I'm sitting here looking out over a sunny Monday afternoon, thinking what a great weekend this past one turned out to be. We'll be posting a fuller story about OutSport Toronto at Pride this year, but I have to say how personally delighted I am at our first year at Pride.
Last year, when I walked down Alexander Street after asking the nice folks at the information desk where the sports clubs were, I encountered a smattering of clubs scattered along the stretch of pavement between Church and Yonge, and thought, "We can to much better than this!"Â And indeed this year we did!Â
With a concentrated SportZone with almost half our member organisations participating in it, we were able to show the broader community that LGBT sport is alive and well. In the open activity area, we had everything from street hockey with kids and TGHA to football toss courtesy TGFL with a lot of passers-by participating, to line dance instruction (CCGRA), colour guard twirling instruction (ROTC), and yoga thanks to our own secretary / treasurer Mac Gunter.
Our participation in the Pride Parade showed great cohesiveness and breadth, and I know it was a hit with onlookers. We had ROTC delighting the crowd at the front, football plays going on all along the route, hockey players skating by the crowd, and giant soccer balls bringing up the rear, just to name a few of the groups in our section. This was my first time marching in the Pride Parade, and I was both honoured to be at the front of the sports contingent, and very proud of all who marched with us. We got really great exposure, with James Scott interviewed for CP24, putting LGBT sport right out there! And thanks to the Rollergirls for joining us in the parade and adding even more fun to an already great line-up!
I'd like to personally thank everyone from all our member organisations and our other volunteers who worked so hard over the last few months to make this a reality and a great success for our first year! In particular, I'd like to thank my Vice Chair Ken Meiklejohn for chairing the OutSport Toronto Pride 2011 Committee, and getting us across the finish line with flying colours! Well done everyone! And here's to it being even better next year!
