, but also inspire resolve to acknowledge and atone for our collective mistakes and move forward toward true reconciliation.
This is also a good reminder of the intersectionality of human beings and how many histories impact all of us at the same time. It’s important to honour and respect all of those histories which enrich all of our lives every day.
If you are celebrating Pride this year in Toronto, please take the time to reflect on the fact that we are meeting on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.
Our union recognizes it must continue to do better to promote respect and inclusion and fight all forms of hatred and discrimination, in our own ranks, in our workplaces and throughout society.
There’s much work to be done and we will continue to do that work.
On behalf of the CBC Toronto location of the Canadian Media Guild, I’d like to wish you all a very happy Pride Month and National Indigenous Heritage Month!
Matt Guerin is Treasurer of the CBC Toronto location of the Canadian Media Guild
