TORONTO — Artin Avaznia says he was transformed the first time he saw a group of Iranians marching in Toronto's Pride parade.
The Iranian-Canadian dancer was in his mid-20s and it was his first time attending North America's largest Pride festival. It was a stark contrast to what he'd seen in his hometown of Ottawa, which he described as a "small, very government city" that was lacking in large-scale queer representation at the time.
"Seeing that brought tears to my eyes," Avaznia said in an interview ahead of a performance at the Pride festival on Friday. "I never witnessed that before, seeing representation of not just Iranians but the broader Middle Eastern folks, just because (being) queer and Middle Eastern doesn't always go so well together."
Avaznia said experiencing his first Pride in the city was "monumental, seeing so many other queer folks of all different ethnicities and backgrounds."
This weekend will feature street parties, musical performances, picnics and marches before the festival culminates in the vibrant Pride parade on Sunday. More than 25,000 marchers from some 250 groups are expected to participate in the weekend's biggest show of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.
The last weekend of Pride month and the parade drew a large number of visitors. Toronto police say they will increase their presence throughout the city and in the Church-Wellesley Village – the hub of Pride activities – to ensure everyone's safety.
"So many folks during this month feel seen, they feel protected, they feel heard and they feel they belong," said Avaznia, who credits his own career momentum to Pride.
But this year, the celebrations and the spectacle also come with questions about what the future of Pride Toronto will look like after major corporate sponsors pulled out of the festival.
Earlier this month, Pride Toronto said it's facing a $900,000 funding gap due to withdrawals of big sponsors such as Google, Nissan, Home Depot and Clorox, and rising costs of running the festival.
Pride Toronto executive director Kojo Modeste attributed the corporate withdrawals to backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States under President Donald Trump's administration. Some of the companies said their decisions were solely based on budgetary considerations, and Google said its employees will still march in Sunday's parade.
Modeste has said that next year's Pride festival will likely be scaled down as a result of the shortfall if the organization does not get the support it needs to stay afloat. A scaled down Pride could jeopardize the festival's status as one of the largest Pride celebrations in the world, Modeste warned.
For Avaznia, shifting corporate sponsorship doesn't mean Pride won't continue to be a beacon of hope for members of the queer community and those who flock to Toronto annually to feel a sense of belonging. Instead, he said, the changes highlight which brands are invested in supporting Pride for the right reasons.
"Certain sponsors do genuinely want to support and the ones that I've partnered up with have shown to me their true colours and how much they want to support us. Other sponsors that have pulled out … are also showing their true colours," he said.
"Queer folks have dealt with a tremendous amount of adversities in their lives. A lot of us have dealt with housing issues, we've dealt with the loss of family, we dealt with substance issues," he said.
"But we will always rise and we will always come forward."
— With files from Vanessa Tiberio
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2025.
Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press
