Advocates urge Jews to march in Montreal’s Pride parade after ban reversal

North Star with Ellin Bessner

On Sunday Aug. 10, Montreal’s 19th annual Pride parade is set to take place, and two local Jewish organizations have been once again been invited to participate—despite a turbulent few days in which the organizers originally barred both Ga’ava and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. The explusion stemmed from complaints Pride said it received that Ga’ava, a pro-Israel, Jewish 2SLGBTQIA+ group, had used “hateful discourse” in a recent CJN article when describing groups that objected to Zionists participating in the parade this year. The short-lived ban outraged many, since Pride is supposed to be inclusive and a celebration of 2SLGBTQIA+ people, and also because the festival receives over $1 million in government funding. While the reversal is being described by some activists as a victory—and Ga’ava and CIJA, who march together, are pushing for a large turnout ahead of the big day—some members of the Jewish queer community say the whole incident has left them feeling traumatized. There is also some concern about how their enjoyment of the annual Pride experience might be marred by the required heavy security that will be deployed to protect them. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner gets reaction from Claire Frankel, a recent graduate of McGill University and a board member with JQueer Montreal, as well as from retired Ontario justice Harvey Brownstone. Brownstone was Canada’s first openly gay judge, performed numerous same-sex marriages and, years ago, was the president of Chutzpah, a group created in the 1980s to support queer Toronto Jews who had been rejected by their families.

Related links

• Why Montreal’s main Pride organization has reversed course and welcomed back two pro-Israel Jewish groups to participate, in The CJN.
• How Toronto’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community faced some hard decisions whether to participate in the 2025 Pride events, in The CJN.
• Learn more and follow Harvey Brownstone’s interviews show.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Bret Higgins

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