This year’s Pride Toronto festivities will be a celebration of communities — an attempt to pay tribute to the difficult realities the diverse LGBTQ community has had to face, including learning eight gay men were victims of an alleged serial killer. The festivities will also be a little less colourful. This year, for the June 24 Pride parade, the organizers are asking all attendees to wear black “to signify that while the festival goes on this is a period of huge trauma for the whole city, particularly the LGBTQ community,” Olivia Nuamah, Pride Toronto’s executive director, told the Star. For the first time in two years, the Pride parade will include a moment of silence to commemorate those the community, and the city, have lost. The moment will come after, what Nuamah calls, “a mourning procession” to honour those who lost their lives at the hands of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur, or the 10 people who died in the van rampage at Yonge and Finch on April 23.

Source: thestar May 02, 2018 23:26 UTC