ABOLITIONIST PRIDE
"No Pride in Policing Abolitionist Pride 2024 Statement," March 2024.
Written by the No Pride in Policing Coalition, and used in this exhibit with their permission. https://www.noprideinpolicing.ca/
The No Pride in Policing Coalition (NPPC) was formed in 2018, with the goal of defunding and abolishing the police, as well as seeing their removal from future Toronto Pride festivals. In March of 2024, No Pride in Policing released a statement condemning Pride Toronto’s refusal to aknowledge the genocide in Palestine, and their suppression of pro-Palestinian activists. Every year since 2021, NPPC has hosted the Abolitionist Pride March. In recognizing Pride Toronto’s focus on corporations and tourism, and their censorship of protest, the NPPC runs their own march as an alternative. The Abolitionist Pride March returns pride to its roots, and demands liberation for all. Abolitionist Pride encourages political conversations and protests. The NPPC has also taken up many of the prerogatives of QuAIA, including calling for Palestinian solidarity in Toronto and hosting teach-ins.
During their period of activity, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) was heavily policed by both The City of Toronto and Pride Toronto. They faced many attempts to ban their group, their language, and their messaging. Despite the group’s disbandment in 2015, they became instrumental in opening conversations around censorship, pride, and Queer-Palestinian liberation. It is even possible that the challenges they faced brought more attention to their cause. Many groups continue to build upon their work today, and the principle that we are all connected, and should never be silenced. Remember– there is no pride for some, without liberation for all.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Eswaran, Nisha, and Craig Jennex. Out North: An Archive of Queer Activism and Kinship in Canada. The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives, 2020.
McCann, Marcus. “Pride Toronto plans to censor the term ‘Queers Against Israeli Apartheid’.” Xtra, May 12, 2010. https://xtramagazine.com/power/pride-toronto-plans-to-censor-the-term-queers-against-israeli-apartheid-34997.
Morel, Gaëlle; Mander, Kerry and Tim McCaskell. Joy, Sorrow, Love, Anger, PRIDE. The Magenta Foundation, in partnership with The ArQuives, 2023.
No Pride in Policing Coalition. “Abolitionist Pride 2024.” Abolitionist Pride. Effective March, 2024. https://www.noprideinpolicing.ca/events/abolitionist-pride-2024-statement/.
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid. “Queers Against Israeli Apartheid.” Archived February 8, 2023, at quaiatoronto.wordpress.com.
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) fonds, F0156, The ArQuives, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Radical Noise. “GARY KINSMAN — LETTER OF RESIGNATION FROM PRIDE TORONTO — THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!.” Uncategorized. Effective April 21, 2024. https://radicalnoise.ca/2024/04/21/gary-kinsman-letter-of-resignation-from-pride-toronto-the-struggle-continues/.