Toronto Pride/Prism: A review by JustCircuit's Mickey Weems
Part I: Making It Work
One would think that NYC Pride the week before Toronto Pride would be enough. But I’ve been away from the scene for a while, and I needed an encore.
Just so happened that the G-20 Summit was held in Toronto during what was normally its Pride, so their Big Gay Party occurred on the weekend of the fourth of July. This shift gave their events the added bonus of being accessible to more people from south of the border, who could flock northward for an extended weekend.
Prism, the Circuit event held during Toronto Pride, worked together with Pride officials to throw an afternoon party called Aqua on Saturday, July 3, only blocks from the street festival in the Gay Village around Church Street.
I rode to Toronto from Columbus with the FindFred.com boys once more. Even though we had a van with six men and packed with free shirts, free CDs and the metal framework for an outdoor booth, getting into the country was a breeze, especially when the border guard found out we were going to Pride. Sometimes being Gay has its perks.
We’ll see what happens when we try to go back.
AQUA
I skipped Friday night’s festivities to save energy for what I knew would be a very long day. Saturday began with getting my media pass at the Pride headquarters, a large area set aside for media and volunteers. My heart was gladdened by all the young people lining up to help with the festivities. Those of us who are older can rest a little easier: the torch is being passed, and there are plenty willing to carry it.
Aqua was set to begin at 1 pm in a parking lot on Wellesley, between the festival on Church Street and the Dyke March scheduled to take place that afternoon. People began coming in at about 2:30, and the large space filled up by 5.
I stopped by to watch the Dyke March—I had never seen one before. It was splendid. My favorite part was a Bloco, a marching troupe of drummers in the style I had seen when I lived in Bahia, Brazil. I was surprised and pleased to see men marching in solidarity with their sisters. When I asked women about this, not one found it problematic for men to participate in a Dyke March.
We’ve come a long way, baby.
There was also a contingent in support of Palestinian rights, much like the Tel Aviv Israeli activist group Kvisa Shchora (“Dirty Laundry”). As with Kvisa, the Toronto group had a sign that said, “There Is No Pride in Occupation.”
I was not sure how one could have a water party in a parking lot, but the Prism people made it work. Shirtless firefighters from Toronto and the surrounding municipalities were dousing people with fire hoses. At one point, one firefighter shot his blast at some queens screaming at him from an adjacent apartment building, some five floors up, and his aim was torture. More than a few guys brought their own water guns. The DJs were good, starting with the brooding groove of Mike Vieira, peaking with Ana Paula at full energy, and ending with a playful Isaac Escalante set. Ultra Naté gave a guest appearance as well.
The party went off without a hitch, except for a minor sound issue during Ultra’s set, which she handled with grace.
Olympus
After a few hours recovery, I went to Olympus, the main event. When my collaborator Benn Mendoza and I arrived, Ultra Naté was in the middle of her new song, “Destination” which she had made in collaboration with Tony Moran, who was spinning at that moment. Tony presented us with a good set, which wrapped around a multilayered performance that included an aerialist, singer Amanda, a couple in white doing modern dance, people with feathered fans, flags of many nations (the crowd burst into cheers when the last muscled flag-bearer came out with the Canadian banner), football players, swimmers and choreographed soccer-themed dancers.
We stayed for the rest of Tony’s set and part of Abel’s, which began with beefy boxer dancers. I had the chance to speak briefly with Micky Friedmann who would start a 5AM.
Part II: Meet Up, Trade Up, and Hook Up at Guvernment
Sunday of Pride Weekend in Toronto is a logistical challenge for the city, as some 2-million people gather just northeast of the business district for the parade and concurrent street festival. As in New York, barricades are set up on the parade route to keep onlookers a safe distance from the marching bands, advocacy groups, religious organizations and slowly moving vehicles.
My favorite part of the parade has to do, of course, with dance. A mobile stage dedicated to multiculturalism was pumping out soca music from the West Indies, creating an instant party on board and especially among Toronto’s large Caribbean population. People were singing along, and women were winding their bodies, Trinidad style.
From Saturday to Sunday, the street festival shifted from Gay Gay Gay to an even more massive mix of about every kind of person imaginable: families, street kids and the very old/young...you name it. There was also a fairly seamless range of undress among a contingent of hard-core Leather Bears, from full regalia to butt-less chaps to the handful of men representing TNT (Totally Naked Toronto), with no clothes from ankles up. The vibe was pure tolerance.
Sunday’s party at Guvernment was packed but not to the point of unbearablility. The rooftop made for a third dance floor. It was an evening of scene music, setting the stage for people to see and be seen, as they would meet up, trade up and hook up. We got home, predictably, after sunrise for a second day of stifling heat. Breakfast at Chew Chew’s Diner—the morning radio jocks at this tiny establishment (Straight and working-class) praised the Pride celebration. Compared to the fury and riots that accompanied the G-20 summit held in Toronto the weekend before, Toronto Pride was a welcome respite, positive, fun, and a joy to Gays and Straights alike.
We pulled into the line for Peace Bridge at the border crossing into Buffalo in the afternoon. The line was impossibly long and we had been warned of two-hour delays. With a van full of boxes and six guys, we braced ourselves for a long and tedious stall, but we discovered that if you go through Duty-Free, the line was shortened substantially.
Congratulations to Mary Zondanos and the people at Toronto Pride for a job well done, as well as to Gairy Brown And Adam Gill of Prism for a great line-up of Circuit events.
