It’s a pivotal time for queer visibility in Canada and, indeed, around the world. From drag events being aggressively protested here at home alongside a reported increase in hate crimes against queer individuals, to anti-trans legislation being passed in the U.S., this June’s Pride Month may feel tenuous for many members of the LGBTQ community.
Visibility, however, is – and always has been – key to liberation for queer folks. Nowhere is this more clear than at the ArQuives, an archive of LGBTQ history in Toronto’s Gay Village. This year, to commemorate its 50th anniversary, the organization partnered with the Magenta Foundation to release the book and exhibition, Joy. Sorrow. Anger. Love. PRIDE: A Celebration of Toronto Pride, 1970s – Present.
“We have all gone to a Pride, everybody that we know has attended Pride,” says editor MaryAnn Camilleri. “But nobody has really celebrated in this specific way.”
:format(jpeg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/6X56BLEODJFQ5DHCVCQGAEXGGE.jpeg)
Lisa Kiss Design
The book, produced through a curatorial partnership with OCADU and Toronto Metropolitan University, is a collection of images from both the ArQuives and the general public that represent Toronto’s queer history.
The images run the gamut from the immediately political to joyful displays of love, community and kinship. The images, displayed alongside essays from pioneering Canadian queer activists, represent an indelible piece of the country’s LGBTQ history.
At a time when visibility is as important as it is precarious for many members of Canada’s LGBTQ communities, the project’s timing is significant: “I hope people remember that together, we’re stronger,” Camilleri says of those who read the book. “If we come together with an open heart and an open mind, we can bridge the future.”
Clare Vander Meersch, the Globe and Mail photo editor who curated this photo essay, is a director of the Magenta Foundation.
Canada’s queer pride: More from The Globe and Mail
The Decibel podcast
The 2021 census was Canada’s first to count transgender and non-binary populations. Dr. El Chenier of Simon Fraser University spoke last year with The Decibel about what the data showed and why it matters. Subscribe for more episodes.
More reading
Lavender Wild music festival to focus on queer resistance, empowerment
LGBTQ community carves out space for hockey with its own Canada Cup
Celebrating Pride on the farm: Diversity is on the rise in agriculture
:format(jpeg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tgam/HYXNE4AKHBH5HGRO2WCH3NJJWE.png)
