Hundreds of thousands of people attended Sunday’s Pride Parade in downtown Toronto, marking the return of face-to-face festivities for the annual LGBTQ celebration.
The first Toronto Pride face-to-face parade since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic headed south down Yonge Street before descending to Yonge-Dundas Square.
“The excitement, the build-up, is finally here,” Sherwin Modeste, executive director of Pride Toronto, said Sunday. “We are very excited to offer one of Toronto’s greatest prides ever seen.”
“Pride is more than a celebration. Pride is a protest. It is a protest to send a message to 2SLGBTQ members around the world who are not yet free to be themselves.”
Modeste said organizers expected between 1.8 and 1.9 million people to attend the event and Sunday festivities.
The last Toronto Pride parade had about 1.7 million attendees in 2019, according to the Pride Toronto Economic Impact Report in the City of Toronto.
The parade began at 2 p.m. Other Pride events included concerts on Church Street and a skateboard jam queer at Nathan Phillips Square.
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The return of the face-to-face festivities was very special for the people attending their first pride parade.
William Slaght came from Quebec City, Que. to attend with her boyfriend, after going out last year.
“[Coming out] it radically changed my life, I was being myself, I’m 100 percent gay and I’m proud of that, ”he said.
The 66-year-old man said he has felt “terrified” all his life, but now after going out and attending his first pride, he feels free.
William Slaght, 66, says this is the first pride parade he has ever attended. She went out last year and attends with her boyfriend. (Talia Ricci / CBC)
“I can say I love myself, and I couldn’t before,” Slaght said. “It’s amazing to have that feeling.”
It was also the first Anna Guirguis Pride Parade, as they moved to Toronto. It has given them the confidence to go out, they said.
“There’s so much love and inclusion in Toronto, you feel safe to go out and be who you are,” Guirguis said.
For the first time in the history of Pride Toronto, the parade did not feature disposable gas or plastic vehicles to try to be the most environmentally friendly, Modeste said.
Earlier this weekend, organizers said the festival was working with private security companies to conduct checks at designated spaces.
Modeste had said people entering the designated spaces would be monitored for weapons by using security rods and metal detectors throughout the weekend to ensure attendees could celebrate without fear.
Organizers said additional measures are needed given an increase in anti-LGBTQ incidents this month.