Black Lives Matter Toronto stalls Pride parade
Source: CBC
Members of the Black Lives Matter Toronto group briefly halted the Pride parade today, holding up the marching for about 30 minutes.
The parade didn't re-start until after Pride Toronto executive director Mathieu Chantelois signed a document agreeing to the group's demands.
The organization was given the status of Honoured Group for the parade, which is the grand finale of Pride Month. It did not give Pride Toronto advance notice of their planned sit-in.
Alexandra Williams, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto, told CBC's Natasha Fatah that they held the sit-in because they wanted to hold Pride Toronto accountable for what she called "anti-blackness."
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/pride-parade-toronto-1.3662823
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metroins
(2,550 posts)Hoppy
(3,595 posts)Response to oberliner (Original post)
Post removed
yardwork
(61,622 posts)By the way, what does that image of Hillary's logo mean?
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)840high
(17,196 posts)7962
(11,841 posts)Should have just kept on marching.
"anti blackness"? What a stupid statement. I guess Pride Toronto has NO black members?
Fucking idiots.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Surprised there was no push back on that one.
Sand Rat Expat
(290 posts)yardwork
(61,622 posts)ripcord
(5,404 posts)I see no problem ignoring promises made under duress.
7962
(11,841 posts)And what a stupid stunt to pull
bigworld
(1,807 posts)TipTok
(2,474 posts)It all becomes much clearer.
Much more satisfying to play the victim of everyone and everything.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)sangfroid
(212 posts)the woman who is supposedly the spokesperson for BLM Toronto is...verbally disorganized. To say the least.
So I suppose all the other leftist, equal rights and non-violence groups in Toronto will be very reluctant to invite BLM to any event for the next couple of years on the off chance they decide to shut down your event in order to advertise their issues.
Hoppy
(3,595 posts)There was a class act.
7962
(11,841 posts)sangfroid
(212 posts)nt
bigworld
(1,807 posts)... goes on to act like thug
giftedgirl77
(4,713 posts)Sand Rat Expat
(290 posts)Co-opting someone else's event, holding it hostage in order to extract concessions under duress (one of those concessions, incidentally, was the exclusion of another group...), and generally making everything about them and walking all over everyone else? At the very least, it shows a total and complete lack of class.
It's also what you could characterize as a friendly-fire incident. The LGBT community knows very well what it's like to be marginalized and discriminated against and thus would sympathize, so hassling them isn't winning BLM any hearts or minds, but they went ahead and did it anyway.
giftedgirl77
(4,713 posts)loaded word & one many are quick to throw out when dealing with POC in any context they find uncomfortable. You would also find if you go to the actual BLM website that they specifically state their support of LGBT persons, just like immigrants. Just because someone claims to be part of BLM to take advantage of a situation doesn't actually make it so.
Many of the same ppl that jump on this bandwagon of bashing BLM as a whole for something such as this are the same group to bash them at every opportunity presented.
Sand Rat Expat
(290 posts)I've used "thug" for years to refer to an attitude and a behavior, and if the attitude and behavior applies to a person, it matters not a whit to me if they're white, black, or green with purple stripes. You can interchange the word with hooligan, ruffian, churl, jerk, bully, or whatever else, but the point remains the same.
And it doesn't seem much like "support" to interrupt and then co-opt an event that means a great deal to the LGBT community. How do you think BLM would react if a group of LGBT folks decided to block one of their marches and then start issuing demands? They'd be outraged, and rightly so.
"Just because someone claims to be part of BLM to take advantage of a situation doesn't actually make it so." Well isn't that convenient? If it's good optics, then sure, it was absolutely BLM. Otherwise, it was some rogue element!
And when they do something I believe is bashworthy, I shall bash them about it. That's kind of how it works. In this case, they did something dumb, so they're getting bashed for it. QED.
BLM may want to start considering that their actions aren't automatically elevated by the virtue of their message. It's very possible to say a good thing in a bad way. When they do things like this, they make themselves look foolish, and that detracts from the message they're trying to send. The message, the calling attention to the violence perpetrated against PoC by the police and the justice system, is something that needs to happen because it needs to change.
The problem is that when you do stupid things in an attempt to communicate that message, you're undermining your own efforts because your actions are discouraging people from listening to you. No one wants to listen to or have a dialogue with someone who comes across like a total jerk.
giftedgirl77
(4,713 posts)it says everything I need to know about you.
Sand Rat Expat
(290 posts)Using words according to their definition in the dictionary tells you everything you need to know about me. 
That's okay, though. You can go right ahead and seize on that one little thing since it so very conveniently allows you to just ignore everything else in my post.
giftedgirl77
(4,713 posts)once I saw the I've used that word for years & I'm not going to change line I knew exactly the type of person you were & your thought process. No need to bother trying to get people to try & understand.
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)
Igel
(35,317 posts)What matters is forcing others to do what you want and compelling the respect you think you demand. Extortion works; BLMers are obviously superior to those in the parade. Just because.
Tinpot dictators the world over are like that. So are some pretty nasty dictators. Progressive ... Only in the "power grows out of the barrel of a gun" circles.
A nice touch was "get rid of the police. They hate them so much they don't even want to share somebody else's occupied parade." Haters gonna.
Response to Igel (Reply #23)
Press Virginia This message was self-deleted by its author.
Adrahil
(13,340 posts)Demonaut
(8,918 posts)they were invited but they chose to disrupt the parade because they did not get the recognition they thought they deserved at an event held for others???
XemaSab
(60,212 posts)In a news release, the group said Pride Toronto "has shown little honour to black queer/trans communities, and other marginalized communities. Over the years, Pride has threatened the existence of black spaces at Pride that have existed for years."
I'm absolutely flummoxed by what they're expecting out of this.
ToxMarz
(2,168 posts)I imagine they don't get invited back anywhere often if that's how they treat their hosts.
BTW, this is the Toronto chief of police:
http://i.cbc.ca/1.3091951.1432849504!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_460/toronto-mark-saunders.jpg
I'm in no way saying that just because the CoP is black doesn't mean that the force can't be racist as a whole, however....
My sense is that getting the police to support Pride was another step towards ending the long battle between the police and the gay community. Having a police presence (and the presence of openly gay cops) is good for both groups.
The only way that the police are going to become less fascist is through diversification, and not just of skin color but of political beliefs.
BLM is putting themselves in a place where one might think that they're not just opposed to police brutality, but opposed to all police, all the time.
That is not a winning position for them.
Sand Rat Expat
(290 posts)This.
The right has, from the very beginning, tried to characterize BLM as anti-police, rather than anti-police brutality. Gimmicking the narrative so that the former perception holds the most space is the best way for the right to make BLM irrelevant and shut down the very real concerns BLM is trying to raise.
By demanding that the police be excluded from Toronto Pride, BLM is just playing right into the hands of their most vocal critics on the right. They're right to point out and oppose African-Americans' historical and current exclusion from American society, but turning around and demanding the exclusion of a group they don't like makes them look like hypocrites.
And doing so while essentially holding a Pride parade hostage until they get what they want just makes them look like classless bullies.
XemaSab
(60,212 posts)I wonder which group is more likely to be invited back next year: BLM or the cops?
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Totally inappropriate.
Saviolo
(3,282 posts)And they acted like activists. I've got friends who were in the parade, and they were very annoyed at being held up for "what felt like an hour and a half." (but was really half an hour)
Pride is, and always has been a political event. It's a festival to fight against the erasure of queer space from the public eye. If you want a pretty good representation that Pride is still necessary, look at that ridiculous #heterosexualprideday hastag that went around Twitter recently, and also this article about the Dyke March in Toronto the day before the Pride Parade:
http://www.citynews.ca/2016/07/02/video-dyke-march-a-political-event-this-year-as-opposed-to-a-party-or-celebration/?show_id=0
See that headline that says the Dyke March will be political "this year?"
It's always been political.
Toronto doesn't have nearly the problems that I see in places like Florida, Missouri, etc... but POC are still being killed here. Sammy Yatim, Andrew Loku, and Jermaine Carby were all shot to death by police in situations that could have been handled differently. Andrew Loku's killer will not be charged: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/andrew-loku-siu-1.3498266
Sammy Yatim's killer is facing sentencing later this month.
Jermaine Carby's killer faced no misconduct charges, either: https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2016/05/10/inquest-into-jermaine-carby-sheds-light-on-police-shooting.html
Pride has always been a protest against those who would erase us (LGBT), so let LGBT POC protest, too. They've released a list of demands which is very strong, but that's only an opening position. Now comes meetings, and negotiations. They likely won't get everything they asked for, but it's important to make the attempt, to really get in there and work at it. Don't let an inconvenience of half an hour on a lovely sunny Pride day in Toronto overshadow the deaths of POC at the hands of police.
dembotoz
(16,806 posts)Saviolo
(3,282 posts)But it's the very definition of intersectionality. Queer rights meet the rights of POC. And BLM Toronto is also fighting for Native rights, and other threatened communities like South Asian queers. This was a big flashy protest designed to get attention, and it did. so much so that the Toronto Sun, with its history for homophobia (http://www.dailyxtra.com/toronto/news-and-ideas/news/gays-vs-the-toronto-sun-5781), has decided it wants to be the protector of Pride now, from those terrible, horrible black protestors:
https://twitter.com/goldsbie/status/749971117121662976
Pride is only useful to the Sun when they want to use it to marginalize someone else. Terrible.
KMOD
(7,906 posts)It makes more sense than many others in this thread. Here's the gist I got from the article.
"During the parade, BLM-TO started a conversation with us to explore how we can create an even more inclusive and safe festival. We, like BLM-TO have a commitment to ensure our most marginalized communities feel safe and welcome at the festival."
I also liked this photo.
[img]http://i.cbc.ca/1.3662876.1467570095!/cpImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_620/toronto-pride-parade-20160703.jpg[/img]
Saviolo
(3,282 posts)Someone tweeted:
https://twitter.com/sjbattersby/status/749703064303443968
I just spoke with Matthieu Chantelois about BLM action. He says the demands were reasonable and Pride is excited to work with them more.
https://twitter.com/sjbattersby/status/749703348119412736
He says he didn't take the job of executive director of Pride to run a music festival. It's political and that's what this was.
There's of course a lot of ink being spilled on this today. There's a good article in the Star:
https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2016/07/04/police-chief-waiting-on-pride-organizers-to-explain-parade-ban.html
The police chief acknowledges that there are problems, and that it's going to be work, which is a great statement to make:
Saunders vigorously defended his force’s attempts to be inclusive, and said he will always try to improve relations with the LGBT community.
“We’re always looking for ways to be progressive,” Saunders said. “We have to get it right.”
He noted that other police forces, including the RCMP and OPP, also participate in the annual Pride marches.
Particular work needs to be spent building positive relationships with the transgender community, he said.
“We need to fix that,” Saunders said. “It’s not a one-day-a-year thing.”
He added that officers enjoy participating in the Pride parade.
“A lot of people volunteer to work the parade because it’s a fantastic parade,” Saunders said.
A nicely measured response that shows some eagerness to move forward, and an acknowledgement that there's work yet to do. I was less thrilled by TPA President McCormack's statement:
“It’s remarkable that organizers of an event that is supposed to be so inclusive could be so callous,” McCormack said Sunday.
KMOD
(7,906 posts)This is how progress starts. 
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Namely:
Removal of police floats in the pride marches/parades.
That seems like an unreasonable, and counterproductive demand.
Saviolo
(3,282 posts)...was not completely outlandish, though I did think that saying no floats or even booths was a little much. The police and the Toronto LGBTQ community have a chequered past, and a few queer-positive cops marching in the parade is great optics for an organization that hasn't entirely come around to be nice to the queer community.
But to cut off any outreach at Pride at all (in the form of booths, etc...) is shortsighted.
What I'd really love to see is a return to some of the roots of Pride, and see fewer corporate floats, but that is, of course, where the money comes from, so we're not gonna see that any time soon.
Look, it's the TD Canada Trust float, look it's the Tarzan-The-Movie float, look it's the Chrysler float, look it's the M&M Meatshops Float... All meaningless floats full of professional scantily clad eye candy.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Several of the BLM demands specifically called for greater funding and the corporate floats go a long way towards affording such expenditures.
As for the police floats/booths, I agree with your assessment.
I know that BLM is about political action that draws attention to itself, but I do think they could have simply met with the parade organizers ahead of time (which they have explicitly said they did not do) and would have gotten their demands met with no interruption of the parade.
But I guess that wasn't entirely the point - and the interruption itself is what gets them in the news.
Saviolo
(3,282 posts)doesn't really bother me, given what the roots of the Pride celebration in North America are. After all, the first Pride was a riot!
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Many share your perspective and were not at all bothered by it, but clearly there were also some who were.
But bothering people is part of the point of a sit-in, I suppose.
TipTok
(2,474 posts)Based on their behavior so far, they would love nothing more that to exclude everyone else and just have a BLM parade with the funds in place.
Everything in every situation is all about them and anyone who doesn't agree is an obvious racist.
Skittles
(153,164 posts)unless it's LEO
TipTok
(2,474 posts)Look for the video of the vigil they hijacked in Orlanda a week or two ago.
Found it:
loyalsister
(13,390 posts)It seems that too many here search for reasons to demonize BLM. If any activist group is to be successful they have to disrupt in ways that make people uncomfortable. Your post encourages me that there are still people who look beyond the headline and outrage.
Saviolo
(3,282 posts) 
displacedtexan
(15,696 posts)And BLM was also grand marshall status here, as well.
Here's the link:
http://sfist.com/2016/06/24/saying_theyre_more_afraid_of_police.php
Security was increased at the food/activities area because of the Orlando attack, but let me tell you: it was absolutley nothing compared to the Checkpoint Charlie security measures you had to go through to get into the Superbowl area downtown this year.
cagefreesoylentgreen
(838 posts)And sadly, probably not the last: BLM Hijacks Orlando Memorial
(Don't read the comments on that page. Just don't.)
As some one who is neither black, nor white, but Asian and also transgender, is it too much to ask to not use someone else's cause to promote you own? This seriously grinds my gear.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)I'm doubting it.
retrowire
(10,345 posts)What the flipping fuck?
Skittles
(153,164 posts)and ALWAYS disgusting
JI7
(89,250 posts)
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)It has to be all about them, 24/7. Self-centered assbags...fuck 'em.
Democat
(11,617 posts)to other oppressed minorities.
dbackjon
(6,578 posts)Relations than they are there helping
Akicita
(1,196 posts)
Ruby the Liberal
(26,219 posts)I get the whys, but the hows? Things like this just lead to more isolation and division. If the goal is to be marginalized and excluded, then they are winning - but what are they winning? You don't earn respect by demanding it.
NobodyHere
(2,810 posts)Odin2005
(53,521 posts)
FixTheProblem
(22 posts)Why the FUCK is BLM constantly going after their allies?
The hell does harassing gays in another country accomplish?
Why not do this shit at a Trump rally?
"The parade didn't re-start until after Pride Toronto executive director Mathieu Chantelois signed a document agreeing to the group's demands."
That's the definition of weakness.
loyalsister
(13,390 posts)"The ultimate measure of a man <or ally> is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
The outrage sparked just highlights how many alleged allies are not willing to experience some discomfort with having a law enforcement system that benefits them but torments others challenged.
Sand Rat Expat
(290 posts)BLM did something dumb here by alienating people who know very well what it's like to be marginalized and discriminated against. Rather than joining the Pride parade and being part of the event, BLM had to make the event all about them because... why, exactly?
Why could BLM not just march in the parade to show solidarity for the LGBT community? Why did they have to go out of their way to hijack the event and try to cram themselves into the spotlight?
When you go out of your way to step all over people who view you favorably, you can't turn around and be all aggrieved that they're not viewing you as favorably as they did before.
The person or persons who came up with this idea certainly didn't do BLM any favors. All you need to do to figure that out is read most of the responses in this thread and watch the coverage of the event. It is possible to turn people away from a righteous cause by being a boor, and that's exactly what happened here.
loyalsister
(13,390 posts)Despite fearing that they, their family, and friends of color are disproportionately at risk of being killed or beaten by them?
Why is it so hard to understand the difference between security measures and celebrating an institution that manifests systemic racism.
Sand Rat Expat
(290 posts)Marching in the Pride event isn't celebrating the police. It's not a Police Pride Parade. You're acting like marching in the same parade as a group of police automatically equates to lauding the police, which is just absurd. How in the world did you come to that conclusion?
If BLM and the police both want to turn out to support Toronto Pride and the LGBT community, they both have the right to do so. Their presence in the same parade isn't a tacit admission of support and admiration for each other, but for the LGBT community. If one or the other of the two isn't comfortable being in the same parade, then they have the option to decline to attend. They do not have the right to demand that the other group be banned from attending.
What BLM is doing here is the political equivalent of "If you don't stop being friends with that kid I don't like, I won't be your friend anymore!" Demanding that the police be excluded from showing their support for the LGBT community is just ridiculous.
Oh, and to hell with the LGBT and LGBT-friendly cops who had the audacity to take part in an LGBT Pride event! How dare they! Next year they'd better express their support from home, am I right?
demmiblue
(36,860 posts)
I'd say most of the responses make me
oberliner
(58,724 posts)If all the demands were agreed to, why not present the demands before the day of the parade? It does not appear that this occurred. If it had, I think the outcome would've been positive. There is really only one demand that is potentially controversial (about the police).
Yukari Yakumo
(3,013 posts)And many, many other incidents, it's time to agree BLM has gone off the rails like OWS, if not more so.
Wash your hands of them and move on to someone, someplace, or something who'll actually do some good, and not a bunch of posers in it for themselves.
YOHABLO
(7,358 posts)It's a huge event and guys and gals come from all over the country to participate. Now we do have a ''regular'' Gay Pride celebration and parade, but as I have read and heard, Blacks feel as if thtey too are not represented enough so therefore they hold their own event. It's a shame that the more diversified we become as a nation the more we segregate ourselves within our own tribes. It saddens me. People of all colors gay and straight need to come together. We can not stand alone. That's why we have a Rainbow Flag. Get it.
chillfactor
(7,576 posts)they are doing more harm to their "cause" then doing any good.....what a disgusting group of idiots.
Skittles
(153,164 posts)
applegrove
(118,677 posts)One of those demands was that the police not get a float in the next parades. I think that is unfair and shortsighted. Toronto Pride worked extra hard with the police this year to keep everybody safe. If at some point the police want to participate in pride I think it will do wonders for those LGBT youth who are often victims of crimes. As are many in the black community. We need to build better relationships between the police and both groups. Having an African Canadian police chief in Toronto, like they do, is a good start.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Saunders was born in England to Jamaican parents.
applegrove
(118,677 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)Black Canadian is generally used without controversy.
Most Black Canadians are of Caribbean, not African descent.
applegrove
(118,677 posts)liberalmuse
(18,672 posts)They would hijack the "No War in Iraq" peace marches. I'm a longtime vegetarian, but was disgusted about how they tried to drown out the peace marches. If you have a good cause, disrupting other good causes actually hurts the way people look at your cause.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)sangfroid
(212 posts)is the unstated opinion that some causes are more important than others. I have actually read a Canadian BLM supporter argue that, since "the gays" had "gay marriage" now, why bother with this "Pride BS." If I didn't know better, I might think this is a repeat of the old Cointel scheme.
fbc
(1,668 posts)Black Lives Matters is a hugely significant movement that is bringing attention to extremely important, life or death, issues.
Stuff like this hurts them, and I do not think it is a good idea to make enemies of your friends, but cops are still murdering black people.
they're becoming a joke now
arcane1
(38,613 posts)
romanic
(2,841 posts)and I'll say it again, BLM has gone off the rails and needs attention to give what's left of their fractured movement credibility. Bunch of hijacking buffons and losers, who needs the right-wingers to disrupt a Pride event when we got them? :mad
And I really doubt any of this will improve inclusivity of Pride in Toronto. I do know that the Pride events I've gone to throughout the Midwest have been plenty diverse.
X_Digger
(18,585 posts)
King_David
(14,851 posts)Pride Toronto is backing away from the promises made to Black Lives Matter Toronto during a protest that temporarily shut down the Pride Parade.
“My priority yesterday was to make the parade move,” Mathieu Chantelois, the executive director of Pride Toronto, told CP24 the following day on July 4, 2016. “Frankly, Black Lives Matter is not going to tell us that there are no more floats anymore in the parade.”
Instead, Chantelois said it is up to the community and the membership of Pride Toronto to determine whether or not the police should march in Pride.
http://www.dailyxtra.com/toronto/news-and-ideas/news/pride-toronto-backtracks-from-black-lives-matter-promises-196966
King_David
(14,851 posts)Pride Toronto
5 hrs ·
Pride Toronto would like to thank everyone for participating in our history-making, first-ever, Pride Month. Thank you for coming to sit with us and taking part in a safe and successful Pride.
We are committed to creating a safe and inclusive festival for everyone and hearing from our whole community and stakeholders, including the most marginalized voices, on how to do so.
Pride Toronto never agreed to exclude police services from the Pride parade. Law enforcement are critical to ensuring a safe festival and parade. Toronto Police will continue to lead security planning for future parades and we thank them for their efforts. We have had, and will continue to have, discussions with the police about the nature of their involvement as parade participants.
This August, Pride Toronto will host a public Townhall to gather feedback about the 2016 festival. In advance of the meeting, we invite you to share your thoughts by contacting: cochairs@pridetoronto.com
We look forward to hearing from you,
Pride Toronto
539 Likes102 Comments93 Shares
https://www.facebook.com/PrideToronto/posts/10154254208122037
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,345 posts)BLM doesn't attract cameras. The only way they can get their word out is by hijacking someone else's event, to get in front of their cameras.
If only BLM events could attract cameras. But they don't. Does BLM have events that they organize?
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)Physically blocking a parade is violence. This type of violence should not be tolerated in a civilized society.
