A Tale of Two Prides, Part II: Toronto
0This is the second part of my adventures for Pride 2010, a rare year when New York and Toronto did not have their celebrations on the same weekend because of the G-20 Summit in Toronto. I hit both.
But it almost didn't happen. NYC Pride did me in. When first I returned from Manhattan, I really didn't want to go to Toronto. But as the week progressed, I realized I had not yet seen enough nor danced enough.
Toronto Pride and Prism: Aqua and Dyke March
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 just a gaggle of Gays going to Pride.
Sometimes being Gay has its perks.
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 festival in the Gay Village around Church Street.
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.
Toronto police were on bicycles in the festival area, each officer adorned with a Gay Canadian rainbow pride flag waving from the back of their helmet.
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."
On to Aqua.
I was not sure how one could have a water party in a parking lot, but the Prism people made it work. Shirtless firemen from Toronto and the surrounding municipalities were dousing people with firehoses to raise money for Tame the Flame, a charity that sends firefighters to other nations to teach people how to fight fires, and then equip them. 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 true.
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 Nat� gave a great 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. 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.
Olympus
After a few hours recovery, I went to Olympus, Prism's main event. When I arrived, Ultra Nat� 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, the singer Amanda, a couple in white doing modern dance, people in white gyrating 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.
It wasn't monkeys flying out of Madonna's ass (the ultimate spectacle), but it was coming close.
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 German Israeli DJ Micky Friedmann who would start at 5 am and end the party with style. One man should not be gifted with such an abundance of good looks and intelligence to boot.
Pride Parade, Peter's Party, and Homeward Bound
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 with sizzling temperatures pushing triple digits. The city sent out people to distribute free bottles of water to keep attendees from suffering heat exhaustion. 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 a happy ruckus among Toronto's large Caribbean population at street level. 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: Straight families, street kids, 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), no clothes from ankles up. The lot of them would have been much prettier if they took themselves less seriously and danced to the soca music pulsing about them.
The vibe was pure tolerance.
Sunday's party at Guvernment was packed, but not to the point where it was unbearable. The rooftop made for a third dance floor and a nice break from the increasingly hot main ballroom. It was an evening of scene music for the smart set, a metaphorical runway for people to see and be seen as they would meet up, trade up, and hook up while they bounced about. Once again, Gairy and Adam of Prism pulled off a crowd-pleaser.
Got home, predictably, after sunrise for a second day of stifling heat. Breakfast at Chew Chew's Diner-the morning radio jocks coming over the speakers in 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 nearly afternoon. The line was impossibly long, and we had been warned of two-hour delays. With a van full of boxes and 6 worn-out guys, we braced ourselves for a long and tedious stall, but discovered that, if you go through Duty-Free, the line was shortened substantially, FYI. The border person was, thank God, professional and got us through quickly.
Conclusion
I cannot honestly say which Pride was my favorite. I find it tragic that two important metropolises, so enticingly close to each other, typically share the same dates for Pride. People should be able to experience them both, even if it does damn near kill them.