Why Does Toronto’s Caribana Parade Excludes Caribbean Gays & Lesbians?

This weekend the city of Toronto’s Caribbean community will be “jumping up” and celebrating Caribana. Caribana is big business because the city of Toronto makes millions of dollars due to tourism.  However, I certainly won’t be at the Caribana Parade for a variety of reasons.

First, Caribana has now gone corporate the event’s new name is the Scotiabank Caribana Festival. I understand the Caribana committee needs to make money but having a bank as a sponsor. However, I believe takes away from the political importance of the parade. The Caribana Parade started in the year 1967 to celebrate Caribbean culture in Toronto. Caribbean immigrants moved to Canada in large numbers during the late 1960s and early 1970s. My parents immigrated to Canada in 1972 and 1973.

Although I wasn’t alive in the early 1970s, my parents told me stories of incredible racism that was just shocking when they described how Caribbean people were treated in Toronto. The Caribana parade was a sense of community, a sense of pride for the West Indian immigrants to build and celebrate our culture.

However, one community the Caribbean parade organizers don’t give a damn about is gays and lesbians of Caribbean heritage!

Of course, the organizers of Caribana are not going to say gays and lesbians are “excluded” from the parade but we aren’t “included” either. N

Why is  Caribana just for heterosexuals? Recently, at the  Toronto gay pride parade a few weeks ago,  there were floats with heterosexuals,  transsexuals, drag queens, gays and lesbians of all races. However, at Caribana the event is definitely just for heterosexuals.  The half naked women, the heterosexual men’s eyes will be bulging out of their heads this weekend checking out the women. The Caribbean music is also very sex obsessed and drenched with overt heterosexuality.

Not all my memories of Caribana are bad though. I remember when I was a young boy in the 1980s, and my parents brought my siblings and I to the Caribana parade. I loved looking at the beautiful, bright coloured costumes, and eating the Caribbean food. My father would bring his picket basket with bun and cheese, ox tail,  patties, fried dumplings, with ackee & saltfish.  I have fond memories of my childhood watching the Caribana parade. My parents wanted my siblings and i to be proud of our Caribbean heritage.

When I grew up and became an adult, I realized that there is so much hostility towards gays and lesbians in my community. Can you imagine what would happen if Caribbean gays and lesbians had a float at the Caribana parade? I don’t even want to know what would happen. I think the homophobia in the Caribbean is not only deleterious it is also so disappointing. I am cognizant of the fact some gays and lesbians of Caribbean heritage will be having private parties or there are some events at gay bars.  My argument is, the gays and lesbians of Caribbean hertiage events are still “underground” and the homophobia in our community is not being addressed.

Another reason I won’t be attending the Caribana parade is due to the violence. I remember the horrible news when the nurse was shot a few years ago.

I am aware that the Toronto police have done an amazing job cracking down on the nonsense but I am not interested in taking a bullet for anybody! Some Caribbean people feel the police force is racist and there are hostile feelings in the community about the cops. However, I feel the baricades at the Caribana parade are necessary in order to maintain some sense of stability. I am tired of  trouble makers that cause trouble at Caribana! The police presence is necessary because the crowd is so large.