As a queer and trans, Black, racialized, Indigiqueer and two spirited coalition, we say NO to the ongoing genocide in Palestine, the Congo and Sudan and everywhere else in the world where lives, including those of queers and trans, are being annihilated.
Israel and its Zionist regime continues to bomb Gaza, Rafah and other parts of Palestine with the help of the U.S. Canada, Britain, Germany and other Western Nations. At the same time, we who are queer and trans in Canada are facing ongoing attacks on our lives from queerphobia, transphobia and government officials determined to undermine our right to exist.
Pride Toronto, which represents the largest Pride parade in this country, refuses to condemn the genocide in Palestine and the vicious police attacks, intimidation tactics and arrests, of so many pro-Palestinian protesters – many who are queer and trans. We cannot pretend to celebrate queer and trans lives this coming Pride without demanding a ceasefire and an end to the genocide in Palestine and beyond!
Pride is a time when we dance, sing, love and when we embrace being free. But how do we celebrate during so much human carnage and not seize this moment to demand the same for queers and trans experiencing genocide in Palestine and beyond.
This 2024 Abolition Pride NPPC is urging everyone to join us as we take up space in the streets of Tkoronto. We are demanding a ceasefire and an end to the genocide in Palestine and beyond.
– We are demanding the liberation of Palestine
– We will celebrate the fierce resistance and labour of queers and trans, medical personnel, women, educators and others in Gaza, Rafah and elsewhere in Palestine who have been defending Palestinians against Israeli bombardments
– We will celebrate the determination and resilience of the many queers and trans Palestinians, Arabs, Jewish, Indigenous and two-spirit, Black and racialized people who have been on the front lines protesting the Israeli genocide of Palestinians
– We will name all the violators and genociders and demand they be held accountable for their crimes
– We will make clear the intensification of brutal policing attacks against protesters and demand the abolition of police, prisons and all forms of carcerality
– We will hold each other close as we march together, as we sing, as we dance, as we refuse and resist any attempts to stop us from marching for our lives.
We will be doing all of this because we know that to be truly free, all Palestinians, Congolese, Sudanese, Haitians, those who are queers, trans and sexually diverse in these regions and beyond must be Free!
For information on our upcoming teach-ins and other events leading up to From Tkaronto to Palestine and Beyond: Abolition Pride 2024, please email us at: info@noprideinpolicing.ca or go to our website at https://www.noprideinpolicing.ca/