Capital Pride calls on city, province to help fund long-term solutions to rising hate

Capital Pride organizers are calling on the municipal and provincial governments to do more to address a rising tide of hatred against LGBTQ2S+ people in Ottawa and across Ontario.

The annual Capital Pride Festival begins this Saturday, Aug. 19, culminating with the Pride parade on Aug. 27.

But it comes at a time when LGBTQ2S+ people are becoming frequent targets of hate crimes. According to statistics from the Ottawa Police Service, there were 32 police-reported hate- and bias-motivated crimes against LGBTQ2S+ people in the first half of 2023. These communities were the second-most targeted group, according to police, behind Jewish people, with 36 reported incidents. 

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Capital Pride Executive Director Toby Whitfield says organizers of any large festival have concerns about safety, but Pride feels "a little different" this year.

"We've seen a rise in hate here locally and in many parts of the country targeting 2SLGBTQIA+ folks, so I think it's a concern," he told CTV Morning Live.

Whitfield says the festival has worked closely with the city and municipal partners to develop a robust safety and security plan this year and is still encouraging as many people as possible to come and take part in festivities.

"We've trained volunteers and we have a community safety program in place, so we feel pretty good going into the festival that folks will be able to gather in downtown Ottawa safely this weekend, loudly, proudly and in a really fun way."

Ottawa has been the site of some recent protests against the LGBTQ2S+ communities, particularly against transgender people and drag performers. Protests have been held outside the National Arts Centre, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, and some local schools in recent months, usually met with much larger counter protests organized by supporters.

"Online hate is, I think, at an all-time high and it feels very heavy but we know that that also translates to real life experiences," Whitfield said. "We've seen some our events and programming targeted with protests, people coming to try and disrupt events. We've seen local activists targeted and harassed on the streets. It's a variety of different forms that it manifests."

The federal government announced funding for Pride groups to help bolster security. Whitfield said his request to the municipal and provincial governments is to help reduce hatred overall.

"We are calling on funding to supporting front-line organizations that are doing the education work, the community-building work, which we think is important in addressing some of these bigger issues," he said.

The annual Capital Pride festival runs from Aug. 19 to 27.

"We've got programming for nine days, really something every day," Whitfield says. "We've got family programming, education and human rights programming and, of course, our festival weekend with three outdoor stages and all of our free programming along Bank Street the 25th, 26th, and 27th, and of course our Pride parade. We've got over 230 organizations, we're expecting 10,000 marchers in the parade and, of course, tens of thousands of folks lining the streets with that big message that love is stronger than hate."