DRAFT (Revised June 11, 2010)

Since 1981 Pride Toronto has publicly represented Toronto’s queer and trans communities. In 2014 it will be representing us to the entire world. But we, the undersigned, feel that the Pride board has increasingly lost sight of its roots, history and responsibility to our local communities.

A philosophy of growth at any cost has meant that Pride is now completely dependant on its corporate sponsors and government funding. Community support and development has been eclipsed by the demands of marketing and tourism. Pride has therefore become vulnerable to external interests and political pressures that increasingly dictate the shape of the festival.

This is unacceptable. It is time to restore community accountability to Pride.

With this in mind, we propose the following contract between Pride Toronto and the Toronto LGBT community. We welcome comments from the community.

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1.  All Pride events and activities must be financially, socially, and environmentally sustainable and accessible to all.

2. Freedom of expression must be guaranteed:

• All queer and trans groups and individuals must be free to express themselves politically, culturally, etc. as they see fit at Pride.

3. Non-for-profit grassroots community events at Pride must always take precedence over corporate sponsorships and corporate events:

• Community-based events (including, but not limited to Blockorama, FunkAsia, and the Trans stage) must always have first priority in choosing stage areas.
• Once a “hub” of community events is established, the playing field may be opened to others.
• Free events should be given priority over events with entrance fees.

4. Local queer and trans artists must be given preference over “headliners”:

• 75 % of all artist and cultural-related expenditures must be focused on the GTA local community.
• Queer and Trans artists, including those from outside the GTA, must be given preference over artists from outside these communities.
• All artists must be free to express their political views.

5. Local small businesses must be given preference over corporate sponsors:

• Vendor space must be allocated with preferential choice for local community queer and trans businesses.
• Participation fees for local businesses should be set at 25 % of similar corporate fees.
• Advertising expenditures should be focused on bringing new customers and tourists to local queer and trans businesses.

6. Pride volunteers should be valued and given opportunities for skills development and deeper involvement in the community:

• Pride should be a training ground for community leadership.
• Volunteers should be encouraged to voice their opinions and give input into the shape of the festival.
• Ideas need to come ‘up’ from the volunteers to the Board, not just the other way around.

7.  Corporate donors and sponsors must demonstrate meaningful commitment to the wellbeing of local queer and trans communities:

• All corporate donors and sponsors must demonstrate equitable queer and trans positive human resources policies.
• Corporate donors and sponsors will support and endorse Pride events and services, without expecting advertising, logo placement or other benefit beyond agreed upon public acknowledgement and thanks

8. Demonstrated involvement in LGBT communities should be a requirement for all Pride staff.

9. Transparency in decision-making:

• There must be ongoing, accessible and varied opportunities before and after Pride each year for members of the LGBT community to express their ideas or concerns about how Pride should be organized.
• Pride events that purport to represent a particular element of the LGBT community (e.g. Dyke March, Trans stage), must be developed with meaningful and direct involvement of those communities and in good faith.
• Minutes from all Pride board meetings must be publicly available and posted on line.

10. Transparency in financial affairs:

• Pride must provide to the community a detailed projection of estimated income and expenditures at least 90 days in advance of Pride Week.
• Pride must provide to the community a detailed, audited breakdown of actual income and expenditures at its Annual General meeting.
• The AGM must be adequately publicized and held in an appropriate and accessible location.

11. All of Pride’s bylaws and procedures should reflect and exemplify the principles of the community contract.

SIGN CONTRACT HERE.

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