As Toronto celebrates its annual Pride Week, there's more to ruminate on than Mayor Rob Ford's queer absence.
On
This Magazine's blog, writer Kyle Dupont examines the inroads LBGTQ (lesbian, bisexual, gay, transsexual and transgendered and queer) people have made in this country.
"The attitudes on Parliament Hill have continued to shift in greater support for the rights of the LGBTQ community. Most politicians today no longer view this topic negatively, or in the equally harmful don't-ask-don't-tell light of our not too distant past. Even Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated a few months ago that his government has no intention of revisiting the issue of same sex-marriage in Canada—likely because the tide of public support for same-sex marriage has become so strong here."
Meanwhile, US-based gay travel magazine
Passport reports that two Americans have won a wedding vacation after entering a
Tourism Toronto photo competition with a photo of themselves posing with their wedding cake. They will receive a trip to Toronto to be married on a parade float.
"It's the dream wedding: walking down the aisle, moving slowly toward the person of your dreams as friends and family stand with tears in their eyes. Now, replace the aisle with Toronto's main thoroughfare and your friends and family with thousands and thousands of LGBT revelers at Pride Toronto, and you've got New York City residents Carter Etherington and Breken Elwood's winning wedding."
Over at
The Huffington Post, there's a story about Pride Toronto partnering with Google+ to create a series of documentaries by Jeff Feurzeig.
"
Together: Stories by Pride & Google+ profiles a diverse cross-section of Toronto's LGBT community. Everyone from Hugh and Gerald, a couple who marched in Toronto's first Pride Parade in 1972, to drag queen, Jonathan."
"Our favourite might be Connor's story. An interview with a 17-year-old teen who came out just days before Feurzeig met up with him."
Pride Week wraps up July 1 with the parade down Yonge Street. The whole schedule is Pride Toronto's
website.
Read the full stories
here and
here and
here
Original sources: This Magazine, Passport & Huffington Post