Nico
With Queer Canada, this Pride month I want to share queer and trans stories of joy and celebration, yes, but also place them within their proper context. Moments of triumph cannot be separated from the hostile conditions that made them necessary in the first place: colonialism, state surveillance, criminalization, censorship, police raids, and devastating loss.
Across the 30 mini-essays in this series, I trace moments of queer and trans resilience across Canadian history: from protest marches to lesbian bookstores, from Two-Spirit resurgence to trans organizing, community archives, and celebrations that carved out space where none existed. Some stories may be familiar; others may not.
Canadian 2SLGBTQIA+ histories are too often absent from global queer narratives, which tend to centre the United States and United Kingdom as primary sites of queer struggle and liberation. Distinctly Canadian experiences are frequently overlooked, yet queer and trans life here developed through its own colonial histories, legal frameworks, languages, and community formations that deserve recognition in their own right.
These essays resist the simple narrative of inevitable national progress. As we’ve seen repeatedly, rights won in one generation can be threatened in another. Visibility can bring both protection and backlash. Canadian queer and trans histories unfold in uneven, regional, and contested ways, and are deeply shaped by race, colonialism, disability, class, language, migration, and Indigeneity. Two-Spirit histories, in particular, remind us that gender and sexual diversity existed on these lands long before it became called Canada — and that colonialism both attempted to and continues to suppress them through violence.
In recent decades, Pride has increasingly been co-opted by corporations through rainbow washing campaigns designed to gesture at support for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities — but without actually providing meaningful action, whether through inclusive workplace policies, sustained advocacy, or material support. Over the past year, we have seen how contingent these past gestures of support were. Corporations including Molson Coors, Google, Home Depot, Nissan, and Clorox have withdrawn sponsorship from Toronto Pride. Pressure stemming from US President Donald Trump’s anti-DEIA policies has been cited as justification, with Canadian Pride festivals and community organizations left to deal with the fallout of US culture-war politics and corporate cowardice the moment public support is no longer deemed profitable.
At the same time, public support for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in Canada appears to be declining. A 2024 poll showed decreasing support for queer and trans visibility, including less support for trans rights. This coincides with a sharp increase in hate crimes targeting sexual orientation reported by Statistics Canada. We’re in an especially difficult moment right now, and many who once claimed allyship have grown quiet as support becomes politically inconvenient.
It feels more important than ever right now to share stories of queer and trans organizing, resistance, and resilience in Canada. The struggles for recognition, safety, and acceptance are not over. Understanding where we came from — the people who fought before us, the communities they built, and the work they accomplished — can help place our present moment in context.
Though presented in roughly chronological order, the stories shared in Queer Canada do not form a single timeline, but rather a mosaic of moments covering the last 60 years. There are many more stories to tell, but this series offers a place to start.
Note: All subscribers (including free subscribers) who opt in to email notifications will receive each post directly in their inbox throughout Pride month. Each essay in the Queer Canada series will be available to everyone for the first three(ish) days after publication, and then move to paid subscriber tiers.
Bibliography
Hamilton, Leah, Corinne L. Mason, and Gini Weber. “Why corporations are backing away from supporting Pride this year.” The Conversation, 22 June 2025.
Robertson, Dylan. “Pride festivals seek $3M from Ottawa as corporate sponsors pull back amid DEI backlash.” CBC, 24 March 2026.
Sethi, Sanyam and Meghan Miller. “Canadians Support Protection of The LGBT+ Community, But Declining Support May Indicate a Step Back in Progress.” Ipsos, 6 January 2024.
Statistics Canada. “Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2023.” Statistics Canada, 25 July 2024.
Wilson, Jermaine. “Pride Toronto faces $900K shortfall after major sponsors pull out.” CTV News, 11 June 2025.
