The weather was perfect for Pride today. The sun was shining and the temperature was just right—not like the suffocating heat we had last weekend!
This was the first year that I’ve seen the parade from start to finish…and I can see the reason for the banner that said something along the lines of “Fuck the corporations” being marched out near the start of the parade. There was a crazy amount of corporate presence….the Trojan condoms float made sense to me: gay men, safe sex and all that…but it was a bit odd to see the big banks walking along…RBC, CIBC and TD were out and proud..
Stranger still was the float for the candidates for leader of the federal Liberal Party. I recognized Michael Ignatieff, Gerard Kennedy and Bill Graham. Scott Brison might have been there too since there were people in the parade holding signs for him. Not to be outdone, the NDP were accounted for as well (Jack Layton and Olivia Chow rode their bikes, and Howard Hampton walked the route.) I can understand why Mayor David Miller and members of Toronto City Council were present since this is their city (and though I've read in various articles that he's tall, I never realized how tall until I saw him today and he’s slimmed down much since he was first elected.)
It's funny how on any other day, public nudity would result in a fine/arrest by police, but during Pride, it's perfectly acceptable. To paraphrase my gay boyfriend: there’s boobage on display that I don’t want to see under normal circumstances, let alone painted and on parade. Oh!…and TNT: Totally Naked Toronto…old men walking about in their birthday suits!! My tender eyes! ;)
I didn’t get nearly as much sun as I would have liked…I spritzed on the SPF 30 so my legs look no darker tonight then they did this morning…I missed a spot on my shoulder so I’m a bit tender there. All in all, it was a long and fun day. A perfect end to the weekend.
2 comments:
Maybe a Liberal float because they legalized equal marriage??
After thinking about it, I get that the various parties were there to show their support in a supposedly non-partisan event. For too long, gays and lesbians have been on the fringe, and the presence of elected officials validates their acceptance into society, etc. But to include federal Liberal leadership hopefuls followed by their various supporters brandishing signs ostensibly calling card-carrying Grits to vote for them at the upcoming leadership convention seemed out-of-place and wholly opportunistic.
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