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Organizers and participants had a good time on Sunday, but highlighted the need to keep fighting injustices.
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Published Aug 13, 2023 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 3 minute read
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There was a festive atmosphere in downtown Montreal on Sunday afternoon as thousands of people eagerly gathered for the Pride parade, which returned after suffering a last-minute cancellation in 2022.
With pop music, sparkly costumes, allegorical floats and Pride flags aplenty, the event enlivened René-Lévesque Blvd. as of 1 p.m. Businesses, sports organizations and non-profits that are active in the LGBTQ2+ community took part in the parade.
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Montreal Pride executive director Simon Gamache said there were 192 contingents in Sunday’s parade, which attracted 15,500 marchers — a record for the organization.
“Why are we here today? First of all, it’s because we’re proud of who we are and we want to show that we’re proud of who we are. Also, it’s because we want to commemorate the struggles and victories of the past, but it’s especially because there are still lots of injustices toward LGBTQ2+ communities, both here and and elsewhere,” Gamache said in a speech before the parade.
The parade, held on the final day of Fierté Montréal’s 17th edition, mobilized 207 employees and 152 volunteers.
Two hours after the start of the parade, as the first floats reached the end of the 2.9 km route, Gamache said the organization had been through a lot in the last year, but had managed to deliver. “It’s a big collective undertaking.”
A number of politicians took part in the parade, including Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was on a float with drag queen Barbada de Barbades.
“Last year we missed the parade, and now it’s back,” the mayor said. She also addressed the death on Friday of Roger Thibault, one-half of the first same-sex civil union in Quebec.
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“I think it reminds us of the importance of this parade, where, yes, we want to celebrate, we want to party, but we also want to remember the battles and not take anything for granted,” she said.
Federal Tourism Minister and Hochelaga MP Soraya Martinez Ferrada used the event to announce $1.1 million in funding for five Montreal non-profits working on issues affecting the LGBTQ2+ community: AGIR Montreal, the Centre for Gender Advocacy, Fierté Montréal, Gay and Grey Montreal and the Massimadi Foundation.
She announced the sum with federal Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge.
“For me, Pride has always been a gesture of political affirmation, a collective undertaking that aims to influence and change decision-making circles so that laws, rules, programs and systems cannot discriminate, isolate, disadvantage or even punish because of who you are or who you love,” St-Onge said.
For her part, Martine Biron, the provincial minister responsible for the fight against homophobia and transphobia, said the CAQ’s “next strategic plan” on these matters would be presented soon.
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Other politicians from the CAQ, the Quebec Liberal Party, the Parti Québécois, Québec solidaire, the federal Liberals, the NDP and Bloc Québécois were also in attendance.
The sidewalks of René-Lévesque Blvd. were packed with thousands of spectators during Sunday’s parade.
“Every year, Pride is a moment for me to remember how far we’ve come in recent years and how grateful and lucky I am to be able to love who I want to love today,” said Aricia Roy.
For Rhys Forgie, it was important to participate in Pride festivities as hateful messages toward the LGBTQ2+ community circulate online and in some publications.
“Once I accepted who I was, my whole world opened up. And honestly, I feel so much happier now,” he said. “We have to show the world that we’re here, that we’re proud and that we’re happy.”
This year’s parade had a special significance for Evens Kaibangou, seeing as it was the first one he was attending as a trans man.
“It’s important to see people like me, that we can gather,” he said. Despite the prevailing festive atmosphere, he had mixed feelings.
“It’s at this moment that you realize we have to come together again to fight injustices and inequalities,” he said.
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The parade was also an occasion for community groups to have some visibility and get their message out.
“This kind of event permits us to meet the general public in a way other than going to schools, which is what we usually do,” said Marie Houzeau, director general of GRIS-Montréal, which runs educational programming on sexual and gender diversity.
“We’re a minority that is often invisible and today we can be visible, be proud of who we are and share that with the world.”
Montreal Pride better than ever after last year’s parade fiasco, organizers say
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