This weekend, Pride Toronto decided to call off its 2024 march early – rather than break with corporate sponsors that are complicit in Israel’s genocidal siege.
For months, community members have been calling on Pride Toronto to break with organizations that are complicit in imperialist crimes – especially in Gaza.
Having been ignored, this weekend, they brought corporate Pride to a halt with a sit-in – as Black Lives Matter did in 2016.
They denounced the organizers for partnering with companies and politicians that are complicit in genocide, and demanded a response from Pride Toronto’s executives.
“We’re here for Palestine,” protester Layla Salman said. “We’re here to draw attention to the cause.”
“There is no pride in genocide,” said another protester.
Instead of meeting their demands, however, Pride Toronto decided to cancel the remainder of the rally. Executive Director Kojo Modeste insisted Pride was “just not the place.”
Apparently, Toronto Pride was the place for TD Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and other corporations that are linked to illegal settlements and to arms manufacturers. The march was the place for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, which has called for the Israeli military to “plow” through Palestinian homes in the occupied territories. Toronto Pride was also the place for Justin Trudeau, Chrystia Freeland and other bourgeois politicians who are helping arm Israel.
The irony of an organization that claims to stand for human rights partnering with companies and politicians that support genocide is glaring.
But it is part of a long trend.
Pride Toronto has marked itself, for years now, as a capitalist entity, partnering with Fortune 500 corporations every year, along with their politicians – to help them launder their reputations. This has meant accepting all the injustices of the capitalist system, from police brutality and racism, to genocide and more.
Ultimately, accepting the capitalist system means accepting the system’s crimes.
Those who want genuine liberation must consciously struggle to overthrow the capitalists and their politicians – including the ones who march in Pride.
