Pride Parade 2011

Who Is Pride Toronto?

Pride Toronto is made up of a group of dedicated volunteers, whose objective is to present Pride Week during the last week of June each year. There are numerous volunteer coordinators, managing everything from Entertainment and Site Operations, to the Dyke March, Trans March, and Pride Parade. The Board of Directors, which manages Pride Toronto and develops its strategic goals, is made up of up to twelve volunteers, including two co-chairs, Francisco Alvarez and (Interim Co- chair) Margaret Ngai. These volunteers are active year-round. There are also a small number of staff members, led by Glen Brown, Interim-Executive Director. Finally, and most importantly, there are approximately 900+ volunteers who make Pride Week possible. These volunteers are individuals from all our communities who support this celebration and work shoulder-to-shoulder to make this event happen.

Our Mission

Pride Toronto exists to celebrate the history, courage, diversity and future of Toronto’s LGBTTIQQ2SA* communities.

* Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Questioning, 2 Spirited, Allies

Our Vision

Pride Toronto will:

Run a not-for-profit organization, committed to volunteers and staff.
Create a safe space to engage communities in the celebration of their sexuality.
Coordinate a series of pre-eminent arts & cultural events, including the annual Pride celebration, that empower and support our communities.
Connect with and help develop our communities, fostering essential partnerships.
Capture and build upon our organization’s and our communities’ history.
Provide a platform for education through a significant public presence.

Our Values

We will:

Honour - our past by remembering our history.
Protect - our future by reaching out, educating and defending our right to celebrate.
Value Diversity - by accepting and respecting differences and working to understand the diverse cultural complexities that influence identity, assumptions, behaviours, expectations, and beliefs.
Celebrate - with provocative, racy, and outrageous events.
Engage - the diversity of our communities to participate in events and facilitate community development.
Recognize - and acknowledge, the involvement and contributions of volunteers, staff and stakeholders.
Respect - volunteers, staff and stakeholders by creating and sustaining an environment where we treat each other with respect and dignity.
Sustain - the organization by ensuring transparency in our actions and accountability with, and to, our communities.
Manage - with fiscal responsibility and foresight, ensuring the viability of the organization and the fulfillment of its mission.

Link to Official Web Site	Pride PSA from Bulldog Productions on Vimeo	Link to Official Web Site
Who Is Pride Toronto? Pride Toronto is made up of a group of dedicated volunteers, whose objective is to present Pride Week during the last week of June each year. There are numerous volunteer coordinators, managing everything from Entertainment and Site Operations, to the Dyke March, Trans March, and Pride Parade. The Board of Directors, which manages Pride Toronto and develops its strategic goals, is made up of up to twelve volunteers, including two co-chairs, Francisco Alvarez and (Interim Co- chair) Margaret Ngai. These volunteers are active year-round. There are also a small number of staff members, led by Glen Brown, Interim-Executive Director. Finally, and most importantly, there are approximately 900+ volunteers who make Pride Week possible. These volunteers are individuals from all our communities who support this celebration and work shoulder-to-shoulder to make this event happen. Our Mission Pride Toronto exists to celebrate the history, courage, diversity and future of Toronto’s LGBTTIQQ2SA* communities. * Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Questioning, 2 Spirited, Allies Our Vision Pride Toronto will: Run a not-for-profit organization, committed to volunteers and staff. Create a safe space to engage communities in the celebration of their sexuality. Coordinate a series of pre-eminent arts & cultural events, including the annual Pride celebration, that empower and support our communities. Connect with and help develop our communities, fostering essential partnerships. Capture and build upon our organization’s and our communities’ history. Provide a platform for education through a significant public presence. Our Values We will: Honour - our past by remembering our history. Protect - our future by reaching out, educating and defending our right to celebrate. Value Diversity - by accepting and respecting differences and working to understand the diverse cultural complexities that influence identity, assumptions, behaviours, expectations, and beliefs. Celebrate - with provocative, racy, and outrageous events. Engage - the diversity of our communities to participate in events and facilitate community development. Recognize - and acknowledge, the involvement and contributions of volunteers, staff and stakeholders. Respect - volunteers, staff and stakeholders by creating and sustaining an environment where we treat each other with respect and dignity. Sustain - the organization by ensuring transparency in our actions and accountability with, and to, our communities. Manage - with fiscal responsibility and foresight, ensuring the viability of the organization and the fulfillment of its mission.
That is why I try to go each year to the Pride Parade in Toronto and then spend the time to create this web page. Once again though, I goofed in that I tried a new setting on my new camera (new since last year’s Pride Parade where I thought I had lost one of the flash cards). As it turned out, the setting I choose was too sensitive for sun light and many (over 130) of the pictures were washed-out and I had to delete them. My day started by leaving home at 5:30 a.m. and arriving at College & Church a few minutes after 9:00 a.m. where I had to walk three and a half blocks to pick up my Media Pass (last year they let me drive in and out) and that was more walking than I had done in a month. I then parked at Dundas Square and took the subway to Bloor St. My usual procedure is to walk along Rosedale Valley Rd. a couple of times and get pictures as the floats are being assembled. It didn’t work quite that way this year. This year the floats were given specific times to arrive to avoid a bottle-neck, so when I arrived – there was nothing to photograph. I then trudged back up the hill and wandered around a bit on Church Street where there were some vendors and a few parade participants getting body painted. At noon, I headed back down the hill to Rosedale Valley Road where some of the floats had arrived. I never made it to the end of the staging area (numbered M something well past the Bloor Bridge) before it was time to go topside again to get in position on Yonge Street. Once the Parade started, I kept busy getting in the way the marchers as I took pictures and kibitzing with spectators when there was a lull in the Parade’s progress. By 4:30 p.m. as the Parade ended at my location, I stood around and chatted with a couple of the Police Officers as they directed spectators flowing down Yonge Street to the outside of the barriers so the clean-up crews could remove them. At this point I was definitely feeling my age plus some, as I hobbled over to Church Street to see what was happening there as I fought dizziness (probably because I hadn’t eaten anything since 8:00 a.m., but I was drinking fluids). At about 5:30 I found some food (a Mae West) then headed for the subway and back to Dundas Square (only two stops away) which was easier than trying to walk that far. When I made it back to my vehicle just after 6:00 p.m., I felt as if I were 93 years old. A quick stop in Brampton for an Arby’s sandwich made me feel much better and I was feeling almost human by the time I got home just before 11:00 p.m.

	10:05 a.m. and the barriers are being set along Bloor Street	10:22 a.m. and volunteers at Park Rd. & Collier St. are being given directions to the Float Co-ordinator’s tent on Rosedale Valley Rd.	10:51 a.m. and one of the volunteers is tired already	10:58 a.m. and this participant has been waiting since 8:30 for her float to arrive
	11:16 a.m. and the Dykes on Bikes from Detroit are doing a last minute polish job on their machines
				11:41 a.m. One of the many very friendly Toronto Police Officers on duty on the Parade route
				11:46 a.m. A young lass posing to show off her body painting
Can I be at the end of this rainbow?			http://www.cockattoo.com/

12:19 p.m. back on Rosedale Valley Rd. where some of the floats are arriving			Our “early arrival” has finally found her float

	12:27 p.m. The special rainbow markings are there during the month of June as this crusier travle to the various Pride events Durham Region
				I got kicked out of the Canadian Forces in 1974 for being gay and now the Canadian Forces are participating in gay parades

		12:43 p.m. Taking it easy and trying to stay cool
		1:26 p.m. ROTC Toronto doing some warm up practise


	1:45 p.m. One tired dog keeping cool
				1:56 p.m. One rambunctious youngster loving the attention
2:17 p.m. On the Parade route









2:11 p.m. Always a hit in the parade, but a little more covered this year
	2:42 p.m. Love the hair-do		2:43 p.m. Who called my a ‘pansy’?
		2:23 p.m. The T-shirts say it all!






		2:56 p.m. This couple is from The Netherlands. I also met them again on 9 July at a performance of Billy Elliot at the Canon Theatre
			2:59 p.m. Rev. Brent Hawkes of MCC Toronto

		3:02 p.m. I asked him if I could take him home. He blushed and said no.


	3:12 p.m. YES, we miss you George


	3:18 p.m. Beam us up Scottie


3:24 p.m. I won't kick him out of bed for eating crackers







		3:48 p.m. Follow the rainbow	3:49 p.m. ROTC Toronto







				4:01 p.m. Richard of the Ottawa Knights
				4:02 p.m. As I have said before, “Just proves that NOT ALL men are equal”




















4:34 p.m. One last beautiful person leaving the parade route for Church St.	4:57 p.m. Some friends resting on the steps and planning where to next.		Parade Winners Press Release.pdf