Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance – Hot Docs 2025
April 24 to May 4, 2025
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Canada’s history of 2SLGBTQI+ activism is explored in Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance. There was a time when it was illegal to be homosexual in Canada. The first steps towards acceptance came in December 1967 when Pierre Elliot Trudeau passed a law making private acts between two consenting adults legal. However, this was not enough, and 2SLGBTQI+ activism would continue throughout the decades, including the establishment of Toronto Gay Pride Week in 1973 and the protest of the early 1980s bathhouse raids, considered Canada’s Stonewall.
Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance Synopsis
Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance is a documentary directed by Noam Gonick. The film utilizes archival footage to tell the history of 2SLGBTQI+ activism in Canada, predominantly in Toronto, but also featuring events and protests in Ottawa and Montreal. The film features first-hand accounts from activists, including writer Tim McCaskell, comic Robin Tyler, and filmmaker Lynne Fernie. The film also discusses the formation of the 2SLGBTQI+ magazine The Body Politic and multiple activist organizations.
My Thoughts on Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance
As a cis, straight male, I found Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance to be a very educational documentary about this history of 2SLGBTQI+ activism in Canada. The biggest achievement of the film is how it assembles this history through rarely seen archival footage, which connects the early activism from five decades ago to modern events, such as the 2016 Black Lives Matter protest during the Toronto Pride Parade. That said, the film’s heavy reliance on black and white talking head interviews does result in Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance feeling monotonous at times. However, this is a film that I recommend people of all sexual orientations check out.
Trailer for Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance – Hot Docs 2025
