‘If you were my child I’d burn you alive’ Pride organisers read their horrific hate mail
The organisers of Toronto Pride have demonstrated exactly why Pride is still needed – by reading their hate mail.
The Toronto Pride march is set to take place on July 3, the culmination of the month-long Pride celebrations that the rainbow flag flying over Toronto City Hall for the first time.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who attended a number of pride events as opposition leader – is set to make history as the first PM to march at the event, following his election last year.
However, that doesn’t mean that everyone embraces the event.
A video released ahead of the Pride festival in collaboration with the Toronto Star shows volunteers and organisers read out some of the horrific messages they have been sent by homophobes.
The Toronto Star
One reads: “To my unborn child, if you turn out gay I will burn you alive.”
A second: “Nobody really gives a s**t about you so take your AIDS infected lifestyle and get lost”
Another, addressed to Toronto Pride board member Rachel Lauren Clark, says: “F**k you bitch. I f**king hate you. Stupid tranny looking c**t. Kill yourself whore.”
Rachel Lauren Clark responded: “It’s a bit cowardly to do what they do [sending anonymous messages].
“When you’re a person who hears that stuff everyday, you become numb to it.”
She added: “Actually my parents love me very much, I have a really great job, I volunteer with my community and I have a really great life.
“It’s pathetic, they don’t know me at all and they just spew these things forward.”
But the hateful messages continue to pile up.
One reads: “It’s just a decision. I don’t support the choice to be unnatural. Just be straight like the rest of us.”
Another says: “First, being gay is cool. Now being transgender is the new thing. What is this world coming to?”
A separate message claimed: “Homosexuality is a disease of the heart and mind.”
Michelle Cherny, a member of Pride’s board of directors, said: “It’s a little surreal, it almost seemed fake to hear the words out loud.
“The hate is out there.”
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