Thursday, July 2, 2026
Has everyone recovered from this year’s Pride?
It was another great weekend packed with joy, community, sharing and learning as the TSA once again participated in Toronto’s annual Pride celebrations—both in the parade and at our now-annual booth at the 3-day Pride Street Fair.
Those of you who have visited our booth in the past might remember our ongoing research project documenting Toronto’s Queer Spaces. This year’s booth shared the latest update on this project which now includes 344 spaces—75 more than last year thanks to community contributions and additional research efforts from our volunteer team. New this year, we also mapped these spaces, providing a deeper perspective into the spatial and historical distribution of 2SLGBTQIA+ spaces in the city. This mapping exercise also revealed the fascinating story of The Village’s formation and migration throughout time, a story that was shared through both a printed limited-edition map and large exhibition boards. And it also inspired some of this year’s Queer Spaces merchandise, including a bandana celebrating some of the buildings, monuments, and public art pieces of the Church and Wellesley Village. Funds collected from merchandise sales go directly into supporting this work and the TSA’s participation at Pride.
In total, this year’s Street Fair booth received visits from over 6,800 attendees—3,000 more than in 2025—with many of them also participating in our interactive piece asking them to reflect on the future of The Village. From celebrating pedestrianization, to reflecting on the need for more shade, seating, free third spaces, and more, the answers have given us a lot to think about as we engage in the next steps of this project.
We wrapped up the weekend by once again participating in Toronto’s Pride Parade–now for the 6th year! TSA Members, family, and friends geared up with our unmistakably colourful signs depicting past and present queer spaces, and marched in celebration and remembrance of the spaces that shape the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. And this year’s contingent included a very special guest: safe street and public transit advocate Rodney Chan, the individual behind the push for the Church Street Pedestrianization Pilot.
A huge thank you to all who braved the heat and marched with us, and those who supported us by cheering us on down the parade route!
Our annual participation in the Pride Parade and the TSA’s ongoing research of Toronto’s Queer Spaces is an important part of fulfilling our dual mandates to support our members and help share the stories of our city, and none of this would have been possible without the dedication of countless individuals. We want to give a special thank you to our 2026 Pride Task Group, including our Pride Initiative Lead Janice Miyagi, task group members Adria Maynard, Atik Bheda, Benny VanLandschoot, Jake Murray, Joe Woolfe, Kate Rozumey, Mariana Nito, and Simon Lao, and our Street Fair Booth Volunteers Adhira, Alexa, Andrew, Casey, Eric, Fleur, Florence, Gwendell, Haozhuo, Irene, Jim, Jonas, Kit, Luisa, Lyana, Maria, Maxwell, Minette, and Yen-Yu. A special shout out to volunteer Ryan Falkbenberg for all his help with the booth and parade logistics, and to our dedicated TSA staff Joël, Rebecca, Renée, Emma, and Kurtis for all the behind-the-scenes work to make our Pride initiatives possible.
Last but not least, we want to thank the organizations whose financial and in-kind support make our participation at Pride possible, including the Ontario Association of Architects for their ongoing support for our Pride initiatives through Special Project Funding and to Esri Canada for the powerful mapping capabilities behind our interactive queer spaces map.
Until next Pride!
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