After electing a mayor who advocated defunding Pride, every Ottawa Pride has been marked by controversy. I will explore below why I think this is not by chance.
Years ago, perhaps the best known parade protest occurred at Toronto Pride. BLM stopped the march with demands such as that police marching in the parade not come in uniform. Toronto Pride accepted. The parade continued.
Capital Pride adopted the policy with no pushback from then mayor Jim Watson or police. Any issues were handled out of public view. The parade was not disrupted nor would another be disrupted by BLM.
I bring this up as an illustration of approach. Some see it as Pride being held hostage by BLM but BLM, like Queers for Palestine, was a movement with a lot of grassroots support among young, conscious LGBT people.
These are the future of Pride - passionate youth who show up, volunteer, and organize. It makes sense to take them seriously and history has shown that doing so can build beneficial relationships and does not lead to escalation.
Similarly, Queers for Palestine worked constructively in Pride last year. Their communications with Pride got us a showcase night and a solidarity statement. Pride navigated the political moment exceptionally well.
Several days after the statement, mayor Sutcliffe denounced Pride and led a boycott of the event. I have excerpted the key portion of the statement below. It is factual and thoughtful. It rightly condemned antisemitism. Pride was attacked solely for standing against genocide.
The parade went on that year and was wonderful. In a beautiful display of solidarity the workers from most boycotting institutions showed up anyway with the floats they had built. Bosses and politicians, it seems, were the only ones absent.
One might think the saga was over but months ago the mayor seems to have threatened Pride into removing the statement. This baffling move put Pride in the exact position it had avoided by working with Queers for Palestine, like BLM before them, in good faith.
Tensions were inflamed instantly. I saw calls to disrupt pride almost immediately. I don't think this tactic was right at all given the clear solidarity the vast majority of parade goers have shown, but I can empathise deeply with the feelings of betrayal in the face of genocide that no doubt led there. A betrayal born of the Mayor's singleminded need to deny Pride their free expression.
This climaxed on Sunday to much discourse. The parade was disrupted by a massive gathering of young LGBT activists as well as allied organizations like Independent Jewish Voices. The mayor refused to speak to them, and in a sad stalemate the parade was cancelled.
Now Mayor Sutcliffe says Pride must do something prevent this, as though they hadn't done just that before his overreach. If Pride acquiesces to heavy handed action they will create a generational rift that could destroy their future. If they choose to mend the rift, they may face defunding and denial of permits.
Bad for Pride. Good for the man who wants to defund it.
