Toronto’s 2024 Pride parade ended prematurely and canceled after protests

“We have made the decision to cancel the remainder of the parade, in keeping with our commitment to ensuring public safety,” Pride Toronto said after protesters stopped the parade at Yonge and Wellesley streets…

Toronto’s annual Pride Parade took over the city Sunday afternoon, marking the end of a month of events celebrating the city’s vibrant 2SLGBTQI+ community, until the procession – billed as the largest in the Canada – either suddenly stopped mid-stream by a protest, then officially canceled.

The theme of this year’s parade was “Be,” which Pride Toronto called “a resounding statement that says, ‘We are here and we always will be.’ »

The 2024 parade began at Bloor and Church streets with more than 250 groups marching together along Yonge Street to Nathan Phillips Square. About 30 protesters, calling themselves Coalition Against Pinkwashing, held banners and chanted slogans on Yonge Street, just south of Wellesley Street, three and a half hours after the parade began at 2 p.m. Floats and demonstrators heading south toward the parade’s finish at Nathan Phillips Square found themselves blocked behind demonstrators, who chanted “Free Palestine” and “Pride is a protest” while holding signs reading : “Pride collides with genocide” and “Stop pinkwashing.” .”

Toronto police posted on social media that a protest during the parade had caused a disturbance and the parade had been “temporarily suspended.” Then, 45 minutes into the protest, Pride Toronto announced that the remainder of the parade was cancelled.

“Today we made the decision to cancel the remainder of the Pride Parade in order to ensure public safety. We deeply respect and defend everyone’s right to peaceful protest. Our top priority is the well-being of all participants and spectators,” Pride Toronto said in an official statement posted on social media. “We recognize that the Pride Parade is a highly anticipated event that many organizations and individuals eagerly prepare for. We sympathize with those who were looking forward to participating and regret any inconvenience caused by this decision. »

Toronto police gathered further along the parade route but took no action against the demonstrators, who left Yonge Street about two hours after closing it and marched west along of Wellesley Street on the sidewalk. Police said no arrests had been made in connection with the protest.

According to a leaflet distributed by the Coalition Against Pinkwashing, the protesters had six demands, including divestment from all companies “actively involved in the violent exploitation of indigenous people” on Turtle Island and in Sudan, Palestine and the Congo.

Of course, this isn’t the first time the Toronto Pride parade has been disrupted in recent years. In 2016, a Black Lives Matter group interrupted the parade on July 3 by stopping its float to protest its “anti-blackness.” The parade was interrupted for more than 30 minutes until Pride leaders signed the list of demands on site.

Unlike 2016, this year the demands of the Coalition Against Pinkwashing were not signed. According to Toronto Stara protester named Faisal Samir said Pride Toronto had proposed a meeting to “think through” the demands.

After the Pride Parade was canceled, celebrations, balloons, confetti, bubbles and loud music continued on Church Street, where vendors lined the sidewalk, restaurants overflowed and packed beer halls with DJs continued to spin. the music while the crowd danced. Official celebrations were also taking place at Nathan Philips Square with a variety of legendary performers.