Two Jewish 2SLGBTQ+ groups recently barred from marching in Montreal’s Pride parade have been reinstated.
Fierté Montréal, the organization that manages Montreal’s Pride festival, said in a statement posted to its website on Tuesday that it was reaffirming its invitation to all communities to take part in the celebrations.
“Fierté Montréal wishes for every community, regardless of religious affiliation, to feel welcome at its events and to be able to participate in a safe and inclusive environment,” the statement said.
“In this spirit, the organization extends its apologies to the Jewish communities and especially to Jewish members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.”
The reinstatement comes one day after the chair of Fierté Montréal’s board of directors resigned — citing personal reasons — and less than a week after the organization issued a statement both condemning “the ongoing genocide in Gaza” and saying it had denied participation in the parade to “organizations spreading hateful discourse.”
Fierté Montréal’s new board chair says the organization had acted to bar Ga’ava and CIJA after receiving complaints about hateful discourse. But he says they reversed the decision because they didn’t want to condemn an entire community for one individual’s comments.
The statement had targeted both the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and Ga’ava, which calls itself “Canada’s oldest and largest Jewish LGBTQ+ group.”
Last week, a CIJA representative said the groups had been kicked out of Pride for statements published in a Jewish community news outlet. The comments described protesters who interrupted last year’s parade as “pro-Hamas” and people seeking to bar Zionists from the parade as “pro-terror.”
‘We don’t want to condemn the whole community’
In an interview with CBC, Marlot Marleau, the new head of the board of directors for Fierté Montréal, said the organization had acted to ban Ga’ava and CIJA after receiving complaints about hateful discourse. But he said they went back on their decision because they didn’t want to make the Jewish community feel rejected.
“The statements were deemed unacceptable, [but] we don’t want to condemn the whole community because of unacceptable statements from a singular individual,” Marleau said in an interview with CBC.
Fierté Montréal had been facing a barrage of criticism for failing to take a stance on the situation in Gaza and at least one performer had said she would not perform at the festival due to the inclusion of a “Zionist LGBTQ+ group.”
But Fierté Montréal’s move to bar Ga’ava and CIJA from the parade also drew condemnation.
Five MPs penned an open letter to Fierté Montréal calling on the organization to reverse its decision.
“This is entirely unacceptable and a devastating message to Montreal’s Jewish community and, in particular, to Montreal Jews who belong to the 2LBGTQ+ community,” said the letter, which was shared on X by Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather.
Group calls initial ban ‘a PR stunt’
In a statement, CIJA said Tuesday that it had discussions with the “new chair of the board of Fierté Montréal,” Marlot Marleau, who is taking over from the previous chair, Bernard Truong, who resigned on Monday.
Following those discussions, CIJA said it welcomed the decision to reinstate both CIJA and Ga’ava in the parade.
“The organization issued an apology to Jewish 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals in Quebec and the broader Jewish community for a decision that was felt as a message of rejection. Following constructive dialogue, we accepted their apology,” the CIJA statement said.
Yara Coussa, a board member with Helem Montréal, a group that advocates for Arabic-speaking LGBTQ+ people in Montreal, said Fierté Montréal’s reinstatement of Ga’ava and CIJA showed that the organization’s position was never genuine.
“Their response just shows that their actions were never about caring for the community, but it was just a PR stunt to try to save face,” she said.
Helem Montréal is part of a coalition of 2SLGBTQ+ groups that cut ties with Fierté Montréal this year, saying the organization no longer represents them.
Ga’ava and CIJA weren’t the only groups barred from the Pride parade last week. The Iranian Montreal Rainbow Alliance (IMRA) was also excluded. Marleau did not say why, but said the organization was open to a dialogue with that group as well.
