What Will World Pride Mean to Toronto

May 6, 2014

Scott Mullin, Rev. Brent Hawkes, Gavin Crawford and Kevin Beaulieu In Discussion With Kristyn Wong-Tam:

What Will World Pride Mean to Toronto

Chairman: Andrea Wood, President-Elect, The Empire Club of Canada

Head Table Guests

M.J. Perry, Vice-President and Owner, Mr. Discount Ltd., and Director, The Empire Club of Canada;

Rev. Dr. John Mastandrea, Minister, Metropolitan United Church of Toronto;

Stephanie Karapita, CEO, Casey House;

Scott Kettles, Executive Director, Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives; and

Tom McKaig, Adjunct Professor, University of Guelph, Author for McGraw-Hill Publishers, and Director, The Empire Club of Canada.

Introduction by Andrea Wood

Ladies and gentlemen, Toronto is about to host an extraordinary celebration of LGBTQ culture, World Pride 2014. From June 20 to June 29, the city will be transformed. Celebrants will flock to Toronto from all over the world to participate in a series of events including parades, a human rights conference, street fests, concerts, art exhibits, films, and award presentations. Toronto is the first North American city selected to be a worldwide host. This makes me very proud. It speaks of our city’s reputation for tolerance, compassion, and diversity. It also speaks of the vision, determination, and initiative of several people who worked hard to bring World Pride to Toronto, some of whom are with us today to discuss what World Pride 2014 will mean for our city. Our panel includes moderator, Councillor Kristin Wong-Tam, city councilor for Toronto Centre-Rosedale. Kristin is my city councillor and will be hearing from me later today about a little tree problem on my property. Joining Kristin are Scott Mullen, Reverend Brent Hawkes, Gavin Crawford, and Kevin Beaulieu. I’ll say a little bit about each of them.

Scott Mullen is Vice-President, Community Relations of TD Bank Group. In that capacity he is responsible for TD’s community giving and sponsorships and for its corporate social responsibility agenda and programs in the U.S. and Canada. He is also actively involved in TD’s diversity agenda and has been honoured with a particularly Empire-Club-compatible award for his efforts in support of diversity in Canada, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award. I love that, Scott. Congratulations.

Reverend Brent Hawkes is the senior pastor at the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, where, since 1977, he has been proving that you can be both gay and Christian. He has received numerous awards for his work in advancing human rights, including an Order of Canada. One particularly remarkable fact on his biography is that he officiated at the first legal marriage of a gay or lesbian couple in the history of the world. He then mounted and won a legal fight to force the province to recognize the marriage. What an accomplishment. Congratulations, sir.

Gavin Crawford is a very funny man. He is an award-winning actor and among Canada’s most sought-after comedic and dramatic performers. Gavin appeared in eight seasons of “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” and has received acclaim for both his performances and his writing on that series. He has anticipated in numerous showcases and festivals, and has worked with Toronto’s Second City and the sketch troupe “Pale By Comparison.” He has recently produced several one-man shows. Most recently, he co-created, co-wrote, and starred in Gavin Crawford’s “Wild West,” a series pilot broadcast on CBC. Congratulations.

Last, but certainly not least, Kevin Beaulieu is Executive Director of Pride Toronto and World Pride 2014. Under Kevin’s leadership, Pride Toronto has made a huge difference in our city. Each year, it draws over one million attendees. In 2013, it had an economic impact of $287 million, not to mention the inspiration and hope that it provides to its many participants. Each of our panelists has a unique perspective on today’s topic: “What will World Pride mean to Toronto?” Please join me in welcoming them to the Empire Club of Canada.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Thank you very much, Andrea. I hope everyone is having a very good time and that you’ve enjoyed your lunch. I’m actually thrilled to be here with you this afternoon. We have a very exciting discussion ahead, and of course you’re all here to listen, and also to, I think, reflect on what World Pride means to the City of Toronto. And of course, it’s a real honour for the City of Toronto to be the host city, the first time that this national, international, global phenomenal event called World Pride is actually going to take place in a North American context. And the best person to start us off in this discussion, I think, is Kevin Beaulieu, who was one of the driving forces, of course, of World Pride. I know, Kevin, your work plate is super full, but I’m just going to ask you to do a little bit of work and get us off on this discussion. In your opinion, what is the importance of World Pride and the history of Pride Toronto and how did we actually get to host this fantastic international event?

Kevin Beaulieu

Well, thank you. Many people have different opinions on when it began. It really began in the early 1970s and was essentially a picnic on the Toronto Islands with a few dozen people. And then it grew and in 1981 it was incorporated. It grew again, and more people joined, and as the fight progressed, it became a very important, galvanizing event annually in our community, through good times and through more difficult times; the times when we came together to face the HIV-AIDS crisis and when we came together to celebrate the recognition of same-sex marriages.

It happens every June in the streets of Toronto. The community has diversified and the event has diversified to incorporate and to acknowledge the contributions of the many people over generations who have built such an important event, not only in our communities, but increasingly over time for the City of Toronto itself. As you heard, in the last couple of years the event has drawn 1.2 million people into the city over the course of Pride Weekend. It’s run by a small staff of six to nine people—we have a few more this year for World Pride—and a volunteer board of 12 directors and 2,000 volunteers who we’re going to be recruiting for the event this year. It’s really a very large undertaking, and these people commit themselves and work at it because they know the impact that Pride has had in our communities and in their lives, and they want to contribute back.

I don’t know if I’m supposed to ask questions of the crowd, but who’s been to Pride before in this room? Yes. That’s usually the case when I ask that question. It really is a core part of the summer in the City of Toronto. Sometimes we’re there to celebrate defiantly, when we have been told we shouldn’t. But it’s a real gathering and a special moment for most of the people in this room, I guess.

World Pride is built on what is recognized as one of the world’s most successful and largest Pride festivals. There have been three to date—one in Rome, one in Jerusalem, and one in London, and we know the next one will happen in Madrid in 2017. So it’s still a fairly young institution as these things go. Many communities have a Pride celebration. What World Pride does is create a link. Although we have local celebrations, they’re all part of one global movement seeking LGBT human rights and celebrating our communities and our identities. So that’s the idea behind World Pride in Toronto. It means a larger celebration. It means that we’ve expanded beyond just the downtown street closures that many people know so well, and built the event on the strength of Toronto itself. Other institutions have stepped up in partnership; institutions like TIFF and Inside Out, the AGO, and the Ryerson Image Centre. The list is very, very long. All of these institutions are helping us to celebrate Toronto while we celebrate World Pride. So it really is about LGBTTIQQ2SA communities in Toronto, but also Toronto itself. So that’s a bit of background on Pride Toronto, a little bit of background on World Pride, and I’m interested to hear, of course, what other perspectives there are on the event.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Wow. It’s so much more than drinking. I did not know that.

Kevin Beaulieu

Actually, you know, there is more than drinking.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Let’s talk about drinking.

Kevin Beaulieu

There’s so much to say, but a key aspect of the event is the recognition of the struggle for human rights. I should mention that very importantly amidst the big entertainers— and we’ve had more than we’ve ever had, and they are of a very high calibre—there is a human rights conference, the World Pride Human Rights Conference, which is central to this event as well, where thinkers and activists from countries all around the world, 150 of them, will gather for a dialogue about the advancement of human rights in our communities around the world.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

That’s very exciting. I think there have been a lot of questions in the community and also abroad about the difference between World Pride and a regular Pride. I think we’re getting a good idea of what the difference is. Most recently in the City of Toronto we announced that we’d like to host a big grand Pride wedding. We thought we could recruit up to 200 LGBTQ couples to get married. We wanted the city to open up Casa Loma as an elegant facility to allow marriage for couples who may be coming and travelling from places where they are not permitted to marry. I’m actually thrilled to be sitting here with Reverend Hawkes, because not only is he the first person to ever officiate an LGBT wedding, I know that he did so wearing a bullet-proof vest. Is that correct?

Brent Hawkes

Yes.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Today he’s not wearing a bullet-proof vest because times have changed considerably. But when we look at the movement of LGBTQ equality and two-spirit equality, when we think about the symbolism of what it means when the rainbow banner flies, and when we think about the substance behind the party, which of course is very important—a lot of drinking, a lot of dancing, a lot of partying— how do we reconcile all of that in a global context where there are many countries where, if you are lesbian or gay, you’re still largely persecuted, prosecuted, or put into grave physical, psychological danger? What can we do about that here in Toronto, Canada?

Brent Hawkes

I think that the Human Rights Conference is a crucial part of World Pride this year for a variety of reasons, one of which is there will be activists coming here from around the world. I don’t want to preach, but the Bible says, “To whom much is given, much is required.” We’ve been very, very fortunate in Toronto and in this country, and we have an obligation to people around the world. There are 68 countries in the world where everybody in this room would be arrested for being at this kind of an event. In 10 of those countries, those of us who are gay or lesbian would be executed. We have a responsibility to those folks. Some of them are coming from very dangerous parts around the world for this conference, and this is a great opportunity for us to learn from them and also to share our perspective— the things we’ve tried, that have worked, not worked, etc. And I think as Toronto—the most international city in the world according to the United Nations—plays a role, an appropriate role, a helpful role internationally, this is a great chance for us to learn and to build relationships. So I’m very excited about the Human Rights Conference and I’m really pleased now that Pride Toronto has moved beyond their usual party, although I think that is important, absolutely important, because we need to celebrate our successes. Some of us have some bruises from past struggles and some of us have been around long enough. We’ve seen some changes over the years and to be able to celebrate those changes is a great thing. But we also have to remember that the job is not done, particularly here in Canada, until we get transgender rights passed by the Senate. We still have big pieces of our work yet to do. But World Pride will be another chance to motivate us, to get us moving forward on some of these issues.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

If there was one message that you would leave the audience in terms of an individual capacity, something that they can do individually, what would that be?

Brent Hawkes

Well, for some I would say give money. I think one of the reasons why we’ve made the advances that we’ve made in Canada has been due to places like TD, honestly. And not only just in Canada, but TD in the U.S., where it’s not quite as easy. To do what you do there is amazing and inspiring. I think that the issue for World Pride is to not be an observer. Don’t just sit and watch World Pride happen. Get involved in one of the organizations doing some good work. If you’re able to write a cheque to Pride Toronto to help with some of the extra expenses, do so. But don’t just observe. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage and to be part of it.

Gavin Crawford

And if you meet people who are from a foreign country that may be more oppressed than Canada, make out with them. World Pride, do your bit.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Promote your city.

Gavin Crawford

This is our opportunity.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Because we are at the Empire Club, I will stress to write that cheque. I’m often at Scott’s door saying, “Hey, I’ve got a great project. It involves art and community.” Scott Mullen has a reputation in the corporate sector. For many of us in the LGBT community, I think it’s actually quite extraordinary to see one person’s head, face and name constantly float to the top. I can only imagine the pressures that this man faces, because he’s so well known for reaching out and supporting our community on behalf of the TD Bank. Oftentimes Pride itself is criticized for being overly corporatized. Perhaps there’s just a bit too much of the TD green logo everywhere. But at the same time, we want corporate participation. So here’s a fellow who actually balances the two. How do you do it?

Scott Mullen

Well, I think it’s interesting to go back a bit for us. I find it incredible that we’re having this discussion at the Empire Club, which shows that quite a bit of progress has happened. We started sponsoring Pride in Toronto 10 years ago, which doesn’t sound like that long ago. But 10 years ago, our motivation in sponsoring Pride was, believe it or not, to send a message internally within the bank. We were at the stage of trying to develop a broad-based diversity agenda at TD covering lots of groups, and the LGBT community was part of that. We were having a very difficult time trying to create an employee network or to get employees engaged. So we decided that the way of sending a signal internally was to do something fairly bold externally. That’s always been a very important part for us. How do we demonstrate to the community our strong support, but also how do we support our employee base? There are 70,000 employees across North America; it is a very large company. So I think from a corporate perspective, there are multiple motivations. It’s not just about having your logo at an event externally. It really is genuinely about demonstrating support for the community.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Does that mean those logos are coming down?

Scott Mullen

No, they’ll be discreet.

Brent Hawkes

I think some of us would advocate for more logos— not fewer. We would like to see more corporations step up and follow that lead. Corporations are able to do more to influence government policy than some of our activist organizations that are very poorly funded are able to do. I think it’s a great thing for more corporations to be involved, and I want to see green and other colours there prominently. I also want to encourage those corporations as they donate money to also keep talking about the next step in terms of influence. I don’t know how many countries around the world TD is in now, but what you’re doing in the U.S. is powerful. We could get other agencies in other parts of the world to advance our agenda.

Kevin Beaulieu

I was in Philadelphia to invite the Equality Forum to World Pride late last week, and TD was recognized there by the Equality Forum in a state, which is struggling with the same-sex marriage recognition issue right now. The person, who handed over the award, was from Toronto and he just beamed with pride to know that TD, a corporation associated with his hometown, was being recognized for its work abroad as well.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

So there you have it. The official position from the gays of Toronto is that there’s a big bowl of logo soup. Jump right in. I know there are some corporate bigwigs here. From talking about the corporate contributions to Pride, let’s talk now about starving artists and the arts and cultural sector that is so embedded into the urban and cultural fabric of Pride. We can’t really talk about Pride without looking at the cultural contributions of LGBT artists and performers. So I think this is probably a perfect place for Gavin. You’ve watched this event as an out-gay man, and what do you think?

Gavin Crawford

I’m usually doing Pride shows or things, the kind that is usually kept sort of in and around the village. It seems this year there are a lot of places that are really expanding. They’re having Pride events. They’re hiring local artists to do things during World Pride. I’m plugging myself. Sharon Matthews and I are doing a show, but we’re doing it at Buddies. But we’re also doing it at Second City, because I’m a Second City guy. They contacted me and said they wanted to do a Pride program. I think this is important for the city, and it’s a chance for our artists to show what we can do for people from all around the world. The international spotlight is going on in Toronto for a more positive reason than the he-who shall- not-be-named show is very good. Let’s re-focus our international reputation a little bit.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Keep going, keep going.

Gavin Crawford

Canada is a strange country for me artistically, because a lot of times we think we’re done. We think being gay is okay in Canada, so Canada’s good. We’re good. But if you look at our television and stuff, there’s not a huge gay representation on our screens, the Canadian screens. There are not leading gay characters in shows, Canadian shows. Where are they? America is actually ahead of us in terms of that level of representation so we have a little bit of work to do. It’s wrong of us to think it’s done. It calls attention to how far we’ve come, but also how far we can kind of still go.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

When I speak with Canadian artists, oftentimes we talk about CanCon. Do we have enough Canadian content here? Do we have enough Canadian artists performing at our Canadian culturally produced events? And with Pride, to put another lens over that, do we have enough LBGTQ artists? Maybe some of them are emerging artists. Are they represented at our festival because this is all publicly funded? So if there’s an opportunity, do we not hire people from Canada to promote Canadian artists?

Gavin Crawford

I mean, we do. It’s a very tough call, because we as a Canadian populace have learned not to get overjoyed by our Canadian artists. We’re just happier if Cyndi Lauper comes. It’s just the way of the world. It’s a behemoth if you know what I mean? Jann Arden’s coming—that’s good. Cyndi Lauper’s coming; I’m getting tickets. We just do that. We’re a small population. I work at Buddies a lot, and I like what Brent is doing, but if you look at the Pride program, even just the World Pride program that Buddies has done, they have some international artists coming in, but do they really focus on promoting Canadian artists? I don’t know. I haven’t looked at the entertainment schedule. I know there are some big announcements coming up. I hope one or two of those are Canadian, but maybe they’re not.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Can we get a sneak preview from Kevin Beaulieu?

Kevin Beaulieu

I see that there are people joining us from OLG who have helped us bring some Canadian talent to the festival. Our main headliner for the closing ceremony is in fact Tegan and Sara. For the opening, for the World Pride gala, k.d. lang will be the performer in this room, but it’s not necessarily well known. In addition to these people Melissa Etheridge is a visiting international artist for the opening ceremony. A Ugandan playwright is coming to do a stage reading of a play. We have actually put about 250 to 300 artists on our stages over the course of the weekend, and about 95 per cent of them are local LGBT talent. They don’t always get the headlines, but we’re very proud to host them on our stages, to pay them for their work, and to give them an opportunity to develop an audience. I think it’s one of the most important things Pride does.

Scott Mullen

I think another cool angle this year is the engagement of organizations and institutions like the AGO and the Ryerson Image Centre. Power Plant, I know, is planning to do something. We typically have seen Pride as kind of in and around the village, as you said earlier. There is actually a fairly engaged institutional audience in the city wanting to participate in this event so people are really thinking that this is great for the city and should be a broader exercise and a broader event than just the sort of Church and Wellesley village thing.

Brent Hawkes

And if you think of past Prides, not only the physical location where things have happened, but the organiza that have been engaged with us, this has been a dramatic expansion of both of those, both in terms of space—things will happen all over the city—and in terms of organization. What does World Pride mean for Toronto? It means that we’re building this movement in dramatic ways and we are taking a big step forward in terms of increasing space and engaging lots of other organizations. So we’re going to benefit a lot from hosting World Pride.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

I know that the City of Toronto hands out some small community grants. They are largely in response to applicants that come in and say, “Hey, we’d like to organize something local in our community.” They’re very neighbourhood- specific. Our most recent grant allocation went to four communities outside the downtown core that were specifically Pride-themed for World Pride. Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Area was thinking about hosting a Pride-themed type of event, as well as Liberty Village. It’s really definitely expanding outside the core. Some neighbourhoods may not see the same type of critical mass and support. You can walk down Church and Wellesley and everybody just leaves you be. You’re actually not special because there’s way too many of you. But if you go to Scarborough and you’re kicking up your heels, perhaps you do stand out a little bit. How do our community members, who are living in areas that perhaps have not traditionally been as supportive and supporting, respond to that? That’s for anybody.

Kevin Beaulieu

This year’s Pride parade is seven days long. It starts in Etobicoke and it ends at the Scarborough subway stop. It’s going to be amazing, but drink a lot of water.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Getting the road closure permit will be no problem.

Brent Hawkes

I think some of us, because we’ve been around for a long time, think of it as a major event or a major action. But just think of how much courage it’s taken some people to put a rainbow flag in the front yard during Pride. You see that more and more and more further afield. And they’re coming out to their neighbours in some cases, not knowing the reaction of some folks. It can be little things like that that’s huge in terms of creating safe space and expanding the places where gays and lesbians feel safe. I think that we’re going to see rainbow flags in parts of the city where they’ve never been seen before. People are going to come out and talk to their neighbours. I think those little things are amazing.

Kevin Beaulieu

The Toronto Public Library is programming for World Pride, and that’s another way of getting into those neighbourhoods. People of faith across the city have networks so even though they may be geographically distant they’re close in other ways. I know that there’s planning underway for what is apparently the first LGBT interfaith celebration and service during World Pride. So that’s another way of connecting communities, not geographically, but reaching out in other ways through other networks.

Brent Hawkes

This may be veering off in another direction.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Go ahead. Take us.

Brent Hawkes

We’ve got some organizations in this city doing amazing work and have an opportunity to network with places around the world. The Centre for Sexual Diversity at the University of Toronto trains people to go to all parts of the world to talk about sexual diversity, and engage in those kinds of conversations. We webcast our services to 120 countries now. We have been able to talk to some countries about translating our service into Russian. I’m going to a conference in Estonia in a few days and the people there want to talk about that. So the chances for us to engage people from around the world are amazing.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Let’s talk about legacy for a minute. I think that, whenever I hear about cities hosting big international events, we love to talk about legacy. So by the time the party is finished, the 10 days of celebration, you’ve got a hangover, then what? What would Toronto’s legacy be after a million-dollar production? We haven’t built an aquatic centre, and I don’t see a velodrome anywhere. What’s Toronto’s legacy for World Pride? Why are we doing this?

Kevin Beaulieu

I can begin if you like. Part of the legacy has already been constructed. In the two years leading up to the event, with very strong support from Tourism Toronto and the province, that have an interest in extending the invitation around the world, the invitation has been extended, and that is a reputational legacy. People get to know that Toronto is a place to go and to be that is associated with something like World Pride, the human rights component and the celebration. We’ve put the word out into the world, and that’s a lasting legacy, building on the work of many generations to achieve it. But that sends out a signal. It offers comfort and support and strength to people in solidarity and describes Toronto as a welcoming place. I mean, it’s not a velodrome. It’s not a new highway. But it is a very important legacy.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

It’s not even a new subway.

Kevin Beaulieu

When we went out in early consultations with the community to ask what it wanted to see at World Pride, one of the first answers I got back was “a new transit system.” I said I’d look into it.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Here’s the funding.

Scott Mullen

There’s an internal legacy in the city. There’s the external reputation, but there’s also a legacy I think that’s left internally. I think lots of companies are very active in the diversity space. But there are lots of people in this city who go to work every day who are gay or lesbian and are not out at work because they don’t feel comfortable. Lots of big companies have tried to address that, but I am sure there are lots of medium sized employers who have not. So we still have a lot of work to do. While we have a great reputation, that reputation will be cemented and expanded upon by World Pride. There’s still a lot of work to do in the City of Toronto, in southern Ontario, in Wawa and places like that. I think we should not exaggerate how far we’ve come. We still have a long way to go. It’s still a journey. And it’s not just a journey about this file. It’s a broader diversity journey as well. So I think we should be very proud we have an opportunity to showcase this city to the world, but we also should recognize that this is a journey for many people, and that journey will be helped by what happens at the end of June.

Brent Hawkes

I think of two things in terms of legacy. One is how well we use World Pride to build the movement, and that will be the legacy—an increased movement with more people involved, more people out, etc. But I also think, although in numbers it’s going to be smaller, maybe even more important is what we learn at that Human Rights Conference. How many countries now are going to be part of the Human Rights Conference?

Kevin Beaulieu

I think it’s about 150, 170 people.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Including the former prime minister of Iceland, I understand.

Kevin Beaulieu

Former prime minister of Iceland.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

She and her wife are both attending.

Brent Hawkes

People from Uganda, Russia etc. are coming. What we learn at that conference about how we can appropriately be helpful I think will be a huge legacy issue over the long haul.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

And number two?

Brent Hawkes

Number one was building the movement here and number two was what we learn at the conference.

Kevin Beaulieu

World Pride will be a legacy, too, because it is only the fourth one. And what we’re hoping is that this will be remembered as the World Pride where it really happened, it really came together, it really became that galvanizing moment that we were able to hand off to the next city.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

The last one was not so successful in London.

Kevin Beaulieu

Arguably, you’re right.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

The brand itself was not as popular, was not as commonly known as the Olympics. What happened in London? And what do we need to avoid so it doesn’t happen in Toronto?

Kevin Beaulieu

I was in London to see what happened there.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

In 2012?

Kevin Beaulieu

In 2012. They had some trouble pulling it together. There was not a great relationship between the Pride organizers and the City of London. In fact, they didn’t have a parade permit in the end. They weren’t granted one. So they had to exercise their right to march politically. They still had a great Pride, but it simply didn’t come together. It was sort of sandwiched between the Jubilee and the Olympics, the way the organizers had hoped that it would. So it’s up to us to rectify that and to set it on its right footing. And we have the support of our city, let me say.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Yes, definitely the support of the city is there. We’re even actually allowing Pride Toronto to erect a stage right underneath the Nathan Phillips Square fountains so they can blow off some fireworks. And that’s the very first time that we’re doing it there. You know political support is necessary. You’re using the streets and all the city assets. I know there’s been some pretty good provincial support there. Did you have some federal support as well?

Kevin Beaulieu

The federal government has supported us for years. Canadian Heritage provides us with a grant specifically for Canadian talent at the festival, and that support remains in place. The province has really stepped up in a big way, I would say, in the past couple of years, helping with the promotions and marketing to extend the invitation to communities around the world, but also in helping to secure and pay the talent and the production. Our government partners have really stepped up at all three levels.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

That’s great. So that means in setting the conditions for a successful Pride you’ve got all the right ingredients. Now you just have to control the weather.

Kevin Beaulieu

That’s my job.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

That’s your job.

Scott Mullen

I thought that was his job.

Brent Hawkes

I’ll take credit after the fact.

Gavin Crawford

They always do.

Scott Mullen

So far it looks like we should be lighting more candles somewhere.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Well, every time I look into a crystal ball I see nothing but glass. I see my friend, Phil Gillies. Not to put you on the spot, Phil, but Phil is a Progressive Conservative candidate, a member of the rainbow family, who is running in the riding of Brant. It’s great to know that we’ve got that provincial support right now. As we go through the election cycle—there’s a city election, there’s a provincial election, and a federal election—all sorts of things can change. So I think we must demonstrate that Pride is not just a great party, but it’s also got real cultural integration, fabric connection to the city. It’s not just held downtown, but it’s being held across the city, with all sorts of political stripes supporting it. We would love to see it continue to move forward. What is your vision for our community in 10 years? I just mentioned I had a crystal ball and I saw nothing but glass. But these guys are special, because they’re the panelists and I get to ask the questions. So in 10 years, when we talk about LGBT quality and inclusion, where do you think we might be? Somebody’s recording. We’re going to check your answer in 10 years.

Brent Hawkes

I think we’ve had some false starts in Toronto at trying to engage things internationally. We’ve done some things that we thought were going to be helpful but in the end turned out inappropriate and not helpful. I’m hopeful that 10 years from now, this city is playing a huge role internationally, appropriately so, engaging people on the ground in those areas, so that we can make a difference. Because every week, we gather together, we party, we go to faith communities, we go to sporting events. We have a freedom here that is exceptional. And we have a responsibility. I hope that 10 years from now, you see us really engaged in what’s going on around the world and doing so in really appropriate and helpful ways, and that World Pride is the launch for that shift.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Can you give me an example of what that engagement would look like? Don’t leave us hanging in the abstract.

Brent Hawkes

Sure. A lot of us are really concerned about what’s going on in Russia and what’s going on in Uganda. And yet I guess probably most of us are doing nothing about it. So we have a concern, but we don’t know how to focus on that. We should be having conversations about when a boycott is appropriate or counterproductive. What can we do to fund organizations without it being seen to be a North American funding organization and having it bounced back against us? What’s the right way to help the situation in Uganda? If you go out in a satellite and look back at planet Earth, there are no national boundaries. We are responsible for each other. So what can we do that’s appropriate to help Uganda? Some people are saying to fund organizations that funnel money through another organization to get it on the ground in Uganda, without it being able to be traced back to North America. Are there creative ways that we can do things? Do we need to bring folks from Uganda here to train them? Do we need to have Radio Free Africa, where we use radio stations to try to get into homes on the ground? What do we do to change the situation? I don’t know the answer to that. I’m looking forward to listening at the conference to try to figure it out. But my guess is that if you spun the globe around and you put your finger on any country in the world, there will be LGBTQ people in this city from that country who want to help. So what can we do to help?

Kevin Beaulieu

First of all, the Trans communities are really making some headway right now. They’re working very hard, achieving some results, and I hope that those are solidified, especially in federal law. But they continue to move forward and have success. Kids in school, who are still being teased and beaten up, know where they can find support and help. As we gain acceptance into mainstream society here, I hope we don’t lose the cultural bonds that we’ve built. I think there’s a great risk that we’ll become comfortable, and that events like this will be fewer and further between. I hope Pride will play a continued role, a continuing role in bringing us together regularly, because as far as I’m concerned, our social and our political strength has always been grounded in the social aspect of what we do and who we are. Out of the bars and into the streets doesn’t happen if you’re not in the bars in the first place.

Gavin Crawford

That’s kind of my wish too. Ten years ago I sort of wished that we all looked as good as we do right now. In 10 years, I would hope that we’re still having maybe fewer battles to fight, but I hope that we’re still having a big celebration. I hope there is a celebration of not only solidarity, but a huge celebration of diversity—diversity not only with the community, but diversity within the community; the married people, the non-monogamous people, every kind of people. I hope that we’re all coming together, we’re not fighting against each other, and that 10 years from now, we’ve managed to come to some kind of collective agreement that people are valuable regardless, and that’s what we celebrate.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

The glass is half-full and I see that you keep filling it. Fantastic.

Scott Mullen

I think the internal or the domestic agenda is as important as the international. I think we sometimes—just to go back to that—still have debates about gay-straight alliances at schools. We still have lots of bullying issues. I would hope that we would be celebrating more the status of the successes of the community and be less worried about the fact that we need to protest. I suspect we won’t be as far as that, but I hope we keep our eye on the ball on the sorts of things that are going on at home and abroad.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Were you going to add something?

Andrea Wood

No.

Kristyn Wong-Tam

This is the second or third time I’ve been to the Empire Club. Every single time it’s somehow associated with the head table. But I think that the fact that we’re here at the Empire Club and the Empire Club is hosting us is a reason to celebrate. So it’s just another sort of incremental step to where we need to go. Thank you very much to the Empire Club.

I want to thank our panelists, because I often see these fellows at a cocktail party, but I really felt this was a nice conversation; what we got to have is a conversation. Sorry you didn’t get to ask any questions, but I have learned a tremendous amount just from listening to them, in terms of insights and vision, and some of the battle scars. I’m hearing from you, Brent, that there’s a few. And certainly we are at a place and time in the City of Toronto, which I believe can only get better, because my goodness, it can’t get worse.

When we are ready to welcome the world and roll out that rainbow carpet—and it is going to go around the city from North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, and right along the waterfront—I would love our city to be showcased in the very best way and the very best that we have is really our neighbourhoods and people when it comes down to it. I know that there are oftentimes discussions about what to see when you come to Toronto and there are lots of things to see, but I’m hearing in certain neighbourhoods, that I would not normally have heard from, that they’re really excited about this summer, and that World Pride is going to be a signature event. It’s actually an historic moment for the city, not just because we’re hosting World Pride. It’s actually an historic moment for the city because it is the largest event we’ve ever hosted in the City of Toronto, the largest global event we’ve ever hosted. Up to two million participants are expected over the 10- day celebration of World Pride. I feel so optimistic, and I’m seeing it now in our neighbourhoods and I am certainly feeling it. I’m just absolutely thrilled, thrilled that you have been able to join us today and thrilled that the Empire Club was able to host us. Thank you very much, everyone. Thank you.

The appreciation of the meeting was expressed by M.J. Perry, Vice- President and Owner, Mr. Discount Ltd., and Director, The Empire Club of Canada.