From the first demonstrations taking place in Ottawa and Vancouver in 1971 to Toronto Pride in 2026, the celebration of Pride has changed in many ways. This has sparked much conversation in the 2SLGBTQ+ community both online and in person.
“I want to see our whole community there, I want to see people with disabilities there. I want to see people of all the colors that we have, and all the places that we have, and so on,” Cait Glasson, local 2SLGBTQ+ activist, said.
Glasson discussed her involvement in the Waterloo Region’s Pride movement, which began in 1995 when she advocated for Pride Day recognition that was ultimately rejected. Despite this, Glasson organized the first Pride event in 1996 at Kitchener City Hall, attended by close to 100 people.
“The very first Pride I attended was Mumbai Pride. It was my first time seeing glorious, shameless, proud queer fellows marching down the street, waving the pride flag, just so free and liberated and I was still trying to navigate what it meant to be queer,” Aashay Dalvi, a local member of the queer community, said.
Dalvi experienced tri-Pride for the past three years. They enjoy relaxing in the park and taking in the sun, vendors and community members. This year, rather than tri-Pride, they went to Grand River Pride in Cambridge due to a conflict in scheduling. Dalvi enjoyed Grand River pride’s detailed schedule, route map and performer lineup shared far in advance.
“I’ve tried to attend Abolitionist Pride every year, which is the alternative Pride that takes place at the same time as the main Toronto Pride Sunday. That feels more centered on liberation, and less on Rainbow Capitalism,” Dalvi said.
Dalvi also highlighted their work with the Yellowknife School Board to incorporate racially mindful queer literature. Their work was to find ways of incorporating the history of the Nakba and the Palestinian movement within school curriculum.
“I’d also like to see more politically active people celebrated a little bit, people who are doing the work to advance our community’s position, our standing, our recognition, our respect. Maybe we have a booth to meet a queer activist,” Glasson said.
Glasson also shared her recent honor at the Spectrum gala on June 17, 2026, receiving the inaugural Cait Glasson Award for queer activism. Glasson encourages anyone who is interested in queer advocacy to reach out to her at cavebabe21@gmail.com.
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