Police use tear gas on demonstrators at opposing Pride march on Saturday night

Montreal Gazette

13 hours ago

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About 100 demonstrators took part Saturday night in an event at Place Émilie-Gamelin organized by a collective opposing Sunday's planned Pride march in downtown Montreal. The collective includes Pink Bloc and other groups whose members call themselves 'radical and revolutionary queers.'
They oppose the Pride parade, which they say is supported by businesses 'invested in the genocide in Gaza.'
Saturday night's protest quickly turned into a confrontation with police. Objects were thrown at police, who responded with tear gas and pepper spray and other manoeuvres to disperse the group, said Montreal police spokesperson Caroline Chèvrefils. The event lasted about 40 minutes.
A similar event, dubbed a protest march, was organized last year by a group calling itself 'Rad Pride' and describing itself as a 'queer resistance group' considering itself anti-colonialist, anti-police and anti-Zionist, among other things. Windows of businesses were smashed in Montreal's Village neighbourhood and two men were arrested.
More traditional Pride celebrations in several cities, including Montreal, were disrupted or stopped last year by pro-Palestinian demonstrators protesting sponsorship of Pride organizations by companies that invest in Israel, which has been at war with Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023.
This year's Pride parade, which begins at 1 p.m. at René-Lévesque Blvd. at Metcalfe St. and proceeds east along a 2.2-km route to Atataken St., has not been without controversy. Organizers initially dis-invited two Jewish groups, Ga'ava and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), from the parade.
Ga'ava president Carlos Godoy said that Pride parade organizer Fierté Montréal had 'determined that we had used hate speech by describing some groups who had attempted to prevent us from walking in the Pride parade as 'pro-terror' and 'pro-Hamas' ... 'I've never heard such an outlandish and ludicrous statement in my professional life.'
Toronto-based CIJA, with which Ga'ava is affiliated, also said it was excluded from the parade. The move sparked considerable public backlash and political condemnation. Five federal MPs signed a joint letter calling the exclusion 'profoundly hurtful' and urging Fierté Montréal to reconsider. Montreal Pride apologized, the exclusion was reversed and the groups were re-invited.
Amid the backlash, Fierté board chair Bernard Truong resigned, citing 'personal reasons,' and Marlot Marleau, the board's chair, took over as president.
And a group of LGBTQ organizations cut ties with Fierté Montréal, accusing it of turning its back on its activist roots and putting corporate interests first, and announced in June that was planning an alternative to the events organized by Fierté Montréal. This second festival is called Wild Pride, or Fierté Indomptable Montréal. A march, open to all, is set to start Sunday at Place des Arts at 2 p.m.