I like the idea of being comfortable with whom you are.  Not necessarily 'proud' to be gay or proud to be straight.   The term pride makes me think that there is something wrong with the other side.

Be who you are, love as much as you can, and giggle at people with mustaches.   I dont know why, but it always seems to make me happy.

p.s. I will be in toronto during pride.

I never liked the idea. If there was say, a White Pride day people would scream rascist.  You see where i'm coming from? 

I don't mind it though, have at 'er.

Sure your a minority but I still don't think that makes a ____ Pride day that great.

Meh.  Enjoy it and don't get too all up in people's faces.

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

I totally brought my friend to church with me today. MCC Toronto, very fun.

My current pride plans are: party heavily, go to church, watch the parade, meet Layton. Toronto's already filling up with tourists . I'm pumped.

They have tourists?  hahah cool

Tour guide: "And here my fellow americans, is the generic canadian homosexual, this species has been thriving in recent years as seen by their show of plumage..." lolol

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

Kinst

And as your mother would say, party responsibly.  Have fun.

IT

Russ

Omissah, if whites  had a long history as an oppressed minority I would support a White Pride week.

Unfortunately they have usually been the oppressors.

This parade dispite what it reprensents is alot of good, it is a money thing for a lot of vendors and the city, it can be a family/friends thing, it is a morale booster (a Kinst wrote "..I'm pumped..."), it has the same effect as all the other festivals, whether is be for culture, food, and even things like race cars. Individuals attend if it interest them.  Oh!, heck, lets be honest is chance to party hard and hearty, people will get out for that no matter what. 

The fact that this Parade represents LGBT - is really no different. I wish we didn't have to, but unfortunately, the need still exist.  We're still fighting biases, seeking recognition bestoyed to (as said earlier) others. If you look around WonderCafe! you have young people who can't be who they are even infront of their parents, Yikes.  Some people don't dare show their true selfs at work. Marriage is not granted around the world, and well - to be gay in some countries is to face death.

So for whatever happens, whatever it is, it is still so necessary to have Pride - Kinst, have fun and celebrate your freedom. For us in North America, we maybe generic. For others around the world it's a torch of something they don't have the liberty of experiencing.

Also, forgot to mention that Pride is also a reminder of the past, the Pride parade is a part of history. There is alot of people to be Thanked for what we have today.

*Ninj does her Happy Pride dance with everyone...*

We are famileeeee.. all of my sisters/brothers and me...

WooHoo!

I think giggling at mustaches is a wonderful idea, especially if Jack Layton's mustache is in town during pride!

To that end, to be proud of who you despite those who self hate, well that's just kinda nice. 

I'm proud to be a dad. 

Without a mustache.

And I love Westies.

Greetings!

I would hope perhaps one day we'll have one big parade to celebrate everyone, despite the differences!

For those who are taking part, party on and be safe!

Hope, peace, joy, love . . .

The kids on my street are pumped. They were running up and down with streamers the other day screaming "PRIDE PARADE, PRIDE PARADE, PRIDE PARADE, PRIDE PARADE." Not sure how much they know about the LGBT community  because the oldest was 10 at the outside, so I don't imagine any of them identified with it personally. Of course, some of their parents might identify as LGBT.

I think it was just an excuse to run screaming up and down the street waving flags and dressed in streamers, myself. But it was pretty funny.

As a gay guy, the only thing im bothered by is the face that Pride puts forward for the Queer community. 

ie - To see a naked person walking down the street is a bit overboard I think and does not celebrate anything to do with the Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans, Queer, 2 Spirited, etc communities.  We all have bodies and we all have laws regarding where those bodies are allowed to be shown off. Also, up until recently, those who did expose themselves (which means pride is no longer a PG event, though I see tonnes of kids) were charged with indecent exposure.  Now the Police have laxed a bit and so long as they have shoes on, they won't be charged.  How did it look to those who condemn the gay community that every year after Pride thousands of dollars in citations were handed out?  And we wonder why there's prejudice?

Shirtlessness is completely different and being as it will be 28 degrees on Sunday it's to be expected.  Toronto also has a law permitting women to be topless.  - Partial nudity within the protection of legality.

Happy Pride Everyone

@ Kinst you go to MCCT?  What service?

CDNRXBY I have to agree with you.

I do not have a problem with it being similar to a civil rights march or something, but the overt sexuality of the whole thing I find offensive.  I would find this just as offensive if it were a heterosexual thing too.  If some how they could either take those aspects out of it, or make it an adults only event then that would be okay, but to go down the street in the middle of the day, in front of kids especially promoting sex is inappropriate. 

Personally I haven't been to one in years and have only seen clips on t.v. the past few years so I hope you are right that this is changing.

I agree with CDN.

Did you know that Toronto has a Straight Pride event?  Mind you one of the organizers (blogging here: http://www.robhalford.com/quorum/showthread.php?p=265766) has the perception of LGBTQs that we were trying to avoid.

charles t wrote:

...so I hope you are right that this is changing.

That, I supose, is the one good thing about it becoming so commercial.  It's now appealing to a broader audience of liberal thinkers not just queer and young anymore.  They have to curtail certain things if they plan to get any private funding, which they seem to be.

On the topic of funding the Harper gov't gave $400,000... so they'll fight to the death to keep me from marrying the man I love but they'll "graciously donate" $400,000 to my celebration of freedoms because it stimulates the local economy...  My head just about blew up at that one.

I realised in all this blogging I didn't answer the question - What are my plans!  I'm going to support my Trans Brothers and Sisters (a cause I feel very passionately about) on their first official pride march Friday night.   Then my friends and I are off to Homo Night in Canada at Buddies in Bad Times.  MCCT's Church on Church St Sunday morning, in which I shall be singing. Then marching in the parade with MCCT and turrin' it up sunday night.

My biggest concern, now that I'm retired, is "How can I cash in on all that GLBT money and enhance my retirement income?"  Perhaps I could sell Fred Phelps dartboards?????, eh?

For me, it will be just another day. One of my friends is going to TO though. She wants to be in the parade. I hope she has a good time.

CDN - I agree with you on the nudity thing, it's not right - infact, I always joke and say the person naked is definitely not the one I wish was naked. -- but controversey keeps people talking and talking and more talking till the issue is common place and someone says, what are we going on about, let's just get on with it. On that site you provided the link to, one person even noted that we have separate gay everything, T-shirts, mugs, whatever. The bigger picture

It's about time someone wants to have a straight parade. Just get on with it.

Yes, and nothing in this world will be solved until we decide to forgive the past and get on with equalization of everything.  Everyone has done something bad in the past, but blaming a race is only making things worse.  Do I blame all middle easterns for suicide bombings?  No.  Do I blame all white people for materialism?  No. 

Do we have to be a minority to have pride in the good things we've done?  Do you think we would have a pride day that celebrates the bad?  Those are called nazi rallies my friend, not pride parades.

The FLQ bombed things...that doesn't mean we don't support quebec seperatism/nationalism et cetera.  Some nutcase muslims have been suicide bombers, that doesn't mean mosques and religious celebrations are intolerable.

Do you see where i'm going with this?

Are you [bleeeep]ing serious?!

Wtf is this world coming to.

As-salaamu alaikum.

-Omni

Omni - toplessness is legal in all of Canada, by order of several different Provincial Supreme Courts.  Toronto just saw it coming and acted before being ordered to.

White people see their accomplishments all the time, and don't have to run a gauntlet of hate and oppression just to live their lives.  If you really feel you need a parade to celebrate the upside of being a white middle class male, go for it.  There's nothing wrong with that, I just don't see the necessity.

Until sexual orientation is no longer the basis for hatred and discrimination, until bigots and hate mongers no longer find shelter in religion, until governments not only stop oppressing people on the basis of the orientation, but actually consider it a non-issue, until gay children and youth are no longer driven to suicide, until we learn to love each for whom we are, there will always be a need for Pride.

I can't do anything fun for Pride, but I dressed up my avatar!

heh. I hope that means 'Jesus Saves' will be back soon, RevMatt.

Omnissiah, female toplessness has been legal for awhile now. I'm not sure if it is in EVERY Canadian province, but it definitely is in Ontario. That said, you tend not to see it unless someone is trying to make a statement.

And I doubt it's common in any of the small communities, so you wouldn't be seeing it where you live. Much less up in the Northern parts of Canada where there are very few days when one would even WANT to go topless.

Fine RevMatt. I don't need a reason to celebrate either, I was just pointing this out.

Thats rediculous...lol  Toplessness.  And yes...up here...not the smartest idea if you want to keep your nipples intact...when it's not freezing, there are mosquitos, when there aren't mosquitos, it's freezing cold!

As-salaamu Alaikum

-Omni

With the city workers strike on i dread to see what will happen to all the garbage that results from so many people lining the streets.

I knod of forget where the Pride parade ends up but now the lake is not available, no ferries.

Pride gets alot of tourists to Toronto, I wonder how the city will handle it

Yeah, it's going to be ugly, lastpointe.  Even uglier if they end up cancelling Canada Day celebrations, as they have said they will.

Kappa, that, or something different.  I was kind of getting bored of that pic anyways, but I can't think of anything to use instead at the moment.  Toplessness laws were officially overturned in four provinces, I believe, and since none of them appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, it is now effectively the law of the land.  Technically, someone in one of the other provinces could still be charged, but when they challenged it, they would win.

Omni - legal, but that doesn't mean it's wise :)  We have very different opinions about the human body, though, so we'll just have to disagree on the substance of the issue.

RevMatt

And there some examples of both, ummm, genders, that I would NOT want to SEE topless.

Scary.

IT

Russ

Yes, indeed, it is seldom the people you WANT to see naked who actually end up making these public displays.

Although occassionally I see girls in bikini tops that bare essentially everything and I think, "Why do they even bother?" Cultural thing I suppose --  if there are some strings to support about 5 square centimeters of material over each nipple, it's appropriate.

Of course you may change your avatar if you want RevMatt, but it always made me smile to see that "Jesus Saves."

We will agree to disagree RevMatt :D

I wuld disagree...haha, I think it's very inappropriate xD

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

Kappa

Have you seen the Jesus saves T shirts?

IT

Russ

No i haven't.  Are they innappropriate too?

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

revjohn background.

Depends if you are a fundie or not.  Check out the local mall.

Revmatt, I had to pull out my rainbow colours too.

Umm, toplessness was passed in Cambridge, ON a long time ago, due to a woman that wanted to swim public....unsure of current standings but definitely it was big news here at the time.

This seems to be an appropriate song for this thread:

Go to thread in Social - Pride and post your colours.

I too wish the Pride parades were more family friendly.  The exuberent, sex positive display is fine, if in an adult venue IMO, but taking it to the streets isn't appropriate.  To me it's inspiring to see different companies, churches and organizations show up.

Heh, the various sections of the armed forces are now represented.

I hope they aren't naked too :(

That would be mark of shame on our military.

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

They are in appropriate uniform.

Wonder if Stevie will be there? :)

Good.

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

At work, wont be able to make it. 

He works?  I always thought it was a more of a "playing with us like puppets" kind of thing.

Omni, you missed my sarcasm. I'll have to start using the sarcasm brackets. I keep forgetting my posts have no tone of voice, though I can be pretty deadpan sometimes.

I don't think wearing almost nothing (i.e., string bikini consisting of only strings as I mentioned before) is anymore "appropriate" than nothing. But I also acknowledge this is very much a cultural conditioning thing. There's nothing inherently wrong with being naked in public, except that almost everyone gets put off by it because it is "not done" according to our cultural mores. Makes me uncomfortable too!

But it's not wrong in a moral values kind of sense, at least not for me. If you must make a statement, there are much worse things to choose than being naked. It's not as if anyone gets hurt, except maybe you and your reputation if you get arrested for indecent exposure and/or the president of the company you work for happens to see you.

@ Kinst:

I sing in the evening choir "Higher Praise."    I'd love to see you out again.  My friends and I ususally go out after service for food or drinks.  You are certainly more than welcome.  

Actually - so is everyone on this board.  Gay or Straight, religious or non.  All are welcome at MCC! :-)

CDN