PRIDE TORONTO 2012
FEATURE EDITORIAL
By: Fridae Mattas
Another Pride has passed us by, it was filled with love, laughter and music. This year was the 32nd year for Pride Week in Toronto with three parades; Trans March, Dyke March and the ever famous Pride Parade to end the week off. As always Toronto never just has one thing going on and this year it was the Canada Day long weekend adding even more events across the city. I was torn didn’t know if I would make it this year, I missed the Dyke March and the major Parade on Sunday July 1st but I did manage to hit up the Trans March on Friday June 29th.
It was my first time observing the Trans March as they walked down Church, people didn’t know what was going on, it was very random and kind of rude that people were passing through as the Marchers tried to make their way. Unlike the bigger parades which have barricades along the route, the Trans March had nothing to keep the public from interrupting. Next year I suggest a few police officers guiding the March if there are no barricades to inform the public to keep to the side of the road.
So many fantastic performances by amazing bands and Queen’s! It was the first time I saw ‘The Cliks’ who’s Frontman Lucas Silvera once had a female exterior. They were fantastic, Silvera has a really good voice, I do wish he used his diaphragm a little more. But! It could have been mainly due to the nervous pre-proposal jitters. Silvera proposed to his girlfriend ‘Sky’ mid set after she sang a tune with them. Her answer was yes! I am so happy for the couple, I wish them all the best with endless years of wedded bliss! The band put on a great set, the crowd loved them.
This was a Pride of musical firsts for me Bif Naked was performing next, never have seen her perform live and I’ve been a fan of her music since I first heard ‘Spaceman’ in my early teens. I absolutely loved that she opened the set with that track. She performed most of her hits, all with such vitality and heart, you could tell she was thrilled to be up on that stage. Such a strong amazing Woman who has survived her battle with cancer and three months before Pride she had heart surgery, yet here she was rocking out on stage for the people.
- Photography By: Jaylyn Todd for FridaeTV
I admire her will and determination but also her love of life, Beth Torbert aka ‘Bif Naked‘ is incredible in every sense of the word. You can see videos of everyone I filmed including Bif’s performance here and more photos can be found here. Huge thanks to everyone at Pride Toronto for everything and Jaylyn Todd for the amazing shots of Bif!
Continuing on with the firsts was Corey Hart, yes that Corey Hart! He has emerged from hibernation after ten years with a refreshed song called ‘The Truth Will Set You Free’ featuring DJ 1Love who is the inspiration behind the rewind. For a fifty year old he put on a very energetic set! Proudly declaring his heterosexuality, he also stated how he will always be a proud ally and supporter of the LGBTTIQQ2SA communities. Corey Hart can probably move quicker than Jagger, with his Canadian swagger and stellar vocals singing all of his hits with a few covers sprinkled in. The opening song and his biggest hit ‘Sunglasses At Night’ was a great choice, the ocean of people were loving every minute of Corey Hart as he was loving every minute of being on that stage, reliving his glory days. If you think about it, everyone who wears their sunglasses at night and indoors owes it to Corey, he started that trend! You can find videos of Corey Hart’s pride performance here and photos on FridaeTV facebook.
The last of the performances I was checking out was Die Mannequin, I had to cover them because A. They are awesome and B. My footage from NXNE was magically erased. They always put on a set you will never forget, especially with a front Woman like Care, she does what she feels, if she wants to migrate into the audience and sing, she goes into the crowd, if she wants to whip the sticks on the cans she goes and drums away. A female who truly entertains, I doubt anyone will ever see a rocker chick like Care throw it down. The band was super tight, Dazzer kept the beat in solid flow, Bleed was more into it and even the mellow Stacy Stray on the Axe was completely on his game. The Pride performance was probably the best I have seen, they are all starting to come out of their shells to join in on Care’s shenanigans. When we arrived to the Alexander Parkette where the stage was set up, about twenty or so people were waiting for the band. I like it when there are more people to see a band especially outside, I decided to tweet a shot of the band setting up, moments later it was retweeted by the band and those joint tweetings caused a nicely sized crowd gather. That was exactly what I wanted to happen, domino effect. If you have not seen this band live, do it! They put on a performance not to be missed!
It bothe
rs me that people are not being treated equally, everyone should be able to be who they are and find love with whomever they choose regardless of their sexual orientation. We as humans have to keep evolving and there are some that need more time to come up to speed with today’s reality. I will always be a proud ally, everyone should have that mindset but growi
ng up in the 90’s, you come to realize not everyone has the same viewpoints.
Help spread the word of unity, freedom, peace, and equality with amazing people. All they want is the same freedoms we heteros have, who is anyone to deny someone a chance at true love or divorce? So many incredible influential people have recently come out and I know there are many of you still in the closet, it’s okay don’t be shy, there are millions of people who will accept you for who you really are. Remember that we all breathe, bleed and break the same, love everyone!
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