Many members of the LGBTQ community expressed approval of Black Lives Matter’s decision to stage a sit-in at Pride Parade at a post-mortem meeting held Tuesday.

The first of two town hall meetings hosted by Pride Toronto was meant to get feedback on how to make future festivals “safe and inclusive,” but it briefly turned tense Tuesday night

Part way through the open-mic portion of the meeting, a man appeared to curse at members of Black Lives Matter, prompting those assembled at the meeting to shout and call for the man who cursed to be excluded.

The man was not asked to leave. He stayed and the meeting continued, with many present expressing approval of Black Lives Matter’s move to shut down the Pride parade on July 3.

The session was announced earlier this month following controversy about police involvement in the annual event.

During this year’s parade, members of Black Lives Matter- Toronto staged a sit-in protest, delaying the event for about 30 minutes.

The parade only moved forward after Pride Toronto’s executive director at the time Matthew Chantelois signed a list of the group’s demands, which included a call to ban police floats and booths from future parades.

The following day, Chantelois said it was not up to him to decide whether police floats should be banned from the parade but his comments did not stop criticism from both police union members and Black Lives Matter –Toronto organizers about his handling of the situation.

Chantelois resigned from his post on Aug. 10.

Black Lives Matter member Rodney Diverlus said the turnout at the meeting and his group’s positive reception is great considering the public backlash that followed the group’s sit-in at Pride.

“People are coming out here and rooting for us.”

Diverlus said his group has also received warm feedback about its request for greater emphasis and money made available for Pride stages that cater to black and South Asian people.

“Our community is very diverse and our community has a variety of different needs. If the organization is meant to reflect and support the community then that means there are some changes that need to be made both systemically and in the programming as a whole.”

The board said at the meeting that all of Black Lives Matter’s demands will be met, but the request to exclude police from the parade will be run through a dispute resolution process before a decision is made.

Both town hall meetings will be held at Ada Slaight Hall, located at 585 Dundas St. E., beginning at 6:30 p.m.