Pride Month is a time to celebrate and reaffirm our collective commitment to the ongoing struggle for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights and liberation. As a union, CUPE Ontario stands firmly in support of expressions of Pride, from mainstream Pride events to alternative Pride demonstrations. The choice is not binary. Pride is not just a parade, not just a party; it is a protest, a declaration of defiance against oppression, a claiming and reclaiming of space in our communities, and a reminder that our fight is far from over.
As trade unionists, we take part in Pride events for many reasons, in communities large and small across Ontario. One reason is that it’s vital for us, as a union, to stand with our members, visibly and unapologetically.
We also recognize that Pride will never be confined to corporate-sponsored parades with sanitized messages. Pride must remain a space for radical resistance, for voices that refuse to be moderated and for demands that cannot be ignored.
The vulnerability of “institutionalized” Pride has never been clearer. With complete predictability, big corporate sponsors of 2SLGBTQIA+ institutions like Pride Toronto have succumbed to pressures from the right. This year, many have withdrawn even their “pinkwashed” support, in full knowledge that 2SLGBTQIA+ rights are threatened in ways we haven’t seen in decades.
True allies do not behave this way. True allies and supporters are there in good times and in bad.
As CUPE Ontario continues to celebrate Pride everywhere and it in all its forms, we join forces with those who are fighting to reclaim Pride as protest.
We do this because we see the effects of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hate, at home and abroad. We see the repression happening in real time, from rainbows being banned from classrooms to chilling cuts to visibility and support for queer and trans youth in schools.
The way these cuts Consider Fort Lauderdale: once a thriving hub of Pride, the city has seen its parade shrink under the weight of fear and repression. All of this began before the arrival of President Donald Trump and the chaos he has created south of our borders. Before our eyes, 2SLGBTQIA+ people are being pushed back into the closet. We cannot let this happen.
As Canadians, we often pride ourselves on being different from the United States; respect and support for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights are among these important distinctions. But we are not immune to the rising tide of hate. Anti-2SLGBTQIA+ violence is increasing everywhere. Attacks on trans people, on queer communities, on our right to exist safely and openly, are happening here, and even more overtly in Alberta and in New Brunswick. The message from the far-right is clear: they want us to go back.
We refuse.
No one – and especially not white gay men – should deceive themselves into thinking they are safe or privileged enough to ignore this fight. The labour movement has always stood up for the most vulnerable, and we will not abandon trans people, queer youth, racialized queer communities, Two-Spirit communities, or anyone facing the brunt of this backlash.
At convention after convention, CUPE Ontario members have passed resolutions affirming our collective commitment to 2SLGBTQIA+ rights. We see what is happening around us now and we will stand in solidarity.
Pride is resistance. Pride is a reminder that we will not be erased. Pride is a declaration that we will fight, together, as workers, as comrades, as a movement.
We are not going back.
