Yesterday, June 24th, marked the culmination of Pride Month in Toronto with the annual Pride Parade. I started shooting in the marshaling areas, first along Rosedale Valley Road, then along Bloor Street east of Church. When the parade got going, I followed it down Yonge Street, squishing through the crowds to Dundas Square. I don’t bother staking my ground and photographing the parade as it passes; I prefer photographing the people watching the parade. The weather was overcast, perfect for shadow-free closeups.
This year’s theme was Until We’re Safe, acknowledging, among other things, the murders committed by Bruce McArthur. It was disheartening to see a group of “Christian” freaks near the end of the parade standing on the north side of Dundas at Victoria Street. They were carrying big anti-gay signs and doing their best to keep the space from feeling safe. For me, this prompts a couple thoughts:
1) These people are ignorant. Not just ignorant in the pejorative sense, but ignorant in the factually deficient sense, like a brain deprived of oxygen. One sign (see below) read: “Liberal Commies & Homo Fascists destroying Canada & our Children.” The first “s” in Fascists is replaced by a Swastika. This is just plain bizarre – but not unexpected in this age of post-truth anti-intellectualism. We need to repeat and repeat and repeat some of the lessons that come from even a cursory reading of history: the only homos who are fascists are the closeted ones who would rather wield power. The rest get scapegoated along with Jews, Blacks, artists, and intellectuals. Under the Trump presidency, the list of scapegoats has grown, but that’s America for you – supersizing everything.
2) Christianity needs to be queer. What I mean is that Christianity would do well to adopt queer strategies. Rather than allow a loud minority take the name Christianity and turn it into a brand associated with a hateful message, mainstream groups ought to take back Christianity in the name of its founding Rabbi and his simple claim: all you need is love. No Bibles. No arcane theology. Just love.
