Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski and Justin Trudeau make hearts flutter by marching at Montreal Pride together
Canadian Prime minister Justin Trudeau (2nd from R) leading the 2018 Montreal Pride parade along with his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and Canadien actor Antoni Porowski (R) in Montreal, Quebec on August 19, 2018. – (Photo by Eric THOMAS / AFP) (Photo credit should read ERIC THOMAS/AFP/Getty Images)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continued to show his support for the LGBT+ community on Sunday, as he marched in Montreal Pride’s parade alongside his wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau and Queer Eye star Antoni Porowski.
The trio were all smiles as they yelled “Happy Pride” during the event and waved rainbow-coloured flags to the thousands of spectators that descended upon the city.
The procession, which was lead by transgender women and their allies, is said to have included 10,000 marchers and featured a minute of silence for people who still face severe repression in certain countries.
LGBT+ activist Kennedy Olango was also in attendance. His ongoing mission to change attitudes towards homosexuality in Kenya echoed Trudeau’s statements at a press briefing earlier in the day.
“Can we stop talking about tolerance. We need to talk about acceptance; we need to talk about openness; we need to talk about friendship. We need to talk about love, not just tolerance,” said Trudeau.
Prior to the public celebrations, Montreal native Porowski spoke at a Liberal Party brunch reception as part of the Pride proceedings, which began on August 9 and concluded yesterday.
The food expert talked candidly about how he had previously been reluctant to get involved in marches because he believed them to be just about partying. But since being a part of Queer Eye, the hugely popular Netflix show, his perception has changed dramatically, according to the Canada edition of Huffington Post.
“I kind of stayed away from it,” he told Trudeau. “[Now] I’m understanding the definition of the word ‘visibility,’ I think we really can’t undermine the importance of it. Just by showing up, and being myself and who I am, and representing myself as part of the LGBTQIA+ community… I take that very seriously.”
Trudeau discussed the importance of reaching out to marginalised communities and making sure that they feel accepted as the fight for equality continues. “That’s a message we can never give too often or too strongly,” he explained.
Since becoming prime minister in 2015, Trudeau has been a vocal advocate for LGBT+ rights. In 2016, he became the first Canadian head of government to participate in Toronto’s annual Pride parade.
In the last two years, he has also attended events in Halifax and Vancouver, raised the LGBT+ flag above Parliament Hill and issued a formal apology to the community in to mend the nation’s fractured relationship with its own queer citizens.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau became the nation’s first head of government to march in Toronto’s annual Pride Festival parade in 2017 (Ian Willms/Getty)
“For the oppression of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two-spirit communities, we apologize,” he said at the House of Commons. “On behalf of the government, Parliament, and the people of Canada: We were wrong. We are sorry. And we will never let this happen again.”
In December 2017, he made history as the first world leader to appear on the cover of Attitude magazine.
