Israeli apartheid group to ignore Pride ban
The activist group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid says it will attempt to march in the Pride Toronto Escort Agency parade despite a Pride ban on the use of the phrase “Israeli apartheid,” raising the possibility of a street confrontation July 4.
“I don’t think that a suggestion that they don’t like our message should keep us out of Pride. So there is an intention to march, and we will find the message that works in that march and we will be there. We need our voice to be heard,” said Queers Against Israeli Apartheid spokeswoman Elle Flanders.
Flanders declined to discuss the specifics of QuAIA’s plans. Though Pride executive director Tracey Sandilands said QuAIA would be welcomed if it marched under a name that excluded “apartheid,” such as “Queers in Favour of a Free Palestine,” Flanders said QuAIA would not consider such a change.
Pride co-chair Genevieve D’Iorio said yesterday the board voted to ban “Israeli apartheid” because the controversy around its use had put the festival in jeopardy of losing funding.
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