Montreal Pride Parade a celebration of inclusion and how much the community has progressed

Thousands gathered along the streets of downtown Montreal Sunday for the Pride Parade.

The annual event is a celebration and positive day overall for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

“It’s a lot more than a parade because to be proud, it’s supposed to be all the time,” said Martine Roy, the Chair of the LGBT Purge Fund.

“It’s a celebration of inclusion because all the allies, everybody, the families, they join in, and this is what we’ve been looking for all our life: to be included.”

Since her dismissal by the Canadian Armed Forces at the age of 19, Roy devoted her life to defending Canada’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

“They told me to go in their car and finally to find out I was under arrest for homosexuality,” Roy recounted. “So they brought me to their house and they interrogated me for hours and hours.”

Between the 1950s and 1990s, what became known as the LGBT Purge victimized thousands from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community who worked for the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP, and the federal public service; they were discriminated, harassed and often fired.

A historic settlement was reached in June 2018, where up to $110 million was set aside for the payment of damages to LGBT Purge victims.

For Roy, the parade is now a celebration of how far the community has come.

“We have to be proud of who we are. We’re all human,” Roy said.

Parade goers revelled in the spirit of celebration – and inclusion.

“I can represent disability Pride by being disabled and also queer,” said Alex Roy.

“To be the voice of the people that they cannot really express, for the people that do not have this freedom to be themselves in the culture like Canada,” added another attendee.

“It is a sense of resurgence,” said Harvey Michele. “It’s a movement that two-spirited people are coming back openly to manifest their identities.”

Several politicians took part in the parade, including NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.

“It really is to show that we are here to support the LGBTQ community, to say we are with you, we stand in solidarity with you,” said Singh, the only federal leader to take part in the parade. “We want to build a society where everyone is welcome to be who they are.”

The two-kilometre parade route along René-Lévesque Boulevard was filled with a festive atmosphere. There was also a moment of silence held in memory of the lives lost to AIDS and homophobic attacks.

“We’re proud of who we are and I’m definitely proud of who I am,” said parade goer Angela Collay.

“We need to be united… We’re all human,” added Roy.

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