Can we be proud of Pride? A discussion on intersectionality in current Canadian Pride events
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14288/cjur.v2i2.188967Keywords:
Pride, Intersectionality, LGBT Rights, FeminismAbstract
Pride emerged as a radical demonstration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights movement. Over the years, its purpose and form have evolved. While Pride is a necessary source of LGBTQ representation, it often fails to observe the intersectionality within its community, resulting in racism, ableism, sexism, homophobia, classism, and homonormativity. This essay explores this lack of intersectionality, drawing on Nanaimo Pride as a source of discussion, with references to celebrations in Edmonton, Toronto, and New York. It concludes by offering suggestions for making Pride more inclusive.
References
Born, Tyler. “Marsha 'Pay it no Mind' Johnson.” Challenging Gender Boundaries: A Trans Biography Project, Out History, outhistory.org/exhibits/show/tgi-bios/marsha-p-johnson. Accessed 29 Oct. 2016.
Christopher, Nathaniel. “Nanaimo mayor won't proclaim Pride.” Xtra, 20 Jun. 2007, www.dailyxtra.com/nanaimo-mayor-wont-proclaim-pride-18733. Accessed 27 Jun.2017.
Clare, Eli. “Losing home.” Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation. New York, 2015, pp. 31-49.
Creed, Barbara. The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis. Routledge, 15 Nov. 1993, p. 1.
Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Traffic at the Crossroads: Multiple Oppressions.” Sisterhood is Forever: the Women's Anthology for a New Millenium, Toronto: Washington Square Press, editor Robin Morgan, 2003, p. 43.
“Facts & States.” Covenant House Toronto, www.covenanthousetoronto.ca/homeless-youth/Facts-andStats. Accessed 7 Nov. 2016.
Fox, Catherine O., and Tracy E. Ore. “(Un) Covering Normalized Gender and Race Subjectivities in LGBT 'Safe Spaces'.” Feminist Studies, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2010. pp. 631-633, www.jstor.org/stable/27919125. Accessed 6 Nov. 2016.
Greensmith, Cameron, and Sulaimon Giwa. “Challenging settler colonialism in contemporary queer politics: Settler homonationalism, pride toronto, and two-spirit subjectivities.” American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Vol. 37, No. 2, 2013, p. 133, doi:10.17953/aicr.37.2.p4q2r84l12735117. Accessed 7 Nov. 2016.
Jamieson, Mark. “Shame on Pride and Black Lives Matter.” The Star, 11 Jul. 2016, www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/07/11/shame-on-pride-and-black-lives-matter.html. Accessed 5 Nov. 2016.
Khan, Janaya. “How a Black Lives Matter Toronto co-founder sees Canada.” Maclean's, interview by Zane Schwartz, 8 Jul. 2016, www.macleans.ca/news/canada/how-black-lives-matter-co-founder-janaya-khan-sees-canada/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016.
Kirkup, Kristy. “Half of homeless Ottawa youth identify as LGBTQ.” CBC, 9 Sept. 2013, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/half-of-homeless-ottawa-youth-identify-as-lgbtq-1.1699604. Accessed 7 Nov. 2016.
Lamble, Sarah. “Unknowable Bodies, Unthinkable Sexualities: Lesbian and Transgender Legal Invisibility in the Toronto Women's Bathhouse Raid.” Queerly Canadian, edited by Maureen FitzGerald and Scott Rayter, Canadian Scholars Press Inc., Toronto, p. 81.
Pastrana, Antonio J. “Trump(et)ing Identities: Racial Capital and Lesbian and Gay Organizing.” Sexuality Research and Social Policy, Vol. 7, No. 2, Jun. 2010, pp. 99-101, doi:10.1007/s13178-010-0013-2. Accessed 6 Nov. 2016.
Peers, Danielle, and Lindsay Eales. “'Stand Up' for Exclusion?: Queer Pride, ableism and inequality.” Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, 7 Jul. 2011, www.ideas-idees.ca/blog/stand-upfor-exclusion-queer-pride-ableism-and-inequality. Accessed 5 Nov. 2016.
Rau, Krinsha. “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 16 Jun. 2014, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-rights-in-canada/. Accessed 29 Oct. 2016.
“Same-sex couples and sexual orientation... by the numbers.” Statistics Canada, www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/dai/smr08/2015/smr08_203_2015. Accessed 7 Nov. 2016.
Santora, Marc. “Last Call at Pulse Nightclub, and Then Shots Rang Out.” The New York Times, 12 Jun. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/us/last-call-at-orlando-club-and-then-the-shots-rang-out.html?_r=0. Accessed 10 Nov. 2016.
Sheppard, Maia, and J. B. Mayo, Jr. “The Social Construction of Gender and Sexuality: Learning from Two Spirit Traditions.” The Social Studies, vol. 104, no. 6, 2013, p. 262. doi:10.1080/00377996.2013.788472
Stern, Rachel. “Nanaimo Pride Society promotes inclusive community.” Nanaimo News Bulletin, 12 May. 2016, www.nanaimobulletin.com/entertainment/379200571.html. Accessed 30 Oct 2016.
“Stonewall Riots: The Beginning of the LGBT Movement.” The Leadership Conference, 22 Jun. 2009, www.civilrights.org/archives/2009/06/449-stonewall.html referrer=https://www.google.ca/. Accessed 29 Oct. 2016.
Wortley, Scot. “Police Use of Force in Ontario: An Examination of Data from the Special Investigations Unit.” Ipperwash Inquiry, www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/inquiries/ipperwash/policy_part/projects/pdf/AfricanCanadianClinicIpperwashProject_SIUStudybyScotWortley.pdf. Accessed 24 Jun. 2017.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).