Meet some of the families and advocates turning out for this year’s Toronto Pride

TORONTO — A mom who’s been running for Pride for more than a decade.

A drag queen who feels like she can take on the world with high heels on her feet and a violin in her hands.

A wife with 35 years of the Dyke March under her belt and no plans to stop celebrating.

Toronto Pride, which bills itself as the second-largest festival in the world, is drawing crowds of partiers, protesters and allies, as the city is also basking in sunny weekend weather and World Cup fanfare. Here are the stories of some of this year’s festival attendees:

This athletic mom’s young kids are following in her footsteps

Francine Doyle, 42, has been lacing up her sneakers for the Pride Run for more than a decade and said this year marks “another year, another medal.”

The Brampton mom — with her six-year-old’s arms wrapped around her waist — said she loves that Family Pride events are far less crowded than the parade.

She laughed that her three-year-old, scampering around the soccer field, was a natural-born runner, too, and the festive run encourages families to be active together.

Pride is also a chance to show her children how other families live in a warm, welcoming environment, Doyle said.

“It’s important to expose them to same-sex families — mommy and mommies, daddy and daddies.”

Kids aren’t judgmental by nature and aren’t uncomfortable meeting people from different backgrounds, she said.

“They just see flowers, they see rainbows, and they’re like, ‘This is fun,’” Doyle said, adding she and her wife can mingle with friends and still easily keep an eye on their little ones.

“There’s no negativity, none of that bad stuff. So as parents, we feel safe bringing them here.”

A young LGBTQ+ family hopes to broaden their baby son’s world view

Parents Emily and Hunter Doolittle have been going to the Trans March and other Pride events for a decade, while their infant son is much newer to the party.

“I feel like Toronto is such a big, open place, and yet you don’t see many queer families out and about on a daily basis,” said Hunter Doolittle, with the couple’s one-year-old boy sleeping soundly in the stroller between them.

The couple hopes bringing their son to events like Toronto Pride will show him other LGBTQ+ families that look like theirs and teach him about other ways of living, he said.

“We’re showing him that there’s representation within the city and a community of kids that are just like him,” Hunter Doolittle said. “I think it’s already broadened his life.”

The drag queen finding respite from bustling city life

Drag queen Empress Eve — a play on “impressive” — said Pride comes as a much-needed reprieve from daily life in a fast-moving city.

Here, people are slowing down to appreciate the summer weather and each other’s company, said the 42-year-old performer from Toronto, holding a bright yellow parasol to shield herself from the hot sun.

She started her drag journey two years ago, reluctantly participating in a talent show through her volleyball league. There, she got hooked on playing the violin in front of a crowd and the empowering leverage of high heels, joking that she feels like Carrie Bradshaw from “Sex and the City.”

She had once heard the line, “Give a woman a pair of heels, and she can conquer the world,’” Empress Eve said.

“I didn’t understand that before, but I do now. It just gives you this confidence that you can do whatever it is that you aim for.”

A woman excited to spend the rest of her life marching

Pam Ward has been attending Pride for some 35 years, and while the 55-year-old has watched it grow larger over the decades, the act of protest at its core hasn’t changed, she said.

“It’s huge now, but it’s a lot of the same energy — just a massive celebration,” Ward said.

Walking in the Dyke March hand in hand with her wife, Ward said she has no plans to quit.

“I’m coming for as many years as I’m alive,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 28, 2026.

Elissa Mendes, The Canadian Press