UFCW Canada gets ready for Toronto Pride Week 2014 – Part 5

Toronto’s 2014 Dyke March

Toronto – June 16, 2014 – An essential part of Toronto Pride Week is the Dyke March on June 28. As the nation’s most progressive union, UFCW Canada members and allies will join thousands of participants as we walk from Allan Gardens to George Hilsop Parkette in Toronto. 

The event commences with a rally at 1:30 p.m., and the march begins at 2:00 p.m. This is an opportunity for women and trans people in the LGBTQ2S communities to politically demonstrate the diversity and strength of the movement. If you identify as male, cheering from the sidelines is a powerful way to show support and solidarity for this event. 

The Dyke March is not only a political show of strength and unity; it is a celebration of our success in securing basic human rights for LGBTQ2S communities. In 1995, an Ontario Court decision found that the Child and Family Services Act infringed on Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, by not allowing joint applications for adoption by same-sex couples. An immediate outcome of this decision was the ability of four lesbian couples to legally adopt their partners’ children. Soon after the decision, Toronto held the first Dyke March in the summer of 1996, with a turnout of 5,000 participants.

For 2014, let us make history, as we prepare to join the Pride Parade, Dyke March and Trans March on the weekend of June 27-29.  Check out our Special drop-in UFCW Event on June 28, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

This article is part of a 6-part series highlighting some of the themes for World Pride Week 2014.  For more information visit www.ufcw.ca/pride or our facebook page at www.facebook.com/ufcwcanada/events.