Ontario, Canada
Toronto, Canada's biggest city competes with cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco as a major destination for international LGBTQ+ travelers, and its annual Pride celebrations are unmatched. Toronto is home to over five million people, including the largest LGBTQ+ population in Canada.
Church-Wellesley Village, the first gay village, is an urban destination with the largest proportion of LGBTQ+-owned and welcoming businesses in Canada. It has famous LGBTQ+ bars and clubs, bookstores, saunas, cafes, restaurants, and community organizations, and it is also where many LGBTQ+ Torontonians live. LGBTQ+ visitors often use this as a starting point when they want to explore the city. It is also where Toronto's extensive Pride celebrations, now called Pride Month, will happen from June 1– 30, 2024. The Pride Festival and Pride Parade, usually take place during the last week of June. Check Pride Toronto’s website for details for 2024.
The West Queen West Art & Design District, known locally as the Queer West Village, is Toronto's second neighbourhood of interest for the LGBTQ+ community. It has broadcasters, gay-welcoming bars, restaurants, shops, cafes, design houses and galleries galore, and it is open to everyone, no matter their age, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.
Queer East Toronto, which includes Leslieville, The Beaches and Greektown, are also becoming popular areas for LGBTQ+ Torontonians. They are more relaxed than the Church Wellesley Village, and these LGBTQ+ welcoming neighbourhoods have a wide range of restaurants, pubs, shopping and nightlife.
Toronto Queer Film Festival: “The Toronto Queer Media & Arts Centre (TQFF) is a collectively-run, artist-run, nonprofit organization in Toronto, Ontario. TQFF started in 2016 to provide community art exhibition space for experimental, contemporary, and/or social justice themed film and video art by queer filmmakers.” Visit their website for more festival information.
Canada's largest LGBTQ+ Centre, The 519, is at 519 Church Street in the Church-Wellesley Village. This registered charity is an agency of the City of Toronto and works with community businesses and sponsors, to provide a wide range of services, programs and meeting spaces for the LGBTQ+ community. For example, with the city of Toronto, The 519 and Homes First Society are opening their first dedicated shelter for 2SLGBTQ+ adults to provide temporary housing to 2SLGBTQ+ refugees with a focus on Trans women, as outlined in a news release by the city.
Another valuable Toronto-based resource is The ArQuives, Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives, which launched an online database that lets the public search their diverse collection of records. They also offer tours of their Jared Sessions House where they have their public programs, as well as walking tours of Toronto's LGBTQ2+ historical neighbourhoods, and presentations about their collections.
www.destinationtoronto.com
www.pridetoronto.com
torontoqueerfilmfest.com
www.queerwest.org
www.the519.org
arquives.ca
