No longer proud of Toronto’s Pride

I am a Canadian living in the United States with my American husband. We now reside in upstate New York, close to family and friends in Canada. I have been proud to take my husband home to Canada in past years to celebrate Pride festivities in Toronto, where we are reminded how tolerant and accepting a society Canada has become, especially when compared to certain parts of the U.S. in which we have resided in the past, where things were not quite so easy for gay people and people of colour.

I was therefore horrified to learn that police were asked not to march in uniform during Toronto’s Pride parade. The exclusion of a particular group whose service to, and participation in, the gay community and its events have been critical to its safety and well-being, as well as the notion that the community would bend to what amounts to political extortion, is disturbing to me.

I am saddened to say we will no longer be visiting Toronto for Pride until the police have been re-invited to full participation in the events. R. Jeffery Diduch, Fairport, N.Y. I applaud the New York Police for inviting our Toronto Police to march in their Pride parade. And shame on Toronto’s Pride committee for its very bad decision to ban our police from marching in uniform. This is not what inclusivity is all about. I read the feature in last Sunday’s Toronto Star about Pride Toronto’s new executive director Olivia Nuamah. Despite her many admiral accomplishments and leadership roles, it is my opinion that she is failing miserably in this instance by not bringing our community and its relationship with the police back together. I will be boycotting all Pride festivities this year and I sincerely hope the city denies the funding grant. Joseph D. Hagger, Toronto