There's a lot of work that needs to be done to make our communities better: safer, fairer, and more inclusive. One important way to build a brighter future is to honour, listen to, learn about, and celebrate the diverse communities we're privileged to have here in the GTA.
We may not be able to enjoy our usual Pride Month traditions like marching in the Parade this year, but we can share some of the many virtual activities, resources, and inspiring stories that will spark your celebratory spirit all month long! Our YMCA’s Pride Committee curated this list of special virtual offerings you can join in on to honour Pride Month 2020.
DANCE
Pump up the volume and sing, dance, and celebrate at home, to the sound of 2SLGBTQ+ artists with the YMCA of Greater Toronto Pride Committee’s Spotify playlist.
CELEBRATE
| MON. JUNE 1 12:00 – 1:00 PM | Official Flag Raising (City of Toronto) Join Mayor John Tory online from Toronto City Hall in celebration of the Official Flag Raising Ceremony and Proclamation of Pride Month. |
| WEDNESDAYS JUNE 3, 10, 17, 24 1:00 PM | Drag Queen Storytime (Durham Youth Pride & Durham Region Libraries) Each library will present one story time, hosted as a Facebook Live event on the Toronto Drag Queen Storytime Facebook page. |
| THURS. JUNE 11 7:30 – 9:00 PM | Pride Re-Imagined (SpeakOut) A powerful virtual festival of queer power & performance during the pandemic with SpeakOut’s LGBTQ+ activists, creatives, and speakers, followed by a dance party! |
| TUES. JUNE 23 6:00 – 8:30 PM | Colours of the Rainbow – Virtual Pride Party (UofT Scarborough) Featuring LGBTQ2S+ dance choreographers, a virtual voting dance competition & guest speakers. This event will be live streamed on YouTube. |
| JUNE 26 – 28 | Toronto’s Virtual Pride Festival (Pride Toronto) A line up of virtual programming including: Trans Pride, Dyke Rally, Youth Programming, Black Queer Collective, LatinX, Blockorama and more! |
| SAT. JUNE 27 4:00 – 6:00 PM | Virtual Family Pride (Seed & Sprout 2SLGBTQIA Family Programming) Show up with your family in your best PRIDE outfits ready to move your body and connect with community. Live on Facebook. |
| SAT. JUNE 27 | Global Pride Global Pride provides an opportunity for the LGBTI+ community around the world to come together and celebrate diversity and equality during these challenging times. |
| DAILY | Glad Day TV (Glad Day Bookshop) From Vogue workshops to Indigenous crafts, cooking, puppet shows, comedy, and theatre, tune in multiple times a day and see what's on. |
| Queer, Far, Wherever You Are (Buddies & Bad Times Theatre) A digital performance and blog series of queer artists who will share intimate performances from their homes — from burlesque to readings, and DJ sets to makeup tutorials. | |
| Club Quarantine A queer online dance party every night from 9:00 pm to 12:00 am EST (plus 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm pm EST on Saturdays!). | |
| ANYTIME (on YouTube) | Smithsonian Presents: Project Pride A virtual two-hour concert and digital time capsule celebration of LGBTQ+ Heritage, Culture, and History hosted by NPR’s Ari Shapiro, and featuring Alex the Astronaut, Big Freedia, Bright Light Bright Light, Cameron Esposito, Dorian Electra, Girl in Red, Joy Oladokun, Madame Gandhi, mxmtoon, Nakhane, Pabllo Vittar, Pet Shop Boys, Roxane Gay, Rufus Wainwrigt, SOKO, Tig Notaro, VINCINT, and more. |
LEARN
| TUES. JUNE 2 1:00 – 2:30 PM | Webinar (Humber College): Breaking the Silence with Dr. Andrew B. Campbell Dr. Andrew B. Campbell discusses creating safer inclusive spaces for 2SLGBTQ+ communities. |
| TUES. JUNE 9 1:00 – 2:30 PM | Webinar (Humber College): Intersectional Identities with Leon Tsai Leon Tsai explores how intersecting, marginalized peoples including 2SLGBTQ+ communities have been affected during COVID-19. Pre-registration is required. |
| WED. JUNE 10 1:00 – 2:30 PM | Panel (Pride at Work): Queer and Trans Women Leading the Way A virtual panel discussion to bring light to the many ways that queer and trans women are instigators of innovation and champions of inclusion in workplaces. |
| THURS. JUNE 18 3:00 – 4:00 PM | Webinar (YMCA of GTA): Harm Reduction during COVID-19 Pride Month Edition – Substance Use Harm Reduction StrategiesA Focus on 2SLGBTQ+ Communities. Pre-registration required. |
| WED. JUNE 24 12:00 – 1:30 PM | Panel (Pride at Work): Two-Spirit Inclusion in the Workplace A virtual panel discussion about the many ways that two-spirit and LGBTQ+ Indigenous are instigators of innovation and inclusion in workplaces. Pre-registration is required. |
| WED. JUNE 24 1:00 – 2:30 PM | Webinar (Humber College): Two Spirit Identity A family’s experience of Indigenous Two-Spirit identity with Chantal Sutherland and Brady White. Pre-registration is required. |
| ANYTIME | Website: Queer History in Canada A brief timeline of notable events in the history of Pride in Canada |
| Website: Learn About Pronouns A comprehensive resource to learn about personal pronouns. |
WATCH
| Video by First Person PBS This Trans High School Student Found Love and Acceptance |
| TED Talk with Audrey Mason-Hyde Toilets, bowties, gender and me |
| National Film Board A Variety of Films about 2SLGBTQ+ Communities |
GET SUPPORT
| The 519’s Friendly Check-In Program for 2SLGBTQ+ Because access to community spaces is limited right now and folks may be experiencing isolation and disconnection, The 519 is offering a Friendly Check-In Program to all LGBTQ2S community members over the age of 18. |
| Rainbow Health Ontario A province-wide program of Sherbourne Health that works to promote the health of Ontario’s LGBT2SQ communities and improve their access to services |
| LGBT Youthline Youth Line offers confidential and non-judgemental peer support through our telephone, text and chat services. Get in touch with a peer support volunteer from Sunday to Friday, 4:00PM to 9:30 PM. |
At the Y, we celebrate #Pride365. It takes much more than a single month to recognize the 2SLGBTQ+ communities' brave history, incredible strides towards inclusion, the serious hurdles still to be overcome, and the way diversity strengthens our region and makes it a better place to call home. Our YMCA Pride Committee was established so our charity could invest in that work year-round — so you can expect to hear from us again soon! In the meantime, we're wishing you a safe, fun-filled HAPPY PRIDE!
