QuAIA describes conditions for Palestinians in Israel’s occupied Palestinian territories as a situation of “apartheid.” On this basis, in 2010 and 2011 QuAIA was accused of being anti-Semitic and its right to participate in the Toronto’s Pride festivities was questioned by some individuals affiliated with Pride Toronto and by some members of Toronto City Council, including Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. After Mayor Ford threatened to withdraw Pride Toronto’s funding if QuAIA were to participate in the 2011 Pride Parade, members of the Pride Toronto community rallied around QuAIA. Toronto’s City Manager issued a Report finding that the term “Israeli apartheid” does not violate the City’s Anti-Discrimination Policy. City Council voted to continue to fund Pride Toronto on the condition that the Pride Parade participants respect the City’s Anti-Discrimination Policy. Despite these victories, QuAIA chose to not participate in the parade because it did not want to give Mayor Ford a basis for canceling the City’s funding of Pride.

Pride Toronto was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 1995. According to organizers, in recent years the events generate up to $100 million for the local economy, and $18 million in tax revenue. Toronto’s Pride Parade is the biggest in North America, attracting more than a million spectators.

In 2005, Toronto City Council recognized the Pride Festival as a signature cultural event by including Pride Toronto in one of its major grant programs. In 2010 Pride Toronto received $123,800 to support the festival, representing approximately one quarter of the festival’s total funding. This amount represented less than 5% of the city’s 2010 operating budget.

The group‘Queers Against Israeli Apartheid’ began in 2008, as an idea put forth at a public forum during Toronto’s Israeli Apartheid Week. A group of queer activists said they objected to Israel using gay rights as a propaganda tool to justify so-called apartheid policies. The activists decided to start a coalition and to organize around this concern.

That year, these same activists represented this perspective while marching as an informal contingent in the Toronto Dyke March and Pride Parade.

In 2009, QuAIA was officially formed to work in solidarity with queers in Palestine, and with Palestine solidarity movements around the world. Members of QuAIA marched in the 2009 Pride Parade with banners that represented their organization.

The “Israeli apartheid” controversy

QuAIA believes that, in 2009 and 2010, certain groups opposing use of the term “Israeli apartheid” complained to Pride Toronto and some of its funders, alleging that the participation of QuAIA in the Pride Parade constituted anti-Semitism. Subsequently, Pride Toronto decided to restrict the use of the phrase “Israeli apartheid” in the 2010 Pride Parade.

However, Pride Toronto was forced to reverse this decision due to an outcry from community members in support of QuAIA’s right to participate and represent its political position.  It was pointed out that many of the groups that march in the Pride Parade carry political messages.  For example, the City Report (p.7) makes reference to a Jewish group that marches with Israeli flags, politicians participate, and there are other groups that march signaling their support for Canadian political parties.

As an alternate measure, Pride Toronto required all participants to sign an agreement to abide by the City’s Anti-Discrimination Policy.  Upon signing this agreement, QuAIA members were allowed to march in the July 2010 Parade with their banners.

However, the controversy did not end with the 2010 Parade.  The issue of whether or not QuAIA should march in future parades continued to be divisive.

Pride Toronto ultimately decided to develop a comprehensive conflict resolution process to address conflicts regarding participation in the Pride Festival.  This resolution mechanism is to be invoked where a group is alleged to have presented an image or message in the Parade that promotes or condones, or may promote or condone, violence, hatred, degradation or negative stereotypes of any person or group.  The question of QuAIA’s participation has not yet been subjected to this process.

“Israeli apartheid” not discriminatory

Following the July 2010 Parade, Toronto City Council approved a motion to hold back Pride’s 2011 funding until after the event, so that the City could ensure that the festival complied with the City’s Anti-Discrimination Policy.

City Council also asked Toronto’s City Manager, Joseph Pennachetti, to determine whether the participation of QuAIA in the Parade with its signs and banners contravened the City’s anti-discrimination policy. Pennachetti did so in April 2011.  His Report found that the phrase “Israeli Apartheid” does not, in and of itself, violate the City’s Anti-Discrimination Policy, and does not impede the provision of services and employment provided directly by Pride or by the City to any group on grounds provided for in the Policy.

The Report also noted that to date, the term “Israeli Apartheid” has not been found to violate the hate speech provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada or the Ontario Human Rights Code.  The Report concluded that the City’s decision about whether to fund the Pride Festival should be made “based on the nature of the Parade itself, not the participation of a single group.”

Rob Ford wades in

Meanwhile, Rob Ford had taken office as Mayor of Toronto in December 2010. In spite of the Report’s recommendations, Mayor Ford and his supporters vowed to withhold Pride Toronto’s funding in the event that QuAIA were to participate in the 2011 Parade.

QuAIA accused Ford of using the controversy as a pretext to cut funding for Toronto’s Pride festivities, and responded with what it referred to as “a challenge to the Mayor”: Instead of marching as a contingent in the 2011 Parade, QuAIA would host other community events to raise awareness about Israeli apartheid.  The decision to hold its Pride event outside of the parade, said QuAIA, would remove any basis upon which Mayor Ford could cut Pride funding.

At the Dyke March, one day before the official Pride Parade, Toronto city Councillor Mammoliti took video footage of a number of marchers expressing pro-Palestinian opinions.  Mammoliti is one of Mayor Ford’s strongest supporters and part of the powerful Toronto City Council Executive Committee.

On the basis of this video footage, Mammoliti stated that he would put forward a motion to withhold the funding committed to Pride Toronto. He also warned that he would investigate whether Pride officials should be made to reimburse the city for $200,000 worth of in-kind services, such as policing and street cleaning. The City’s funding represented about a quarter of the festival’s budget, and Mammoliti’s proposed retraction threatened to bankrupt Pride Toronto.

Some individuals who were unaffiliated with QuAIA chose to participate in the Pride 2011 festivities while expressing opposition to Israel's treatment of Palestinians. This incident did not ultimately have detrimental consequences for QuAIA and Pride Toronto in that the City Council voted to issue its 2011 funding to Pride Toronto following the festival.

In July 2011, as promised, Councillor Mammoliti presented his motion to defund Pride Toronto.  The motion was defeated at City Council. Following the vote, Mammoliti said he would continue his efforts to introduce new policies that would prevent the City of Toronto from funding any cultural event that has any politics or political messages associated with it.

Relevant Dates

• 2008: Toronto queer activists object to Israel using gay rights as a “propaganda tool” to justify apartheid policies.
• July 2010: QuAIA participates in Pride march; controversy continues.
• April 2, 2011: Toronto City Manager’s Report finds that QuAIA’s participation in Pride 2011 would not contravene the City’s Anti-Discrimination Policy.
• April 2011: In spite of the City Manager’s Report, Mayor Ford threatens to withdraw Pride Toronto’s funding if QuAIA participates in the Pride Parade.
• April 15, 2011: QuAIA issues a press release stating that it has decided not to participate in the Pride Parade in order to avoid giving Mayor Ford a reason to defund Pride Toronto.
• July 12, 2011: Councillor Mammoliti unsuccessfully presents his motion to defund Pride Toronto, and vows to continue the fight against funding cultural activities with political messages.