Community Sign-On Letter to Reclaim Trans March

Open letter

Pride Toronto Must Withdraw from the Trans March

To the Board and leadership of Pride Toronto:

Toronto’s Trans March was created by trans people as an independent grassroots action. It did not begin as a Pride Toronto program.

The march was built by community members who organized the route, brought people together, made signs and banners, recruited volunteers, handled safety, communicated with participants and made political decisions collectively.

Over time, Pride Toronto took control of many of these functions. Pride obtains the permit, presents the march as part of its official programming, puts its banner and branding at the front, recruits and directs volunteers, organizes the rally and community fair, manages security arrangements, selects official speakers and represents the Trans March to the media, governments, sponsors, funders and other Pride organizations.

Pride Toronto has also placed undercover police inside the Trans March without openly informing the community.

This is not community control.

The thousands of trans people who attend the Trans March are what give it its importance, energy and political legitimacy. Their participation must not be treated as approval of Pride Toronto’s decisions, institutional relationships or political messaging.

Pride Toronto does not own the Trans March. It should not control the march, speak for it or use community participation to claim authority over trans politics.

We demand that Pride Toronto withdraw completely from organizing the Trans March and make space for trans communities to organize it independently. Pride Toronto must:

1. Stop obtaining the permit for the Trans March

Pride Toronto must stop applying for, holding or controlling any city permit for the Trans March.

It must provide the community with a complete account of its permit arrangements, communications with the City of Toronto and any conditions it has accepted on behalf of the march.

The Trans March existed before Pride Toronto took control of the permit. Decisions about whether a future march will be permitted or unpermitted belong to an independent community organizing process—not to Pride Toronto.

2. Remove undercover police from the Trans March

Pride Toronto must immediately end any arrangement that places undercover, plainclothes or covert police officers inside the Trans March.

Pride must publicly disclose:

- when these arrangements began - which police services or units were involved - who authorized them - how many officers were present - what roles they were assigned - what information they collected or reported - whether similar arrangements are planned for future marches

The community has a right to know when police are being placed among marchers.

3. Remove Pride Toronto’s banner and branding

Pride Toronto must stop placing its banner at the front of the Trans March and remove Pride Toronto branding from the march.

The front of the march should reflect the people and politics of the trans communities organizing and participating in it—not the institution that has taken control of it.

4. Stop recruiting and directing Trans March volunteers and marshals

Pride Toronto must stop recruiting, training, assigning or managing volunteers, marshals and other personnel for the Trans March.

Independent community organizers can recruit and prepare the people needed to welcome participants, communicate information, support accessibility, respond to problems and help the march move together.

Pride Toronto must not use control over volunteers as a way of maintaining control over the march.

5. End the Pride Toronto Trans March committee

Pride Toronto must dissolve any committee, advisory body, consultation process or internal structure through which it claims to organize the Trans March or receive community authorization for its decisions.

A committee controlled, appointed or contained by Pride Toronto is not the same as an independent community organization.

Pride must not choose which trans people are permitted to speak for the wider community.

6. Stop organizing the Trans March rally and selecting official speakers

Pride Toronto must stop organizing the rally, stage, sound system and official speaking program associated with the Trans March.

It must stop selecting, approving or platforming individuals as official representatives of trans communities.

Decisions about whether there will be a rally, who will speak and what political messages will be presented must belong to the people organizing the march independently.

7. Stop advertising the Trans March as Pride Toronto programming

Pride Toronto must remove the Trans March from its official programming and stop advertising, branding or presenting it as an event organized by Pride Toronto.

It must stop using the size, history and political importance of the Trans March to promote Pride Toronto to sponsors, governments, funders, media or international Pride organizations.

8. Stop organizing the Trans Community Fair

Pride Toronto must stop organizing and controlling the Trans Community Fair, including decisions about location, participants, vendors, organizations, access and political content.

The community fair can be organized independently as a place for trans people, grassroots groups, service organizations, artists, vendors and political projects to connect with one another.

9. Stop controlling security and safety arrangements

Pride Toronto must stop making private security, policing and surveillance decisions for the Trans March.

It must disclose all existing agreements, plans, communications and policies involving police, private security, city officials, emergency services and surveillance.

Future safety plans must be openly discussed and developed by independent community organizers. Safety cannot be used as a justification for secret police involvement or institutional control.

10. Stop representing the Trans March and trans politics to outside institutions

Pride Toronto must stop presenting itself as the organizer or political representative of the Trans March in its dealings with: - the media - the City of Toronto and other governments - police - corporate sponsors - funders - service agencies - other Pride organizations - international organizations and networks

Pride Toronto must not appoint institutionally acceptable individuals to speak for trans communities or treat access to Pride platforms as proof of community support.

Trans communities must be able to speak for ourselves through organizations and processes we build and control.

11. Provide the records needed for a community transition

Pride Toronto must provide an independent community organizing process with the non-confidential records and practical information it has accumulated while controlling the Trans March.

This should include information about permits, routes, accessibility, equipment, suppliers, costs, timelines, city requirements, fair logistics and security arrangements.

Personal information must not be transferred without consent.

Pride Toronto must not select, appoint or privately negotiate with a replacement committee and then describe that process as returning the march to the community. The structure that organizes the future Trans March must be built openly by trans community members themselves.

Withdrawal means withdrawal

We are not asking Pride Toronto to create another committee, conduct another consultation, improve its branding or appoint a different group of representatives.

We are demanding that Pride Toronto stop organizing the Trans March.

The Trans March was organized by trans people before Pride Toronto took control of it. Trans communities can organize it again.

That work includes far more than walking down a street. It includes bringing people together, making political decisions, choosing a route, communicating with participants, organizing accessibility and safety, recruiting volunteers, creating banners, planning rallies and fairs, keeping records, resolving conflicts and remaining accountable to the wider community.

Those responsibilities should belong to the community—not to Pride Toronto.

Pride Toronto must publicly respond to each of these demands and begin an immediate, transparent withdrawal from the Trans March.