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Showing posts with the label Queers Against Israeli Apartheid

Toronto’s funding for Gay Pride questioned over ‘Israeli Apartheid’ signs

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Image via Wikipedia Toronto’s annual “ Gay Pride ” parade may be in jeopardy of losing its funding from the City of Toronto after virulently anti- Israeli activists were seen participating in the parade. According to news sources, the parade is set to receive $128,000 from the city this year, about a quarter of the parade’s funding, in addition to about $250,000 of police and clean-up services – all at taxpayer’s expense. City Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti , however, declared that funding to the “Gay Pride” parade should be cut after he witnessed pro-Palestinian marchers brandishing “Israeli Apartheid” messages. “People can say and do what they want in this country,” Mammoliti said Monday. “They should be able to carry the banners they want, but not on the public dime.” Mammoliti, who videotaped the anti-Israeli participants himself,  says he took offense at the political message that he believes presents grounds for cutting public funds to the parade.  In particular, he noted

Toronto set to fund Toronto Pride to tune of several hundred thousand dollars

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Image via Wikipedia The City of Toronto appears set to fund Toronto Pride with hundreds of thousands of dollars again this year after months of threats from city councilors and Mayor Rob Ford to pull funding . Toronto Pride is seeking a $128,000 cultural grant from the city, in addition to about $250,000 of in-kind services such as police and garbage removal.  Though billed as “family-friendly,” the annual event has often been labeled a “sex parade,” as it regularly features people walking down the streets semi-nude or completely naked, and homosexuals engaging in public sex acts. The funding controversy was not focused on the offensive nature of the Pride event itself, however, despite Mayor Ford’s professed belief in true marriage.  Instead, it centered around the involvement of the group ‘Queers Against Israeli Apartheid’ ( QuAIA ), which has been a major source of division within the Toronto homosexual community due to its controversial political aims. After last year’s eve