In the Beginning...

Many say that 1969 started it all. The Stonewall Riots occurred in New York City that June, and in August, Canada's Justice Minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, decriminalized homosexual acts for consenting adults over the age of 21. But there was still so far to go.

On August 1, 1971, about 300 people attended Toronto's first gay pride picnic at Hanlan's Point on Toronto Island; another 100 people attended at Ward's Island the next year. Toronto city mayors refused to declare Gay Pride Week and denied permission to march down Yonge Street. They weren't the only ones refusing to recognize the movement. "In the late 70s, there was growing violence and incitements of hate directed towards gay men and lesbians. At Halloween, people would line Yonge Street and throw eggs at the drag queens entering the St. Charles Tavern," said Liz Devine, an early Pride Day volunteer and current Church-Wellesley business owner.

The festival continued annually and the picnic grew into Pride Week, which started to include events: an MCC church service, a theatre evening, a Pride Dance, and a rally to Queen's Park to present a brief to the Ontario government. On August 17, 1974, over 100 people marched from Allan Gardens to Queen's Park as a Pride Week kickoff. This is the first time daily news covered the event (The Sun and The Globe and Mail). For the next few years, the only celebration was in 1978 when "Gay Days: In Celebration of Lesbians and Gay Men" was held in Cawthra Park for the first time, with ceremonies held on the 519 Church Street Community Centre steps, and a PrideFair in Queen's Park.

Back with a Vengeance in 1981

On February 5, 1981, in the largest mass arrest in Canada since the War Measures Act, 160 police officers raided Toronto's bathhouses and arrested hundreds of men. The next night, thousands protested on Yonge Street, rallied by Gay Liberation Against the Right Everywhere (GLARE) and Right To Privacy Committee (RTPC). These organizations later joined forces to become The Lesbian and Gay Pride Day Committee (LGPDC), and Lesbian & Gay Pride Day Toronto became legally incorporated. In June 1981, 1500 people attended Pride Day in Grange Park. "After weeks of protesting the police bath raids...there were many in the community that felt it was time to celebrate the community's achievements and not only be seen to be protesting state violence," said Kyle Rae, Toronto City Councillor, who is touted to be one of the founders of Pride in Toronto.

1982-1989: The Early Years

Despite opposition from City Hall, LGPDC held Pride Day again at Grange Park, drawing a crowd of almost 2000 people. However, numerous complaints were received from area residents, and Pride events were moved to King's College Circle at University of Toronto in 1983. In 1984, Pride Day was held on Canada Day. This was the first time that Church Street was closed for the event, and thousands flocked to Cawthra Park to partake.

Reviving the political aspect of Pride in 1985, the theme for the year was "We Are Everywhere: 150 Years of Faggots and Dykes." That same year, "we were able to secure a brewery that was prepared to provide cold beer in the beer garden behind the 519. We were all very proud that [we'd] finally been able to get a successful Canadian corporation to ‘sponsor' our event. However, on Pride Day, we were all very disappointed that the brewery had rented an unmarked refrigerator truck to house the kegs of beer. Like most other Canadian corporations, Upper Canada Lager wasn't ready to come out and show its support," said Rae.

In 1986, the first Pride Committee was formed to organize the event. For the first time, the Pride Committee had a logo and focused on AIDS. The logo depicted an electrocardiogram recording of the last heartbeats of people dying of AIDS. Despite AIDS inducing hysteria and creating pariahs of people with the disease, corporate sponsors supported Pride for the first time and helped meet growing expenses for the event. By 1987, the year sexual orientation was introduced into the Human Rights Code, the event had become over seven times the size it was only five years prior. Grand Marshals were introduced for the first time on Pride Day in 1988 and a temporary AIDS memorial was installed in Cawthra Park. With the official proclamation of Pride Day still being refused by Mayor Eggleton, the Pride Committee celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots with the theme "Vision 20/20: Setting Our Sights."

1990-1999: A Decade of Firsts

Starting the 90s off with a bang, Mayor Art Eggleton still refused to proclaim Pride Week. After he proclaimed "Official Muppet Baby Day," the Pride Committee filed a complaint of discrimination with the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC). Toronto City Council voted to officially proclaim Pride Day, then recanted. The OHRC ruled against the Committee, which was then left with $10,000 in legal fees. One year later the size of the festival had grown to 80,000 and city council proclaimed Pride Day for the first time.

Over the next couple of years, the Pride festival almost doubled in size, as same-sex spousal benefits were recognized in Ontario. In February 1995, due to a mass resignation of a majority of the Board of Directors in a vote of non-confidence against the board itself, the Pride Committee collapsed. Kyle Rae assisted community members to reorganize a new committee, which in 15 weeks organized Toronto's largest Pride Day, and North America's largest, at 650,000 official celebrants. 1996 saw the first-ever Dyke March, with a turnout of 5,000 people. The first economic impact study of the Pride festival was conducted, showing over $46 million spent by tourists. In 1998, after initial reservations, Mayor Mel Lastman joined the parade on a fire truck, getting soaked by revelers with power waterguns. The next year he returned to the parade for his second time - this time armed with a supersoaker of his own. The decade was capped off with youth being recognized through the new Fruit Loopz stage and a large contingent in the parade.

2000-2009: We Do!

In 2001, the city officially proclaimed Pride Week to include bisexuals, transsexuals, and transgendered persons for the first time. That same year, The Globe and Mail reported that Toronto's Pride had become "a Canadian institution," a big change from the organization's origins. According to Rae, "for the first six years, there was no public interest in our parade - no media, no tourists, no sponsors, and no families. We were a criminalized, vilified sexual minority that embarrassed the wider society because we wouldn't shut up."

By 2005, the province began allowing same-sex marriage. The following year, the Grand Marshals were two same-sex couples who had been together for a combined 100 years. Pride 2006 saw a return to its political roots with the first International Grand Marshal, which highlighted worldwide queer issues and started Pride Toronto's human rights campaign, "Global Human Rights for Queers: What OUT is About."

Performances by trans artists from across North America were featured in George Hislop Park with the addition of a new stage in 2008. Seeing this as a chance to increase their visibility, the trans community organized a march of their own down Church Street through the 2009 festival.

"Pride has become the event to celebrate our diversity, where everyone is welcome to the party. While this level of inclusion is challenging, it's because of the work that is done in this area that Pride attracts so many and is such a peaceful celebration," notes Devine.

2010: Continuing Towards Inevitable Equality

Thirty years ago, Devine never envisioned Pride Toronto becoming as large as it has. "It was a big thing when we moved out of Cawthra Park, then took over Wellesley. As the event grew in size and scope, so did the need for full-time, professional management. And once that step was taken, it changed from being an event for our community to an international festival that is a destination event, which welcomes and provides a space for everyone...I am proud and grateful to the thousands of people who have given months and years of their lives to make Pride happen over the past 30 years, and grow the festival into the event that it is today. It's a testament to the strength and depth of our communities, and the commitment of those who have taken leadership roles in an organization and event that so many are so passionate about. Being everything to everyone is impossible, but each year Pride manages to walk that tightrope."

As for Rae, he is "enormously proud that Pride is the symbol of what this community can do when it persists against all odds in fighting against homophobia and for our equality rights; and, at the same time, I think of the tragedy of so many men and women who have lost their family, lost their job, lost their housing, and even lost their own lives, because of the discrimination and hatred that we have started to overcome...the battle against homophobia, although not won, and especially not won around the world, has now far more people outside our community advocating alongside us. Frankly, the transformation of the City of Toronto's official acknowledgment, the participation of the Toronto Police Service, and Torontonians' acceptance of our community since 1981, is absolutely astounding."

- By Crystal Moore and Jared Breen, Media Coordinators