Sunday, June 25, 2006

Today Toronto . . . Tomorrow the World

Here are a few excerpts from CTV's coverage of Toronto's "pride day" parade:

Hundreds of thousands of revellers lined up along the streets cheering on
Toronto's Pride Parade spectacle, one of North America's largest celebrations of
gay culture. The colourful show featured drag queens, participants covered
in body paint and scantily clad dancers gyrating atop flamboyant floats. About
30,000 people took part in the march, armed with banners, rainbow
flags, waterguns, whistles and horns while they waved to the throngs of
onlookers.
. . .
Bill Schiller, the parade's first-ever international grand marshal, led the procession followed by a banner that read, "We march for those who can't." . . . "It's very important for all of us . . . to be aware that half the world still bans homosexual relationships," he told the Canadian Press on Sunday.
. . .
NDP Leader Jack Layton dressed in bright colours and had a rainbow flag draped around his neck as he marched. He reminded gay rights supporters that while Canada is a tolerant nation, homosexuals are still oppressed around the world. "There's a lot of love here. Now what we've got to do is raise the issue internationally. There are still places in the world where you couldn't even think about having a parade like this because there's discrimination," Layton said.


An Interesting theme here, "we march for those who can't," "we have to raise this issue internationally." Apparently the perceived struggle has been won in Canada, now they must ensure other countries follow Canada's lead. Here's another example of the backward logic of those claiming to represent tolerance and diversity. Supposedly Pride Day is about celebrating diversity. However, since people in other countries hold diverse opinions on whether flaunting sundry sexual passions is a virtue in itself, Canadians must educate them.

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