Pride Parade a first for a sitting Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau was the first sitting Prime Minister to march in the country’s largest Pride Parade. Toronto, Canada’s largest city, was the scene of the occasion yesterday and the PM was joined by the province’s openly gay Premier, Kathleen Wynne, the city’s mayor, John Tory, and three leadership hopefuls from the Conservative Party.

“I can remember, not that long ago, this would have been beyond comprehension.” Michael Coren

Among the “firsts” in attendance, was Michael Coren, a Toronto journalist, author and broadcaster. Born and raised in England, Coren came to Canada in 1987, and became a best-selling author. Among his 15 books are biographies of G.K. Chesterton, H.G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

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Coren spent time during his career championing his Catholic faith. In the last few years, however, he began to see things from a different perspective, as he lays out in his most recent book, “Epiphany: A Christian’s Change of Heart & Mind over Same-Sex Marriage“.  Michael Coren said, apart from being very hot and very crowded, yesterday’s parade was “incredibly peaceful, and loving and joyous.”

“Pride Toronto brings people together to celebrate the history, courage and diversity of our community”

There was a short protest from members of ‘Black Lives Matter‘ who were in the parade as a guest group, but they held a sit-in, to protest the inclusion of the Toronto police force with whom BLM has ongoing problems and challenges. In Toronto the issue of “carding”, stopping generally only black people, largely men, to ask for identification, is a source of major stress for the city’s minorities of color.

The issues were quickly addressed, however, and the BLM group resumed their place in the parade that was in its 36th year. Over a span of two kilometres down the main street of Toronto, LBGT communities and their families and supporters gathered to celebrate.

With the recent Orlando, Florida shootings very much in mind, people marched in fulfilment of Pride Toronto’s mission: “… together to celebrate the history, courage and diversity of our community”. The parade was the culmination of a month of “pride events” around the city.

Bassel McIeash, a Syrian refugee who left his country three years ago and spent several months struggling to survive in Egypt, arrived in Toronto on May 26th. 2016. The 29 year-old, who was diagnosed HIV positive while in Egypt, marched most of the parade alongside the Prime Minister. “To be honest, I’m totally speechless,” he told a CBC reporter as he moved toward the start of the parade. “The excitement and the emotion that’s happening, it’s overwhelming. It’s too much to handle.”

Michael Coren says young people in Canada take gay pride for granted, but admits that for himself, like many people in their fifties and older, it has been an evolution. “I can remember, not that long ago, this would have been beyond comprehension,” he says in reference to the parade.

Coren says his own change of heart began almost four years ago. “I just became too uncomfortable with Catholic, and not just Catholic, but with conservative Christian teaching on homosexuality and sexuality in general.” He says the more he spoke out in support of gay issues, the more he was attacked by the Christian right and supported by the gay community. “Out of integrity… I couldn’t stay in the Catholic church” he says.

Now an Anglo-Catholic, Coren endured a lot of abusive feedback and lost work and opportunities as a result of his move. As for Pope Francis and what is perceived as his openess to gay issues, Coren says, “it’s one step forward and two steps back”. 

“The Vatican refused the credentials of the French ambassador who was openly gay.” Of the Pope, Coren says, “He’ll make what sounds like initially a very grand statement, but if you actaully read through it, he’s taking it back.” Coren says the Catholic church still teaches that “gay relationships are disordered and sinful and will lead to damnation”.

“A lot of gay people in particular, are so anxious to feel the Pope is on their side they don’t actually study what he says. It’s not as nice as you think.” according to Coren.

He says, “the quintessence of the gospel is love, acceptance, don’t judge, include, don’t exclude, and that wasn’t the Catholic Church I was living in.”

Coren acknowledges, however, that while the Catholic church takes these matters under consideration, other places around the world, such as Russia, Uganda and other countries in Africa, as well as the Caribbean, are places where gay people continue to live in fear.

Why is Canada so accepting? Coren says, “what it doesn’t have is the Christian fundamentalism of the United States.” He says most of the western world is progressive when it comes to LGBT rights, but that there is still enormous work to do in areas of the U.S. where conservative Christianity still preaches a very negative message.

In the meantime, other Canadian cities are following with their Pride events; Vancouver’s parade takes place July 31st, 2016, and Montreal’s follows on August 14th.