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Out-radicalized, they’re utterly helpless. When their interlocutors are people claiming to be more oppressed, however, gay progressives are at a loss. That’s easy to do when it comes to a government denying you basic equality. Beginning with the very act of coming out, gay liberation’s whole gestalt is defiance. Gay rights activists are adept at challenging authority. It took only 30 minutes for festival organizers to surrender to this bullying. But dialogue has never been the preferred mode of communication for Black Lives Matter, not even, apparently, in uber-polite Canada. Amid rainbow-colored smoke bombs, she accused event organizers of harboring “a historical and current culture of anti-blackness” - a curious claim considering how the festival welcomed Black Lives Matter as “guests of honor.”īlack Lives Matter refused to budge unless pride organizers acquiesced to a list of demands, which included increased funding for black-related pride events, “prioritizing black trans women” in hiring, and “a commitment to more black deaf & hearing ASL interpreters.” Surely, these issues - which are always “demands,” never “requests” - could have been taken up in a constructive manner before the parade. “We are calling you out!” Alexandria Williams, co-founder of the group’s Toronto chapter, shouted through a megaphone as the Black Lives Matter float came to a halt and marchers sat down. On Sunday, Black Lives Matter activists pulled off the sort of victory that right-wing hooligans could only hope to achieve: They stopped a gay pride parade.