‘Marvellous celebration’ at Montreal Pride parade
Colourful march lauds progress, but notes much is left to improve
Montreal’s Pride Week festivities came to a colourful and historic end on Sunday afternoon as the annual Pride parade made its way through downtown.
Near the very front of the parade was Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, the first leader of a foreign country to walk in the city’s Pride parade.
“I am very happy to be here,” Varadkar said in French before the parade. “This is a marvellous celebration of inclusiveness, tolerance and diversity.”
He was joined by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and many other politicians of all stripes.
Varadkar, who is the youngest prime minister in Irish history and its first openly gay leader, spoke about how Canada and Ireland must play a leading role in advancing equality around the world.
“One of the things we have in common most of all is that we are countries that understand that diversity is a strength and our differences make us stronger,” Varadkar said.
“Countries that are open, modern and diverse, like Canada and Ireland, have a responsibility to other people in other parts of the world where equality and people’s rights are under threat.”
Trudeau spoke to the fact that there is much to celebrate about progress made in Canada, but also that there is a lot left to do.
“We have to change our actions and our mindsets,” Trudeau said. “Each and every one of us has biases we don’t always see, that we were raised with, that are packaged into our identity.”
Trudeau urged citizens to use the Pride festivities as a chance to “challenge ourselves in our thinking, to question where we might not be as open as we think we are, to listen … and to reflect on how we can dance and celebrate today, but how we can change our actions tomorrow.”
With crowds several rows deep lining René-Lévesque Blvd., the colourful and jubilant parade kicked off around noon. It was led by members of local Indigenous communities, as a way of acknowledging the fact that the city is on traditional Mohawk land.
In all, there were roughly 7,000 participants in the 2017 parade, comprised of 270 contingents and six themed floats matching the colours of the rainbow, organizers said.
Sandy Duperval, one of the ambassadors for Pride Week, spoke before the parade about how those who have fought for LGBTQ rights gave her the courage to be herself.
“I am a black queer, a woman, and this week I felt like somebody cared,” she said.
“Despite the challenges and the obstacles, this week was a demonstration of how much further we can get together.”
She was left with some optimism after seeing what went on during the 11-day Pride event.
“I feel like this week, we broke the cycle of hate,” Duperval said.
Last week, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre and the city’s police department issued an apology to the LGBTQ community for how they were treated in the past.
Coderre spoke Sunday about how everyone has a role to play when it comes to equal rights.
“We are an open country, we are an open city, a city that lives on diversity, but at the same time we must be vigilant,” Coderre said. “We are all citizens, and we must be sure to be a part of the solution and protect those who need it.
“To have (this) wonderful festival, and this year Pride Canada, says a lot about the reality of our country, of our city and of our province.”
One of the grand marshals for the parade, Tasheka Lavann, spoke passionately about how she was forced to flee her native Antigua and Barbuda two years ago because the country still considers homosexuality a crime. She lives in Toronto with her partner, Tammie-Faye.
“I look forward to the day when people in my country of birth, across the Caribbean, Africa, across the world, don’t have to run away like I did,” she said after a speech calling for an end to the discrimination faced by members of the LGBTQ community, especially those of colour.
Jack Saddleback, another grand marshal for the parade, is a Cree Two-Spirit transgender gay man from the Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis, Alta.
Saddleback spoke of how an ancestral teaching about seven generations should guide today’s generation.
“Seven generations before us, my ancestors fought for my right to be here, to make it better for me, to make it better for you,” he said. “Now, we are here in this time thinking about the seven generations to come after us. So I am asking each and every one of you to look inside yourself to figure out how to help those seven generations.
“Let’s make it better. And truly ask yourselves: ‘How can I be a good ambassador?’”
We have to change our actions and our mindsets. Each and every one of us has biases we don’t always see, that we were raised with, that are packaged into our identity.