Record crowd attends Montreal Pride parade

Montreal’s Pride parade went ahead as scheduled Sunday afternoon, to the delight of thousands who were left disappointed after the abrupt cancellation last year.

Rainbow colours, sequined costumes and floats filled René-Lévesque as the parade went from Metcalfe to the Village, to the beat of pop music.

“Why are we here? Because we are proud of who we are, we want to show it,” said Montreal Pride executive director Simon Gamache. “Also because we want to commemorate the victories and fights of the past, but most importantly there’s still a lot of injustice towards 2SLGBTQ+ here and elsewhere.”

Businesses, sports organizations, and groups active in the LGBTQ+ community took part in the parade.

“It means the world that all these people are here to celebrate, to stand up for their community and to be a positive voice for their community,” said Sonja Matschuck, the vice-president of Afropride.

“I do think we should advocate all year round for the queer community, but this is just a day to celebrate to come together and just be seen and heard.”

An estimated 15,500 people were in attendance.

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“I think it’s about embracing people and celebrating others for all our differences because everyone’s different and everyone deserves to be happy,” said festival goer Emily Lee.

“I love the vibe. It’s just so happy. I feel so accepted and celebrated.”

For some, it was their first time celebrating Pride.

“I feel really excited,” said Akira Taylor Townsend. “I feel like I’m finally where I’m supposed to be.”

Montrealers gathering for the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.

After last year’s last-minute cancellation, proud Montrealers are excited to march the parade with their community members and allies.

READ: https://t.co/rFO80GSNqq pic.twitter.com/35a4CgkC5e

— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) August 13, 2023

“Last year, we missed the parade, and now it’s back,” said Montreal Mayor Plante, who rode on a float alongside popular drag queen Barbada.

Plante took the time to say a few words for Roger Thibault, a member of the first same-sex couple to be legally joined in a civil union in North America. The 77-year-old died Friday in the arms of the man he shared his life with for 50 years.

Other politicians in attendance Sunday were NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly, federal ministers Pascale St-Onge and Steven Guilbeault, Liberal Party of Quebec Leader Marc Tanguay and Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

Several Quebec MNAs from many parties also attended.

Pascale St-Onge speaks at Montreal Pride festival alongside Valerie Plante, Melanie Joly and Steven Guilbeault on Aug. 13, 2023. (Brittany Henriques, CityNews)

The ensuing party at Montreal’s Olympic Park Esplanade caps off the 17th edition of the Montreal Pride festival.

The 2022 edition of the parade was called off just hours before it was supposed to begin in downtown Montreal, prompting Plante to call for an independent inquiry tasked with determining what went wrong.

It concluded the cancellation was due to a misunderstanding among Montreal Pride festival personnel after they discovered 96 of the 200 volunteers needed to work security for the parade were never recruited.

“I’m beyond excited and beyond prideful that Pride is finally happening this year unlike last year’s last-minute cancellation, which was a bit of a downer,” said Philippe Laurin. “So I’m happy that everything is fun. We have the staff, we have the outfits, we have our community, we have the rainbows.”

Along with the celebrations, many at the parade also emphasized the work that still needs or be done around the world.

“Though for us, we have the luxury of Pride being an actual prideful party,” said Laurin. “Pride is still a protest right now in parts of the world because there are many parts of the world that being part of the LGBTQ community is still not well seen and even punishable by death. So it’s always important to remember we have done a lot of good work and we still have a lot of good work to do. And also to keep in mind all the people who don’t get to celebrate like us in Montreal.”

“No to intolerance,” added Plante. “Our city, Montreal, we like it inclusive and open and we need to fight and continue to support citizens who wants this open and inclusive society.”

—With files from La Presse Canadienne