Take Pride

One of the main reasons I enjoy Pride in Toronto is that we all have to freedom to go and be whoever we are however we are. We can be thin, fat, young, old, gay, straight, white, brown or even purple. Anything we want.  And people will accept us as we are.

But it does take a lot of courage to step out on that street the first time with all of the pieces of yourself hanging out for people to see. Those piece of yourself which you’ve hidden away or apologised for or compromised into oblivion or were told are just plain wrong. And it does take a lot of tolerance to walk down a street full of people expressing themselves, being themselves, uncompromisingly.

This is a freedom fought for by many communities in our city, country and world and is hard-won in the places where the fight is finally over. We should never forget that our actions and choices can either reinforce or erode this freedom for all of us.