Toronto officially marked the start of Pride Month on Monday, with the raising of the Pride Flag outside City Hall.
Mayor Olivia Chow was joined by several city councillors and members from Pride Toronto for the ceremony, which kicks off a month of activities and events leading up the official four-day festival from June 26 to 29.
“Pride Month is both a celebration and call to action,” Chow said ahead of the official flag raising.
“A reminder of the ongoing work needed to make sure that we have equality, safety and belonging for everyone, no matter gender identity [or] sexual orientation.”
This year’s Pride Toronto theme is “All In.
The raising of the Pride Flag comes just days after the organization lost two major corporate sponsors, Google and Home Depot, following a number of other corporate sponsorship losses and/or funding reductions in recent months.
The non-profit in charge of the 2SLGBTQ+ festival is facing a shortfall of around $700,000 as a result.
“We’ve all seen the depressing news,” Chow said.
“Pride Toronto has lost some corporate sponsors because they just don’t know who they are. They’re short sighted… don’t shop at Home Depot, guys.”
The city has increased it’s funding for the festival this year, providing $350,000 and committing to increased funding for the next two years.
“You cannot be supporting pride only when it’s convenient to do so,” Toronto Centre Coun. and chair of the 2SLGBTQ+ Advisory Committee, Chris Moise, said at the flag raising ceremony.
“I would encourage all of our true allies to step up and continue to support Pride Toronto in their mission. Show us the money. Put your money where your mouth is.”
Home Depot provided a written statement to CP24 over the weekend, writing in part, “We continually review our nonprofit giving and decided not to contribute to this event this year with no agreement in place to do so.”
“We continue to participate in Pride activities throughout Canada and look forward to working with Toronto Pride on future opportunities.”
At today’s ceremony, Pride Toronto’s executive director Kojo Modeste said they will not be quick to forgive sponsors that pulled out of this year’s festival.
“I am very sorry to say that if at this point in time you’re turning your back on us, when you come back, the locks of the house will be changed and the key that you have will not work,” he said.
With files from CP24’s Joanna Lavoie and CTV’s Aarjavee Raaj
