Thousands sing, dance and celebrate at Pride Parade until protesters strand marchers and floats mid-route

And 45 minutes after the protest began, Pride Toronto announced the remainder of the parade — billed as Canada’s largest — was cancelled.

“We made the decision to cancel the remainder of the parade out of our commitment to ensuring public safety,” Pride Toronto spokesperson Anna Lee said in a statement. “While we deeply respect and uphold everyone’s right to peacefully protest, our foremost priority is the well-being of all participants and spectators.”

According to a pamphlet handed out by the group, the protesters had six demands, chief among them the divestment from all corporations “actively involved in violently exploiting native people” on Turtle Island and in Sudan, Palestine and the Congo.

“We’re here for Palestine,” protester Layla Salman said. “We’re here to draw attention to the cause.”

Toronto police gathered further down the parade route but did not take any action with the protesters, who left Yonge Street about two hours after they shut it down and marched west along Wellesley Street on the sidewalk.

Police said they had “adequate resources to address the protest,” but were respecting Pride Toronto’s request that officers not interfere if protesters disrupted the parade, police spokesperson Laurie McCann told the Star.

It was not an unfamiliar situation. In 2016, a Black Lives Matter group brought the parade to a standstill when it stopped its float for more than 30 minutes — similarly refusing to move until officials met their demands. The parade continued after Pride leaders signed the list of demands on the spot.

But this year, the demands went unsigned. Protester Faisal Samir said Pride Toronto offered a meeting to “think about” the demands.

And while the protesters sat in the street and chanted, the party continued just a few blocks over. Celebrations and bass-heavy music continued on Church Street, where vendors lined the pavement and restaurants overflowed.

That was the atmosphere for most of the day along the parade route as spectators pressed against metal barricades, five deep at points, for the entirety of the 2.5-kilometre route, dancing, singing and cheering as business groups and organizations marched by.

That included SIBOL, the Filipino-Canadian Pride Network that formed last June. The group danced and waved the flag of the Philippines as it celebrated its first anniversary.

“There was no formal organization like us before,” said Leo Gubac, one of the group’s founders. “That was a source of inspiration for us. Why don’t we create one for this group of people in the community, so we can find community and camaraderie together?”

The group wasn’t alone. As many as 500 of the 1,760 volunteers registered for this year’s Pride celebrations were believed to be recent arrivals to Canada, something Pride Toronto’s education and volunteer manager attributed to the flood of legislation and violence against LGBTQ communities around the world.

The volunteers helped facilitate the parade, a mammoth march with hundreds of groups participating. Floats blared Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and “Womanizer” while drag queens danced and a TV helicopter circled overhead.

Chris Collens drove in from Kitchener, Ont., to march with his company, the Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan. The company provided him with a Pride shirt — but he “had a vision” for the rest of the outfit.

So he added rainbow sunglasses, suspenders, a hat and a bow tie. And then there was the centre piece: rainbow pants with peace signs and music notes, purchased on a trip to Chicago, Ill. this spring specifically for the parade.

“The pants say it all,” said Collens, who has marched in the parade since 2017. “You can’t walk five minutes down the street without people stopping for our look. But it’s been great. Everybody’s been so social, so friendly, so fun. It’s just a great time.”

Correction — July 2, 2024

This story has been updated. A previous version had the incorrect name for the Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan.