Toronto Shame

It's June again, so cue Toronto's latest Pride clusterfuck. After 2010's free speech brouhaha, this year's story is the refusal of the mayor to continue a 15-year tradition of marching in the parade, citing prior plans to spend the weekend at his family's cottage in the country. Some might say (and have) that this is his right, he is not explicitly obliged to attend, and a refusal should not be taken as proof of homophobia. I might concede if this person did not have a history of disparaging the queer community: as a city councillor, he was the only no-vote for accepting additional HIV funding from the province, dismissing the epidemic as a concern only for gay men and drug users; and as a mayoral candidate, he refused to distance himself from the endorsement of a virulently anti-gay preacher (yes, we have them here too), saying instead that when it came to the issue of marriage, they were of the same mind. Yet, this provincial Harkonnen became the mayor nevertheless, thanks to the amalgamation laws of Ontario's last Conservative premier (whose name is still a byword for catastrophe among social justice folks) that essentially handed the suburbs electoral sway over the city.

Queers and allies are understandably peeved. There was some shouting outside City Hall yesterday, and this delightful protest by a self-described "heterosexual housewife". This gives me hope that all is not lost, that Canadians won't suffer with characteristic demureness the recent wave of conservatism that is sweeping this country. But in the short term, it is worrying: as queer-bashings spike in this city, and stories of violence from other Pride celebrations on the continent trickle in, this mayor's position empowers a hateful minority and signals to them that their views are endorsed. Though I would like nothing better than to see him gorge on humble pie, I fear what ingredients may need to go into such a delicacy.