Mayor John Tory should 'stay in his lane' amid Pride protest uproar, Black Lives Matter says

Black Lives Matter Toronto doubled down on its calls to keep police floats out of the city's Pride parade on Thursday and warned Mayor John Tory to stay out of the debate.

The activist group, which was invited to help lead last Sunday's parade as an honoured group, held a sit-in that halted the parade for some 30 minutes. The parade resumed onlyafter Pride Toronto's executive director, MathieuChantelois,signed a list of the group's demands surrounding future Pride celebrations.

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The most controversial demand Black Lives Matter Toronto (BLMTO) madewas to banpolice floats from the parade and booths at other Pride events.Tory, the police association and at least one gay officer have spoken out against the idea, arguing its important to include police in the parade.

BLMTO'sRodneyDiverlussaidTory "has no place in this discussion and he needs to stay in his lane."

"We are not interested in going back and forth with him," Diverlustold reporters at a news conference in the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood.

Tory, speaking at a news conference about affordable housing, said he believes he took a reasonable position by supporting police at Pride.

"I think we're all aboutinclusivityin the city of Toronto," Tory said.

The mayor added he didn't criticizeBLMTO'sactions and doesn't need to be involved in the negotiations between the group and Pride Toronto.

BLMTO rails against Pride

The activist group alsocriticizedPride Toronto's leadership for going backandforth onthe list ofcommitments it made withthe group including commitments to provide space for the Black Queer Youth group, double funding for the Blockorama event and a vow to increase the number of people of colour on the Pride Toronto staff.

"The way that Pride handles blackness is abysmal," Alexandra Williams, BLMTO's co-founder said.

Williams blastedChanteloisfor breaking the commitment he made toher organization on Sunday.

Earlier this week, Chantelois said signing the document constitutesan agreement to discuss the issues, but that Pride Toronto hadn't committed to anything. He signed the document, he said,to keep the parade moving.

BLMTO reiterated its demands on Thursday, which the group sayswere driven by the blackLGBTcommunity.

Williams said she's OK with gay police officers marching in the parade, but doesn't want the symbol of police vehicles there, calling them a "triggering image" for many people in her community.

Distrust for the police comes from "lived experience," she said, but also incidents like the police shooting deaths this week of two black men in the U.S.

Pride Toronto membersteps down

BLMTOsaid it hasn't had any official discussions with Pride Toronto since disrupting the parade.

However, at least one high-profile member of the Pride organization has stepped down in support of the group.

"I got your back," Jacqie Lucas wrote to BLMTO in a public Facebook post.

Lucas praised the group for its dedication to breaking down barriers for everyone in the community and for pushing for changes regardingissues like the police practice of carding.

She also took aim at anyone suggestingBLMTO's issues are somehow separate from those of Pride or the LBGT community.

"They are us. Part of our community," Lucas wrote.

"Pride is a community organization that is not owned by sections of a community, but the entirety of it."