Every year, the Festival Fierté Montréal celebrates 2SLGBTQIA+ creativity, resilience and struggles. This incandescent event is at once a tribute to the progress our communities have made, a celebration of queer identities, and a reminder of ongoing struggles for full recognition of the rights of people from diverse sexual and gender backgrounds.
The road to social and legal equality cannot be travelled alone. The struggle for full recognition of our rights is broad and multi-faceted, and efforts of 2SLGBTQIA+ community organizations must be accompanied by concrete action from all sectors of society.
Model organizing: Fierté Montréal proudly collaborates with a wide array of partners
Each year, Fierté Montréal collaborates with more than 300 organizations from a wide variety of backgrounds, including the 2SLGBTQIA+ community sector, the cultural milieu, private sector companies, State-owned corporations and public institutions, bringing together agents of change from all spheres of society to celebrate the creativity of queer communities and highlight their resilience. These partners, all driven by a common desire to advance the rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, contribute, according to their respective missions and means, to the well-being of queer communities here and abroad.
“Cogeco's participation in Fierté Montréal activities allows us both to show our support and to participate in the creation and promotion of an environment of diversity and inclusion. We want to promote a concrete sense of belonging, security and well-being on a daily basis, both for our employees and within our local communities.
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— Mathieu Chèvrefils
Director, National Collections and Customer Service, Québec, Cogeco
Thanks to its broad network of partnerships, Fierté Montréal can play a role in influencing and supporting change within such organizations to counter the exclusion and marginalization faced by people of sexual and gender diversity. This synergy between different sectors helps us achieve our mission of amplifying community voices to ensure representation, inclusion and recognition of the rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in society.
“We're delighted to welcome the Festival Fierté Montréal to the Esplanade Tranquille and Quartier des spectacles venues. The Festival's distinctive, free artistic programming is rich in content and in opportunities to encounter 2SLGBTQIA communities. This flagship event for queer culture and sexually and gender-diverse people is also a must-see for its ability to bring together Montréalers, tourists and visitors alike.
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— Monique Simard et Éric Lefebvre
President of the Board of Directors, and General Manager, Partenariat du Quartier des spectacles
An accessible festival, a catalyst for change
Some of the partners in Fierté Montréal's extensive network also collaborate financially, and this support from public, paragovernmental and private partners is essential to us, since the Fierté Montréal Festival remains 90% free thanks to them.
Their support also enables us to act as a springboard for 2SLGBTQIA+ artists, with a particular focus on emerging talent. Queer artists, at the heart of our programming, represent the richness and beauty of our communities. We are proud to contribute to their development and to celebrate their creativity by providing them with the platform of the Festival Fierté Montréal, the largest 2SLGBTQIA+ gathering in the French-speaking world.
Moreover, Fierté Montréal receives public funding exclusively as a cultural organization, contributing to the economic development of the metropolitan area. Consequently, fewer public subsidies are available to support community organizations in the 2SLGBTQIA+ sector operating near Fierté Montréal. It is therefore the support of private partners - and the autonomous revenues generated by the Festival, such as the sale of food and beverages - that makes Fierté Montréal's community projects program possible. This program enables Fierté Montréal to recognize the invaluable contribution of Québec-based 2SLGBTQIA+ community organizations, which work relentlessly to support members of our communities, combat the discrimination we face and secure our rights. Since 2022, the program has supported more than 112 community projects, directly reinvesting nearly $350,000 in the community and benefiting more than 21,000 people. By amplifying the work of these organizations, Fierté Montréal plays a key role in valuing and recognizing community action and its advocacy goals.
A rigorous process for meaningful partnerships
All of Fierté Montréal's partnerships are essential to the pursuit of our mission, with relevance and fit as key factors. Each new partnership is evaluated to confirm that the entity wishing to become a partner of Fierté Montréal genuinely stands by 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, acknowledging their invaluable contribution to society and the full recognition of their rights. To this end, we recently put in place a mission alignment assessment model to help us more clearly understand the relevance of our collaborations with private partners, thus ensuring that each partnership reflects a genuine commitment to the community.
Indeed, we recently introduced an analytical framework to help us understand more clearly the relevance of our collaborations with private partners, ensuring that each partnership reflects a genuine commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. The analytical framework enables us to learn more about:
- Their commitment to Fierté Montréal's mission, vision and values;
- Their reasons for collaborating with Fierté Montréal;
- Their equity, diversity and inclusion policies and practices, as well as their specific support for initiatives that validate 2SLGBTQIA+ communities;
- Their community involvement, as well as their involvement with 2SLGBTQIA+ communities beyond Pride Month or the Festival Fierté Montréal
- Their sustainable and environmentally-friendly practices.
Our private partners are companies that embody these principles in their daily actions. Their collaboration with Fierté Montréal is not just a symbolic gesture, but an opportunity for their 2SLGBTQIA+ employees and allies to celebrate the progress made in the recognition of their rights within their workplaces, while highlighting what remains to be done to ensure that their realities are fully recognized in the workplace.
“Our equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives have had a significant impact on the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. We are proud to have earned certifications from IGLTA, Expedia LGBTQIA+-Friendly and Booking.com Proud Certified, which demonstrate our commitment to creating a welcoming and respectful environment for all. These certifications were achieved through concrete actions such as mandatory 2SLGBTQIA+ awareness training for all our staff, the implementation of clear and transparent inclusion policies, and the development of partnerships with local 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations.”
— Gifty Mane
Marketing and Public Relations Specialist at the Fairmont Reine Elizabeth
According to the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse, employment is the area where the Québec (Human Rights and Youth Rights) Commission received the most complaints about discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression (42%). This is part of why it's crucial that we celebrate workplaces that are committed to making a difference and providing safe spaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ workers. Job environments where queer people can thrive are fostered by empowering practices that can be learned and applied.
Fierté Montréal also promotes the wide range of resources developed by 2SLGBTQIA+ community organizations to its partners to bolster efforts for inclusion.
Together, we create authentic partnerships that support the Festival Fierté Montréal and its mission as a touchstone for affirming the well-being and recognition of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities well beyond the period of our scheduled annual events.
Our partners' involvement in Festival activities
Fierté Montréal's partners also play a quintessential role in the success of the Festival's signature activities, such as the Pride Parade and Community Days. Firstly, the contingents from private corporations are made up of 2SLGBTQIA+ employees and their allies, who celebrate progress being made in their own workplaces.
“Air Canada is proud to be associated with Fierté Montréal year after year. Promoting the values of respect and inclusion of the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities is aligned with our priorities and objectives with our customers and employees. In fact, our employees play a leading role in raising awareness of the issues surrounding the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, notably through initiatives and activities led by ACProud/Fiers, our Employee Resources Group (ERG) with the support of senior management, not only during Pride season, but also year round.”
— Christianna Scott, LL.B, LL.M et Éric Lauzon
Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Community Partnerships Manager, Air Canada
What's more, since the production of the Pride Parade and Community Days involves a tremendous coordination of material and human resources, Fierté Montréal asks private, public and para-public partners to contribute financially to their participation in these events, enabling us to offer free access to 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations. In this way, 2SLGBTQIA+ community organizations benefit directly from the financial support of private, public and parapublic partners. In 2024, 84 community organizations registered for Community Days were to have accessed (Hurricane Debbie having caused one of the days to be cancelled) the site and participated in meeting members of the public to interact with about their services, collect donations and recruit volunteers. During Community Days, the private, public and media partners present enjoy the opportunity to meet 2SLGBTQIA+ community organizations, exchange information and enhance their knowledge of our communities, establishing new collaborations and potentially improve their own inclusion policies and practices.
As for the Pride Parade, 72 community groups were able to participate free of charge and commemorate 2SLGBTQIA+ struggles and victories of the past, honour those who came before us and highlight 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations calls for action.
Also, since 2024, the Pride Parade has intentionally highlighted the community sector by positioning 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations at the head of the Parade, followed by other advocacy and ally organizations. This reorganization is intended to symbolize that parade participants affiliated with an organization that is not specifically 2SLGBTQIA+ are taking part in the event by playing a role in supporting the work and demands of 2SLGBTQIA+ community groups.
Partnerships with the media allow Fierté Montréal to amplify 2SLGBTQIA+ community advocacy in the wider public sphere. For example, since 2023, a collaboration with newspaper Le Devoir for the publication of a special Fierté Montréal section has given a voice to 2SLGBTQIA+ community organizations, highlighting their objectives, challenges and successes. In 2024, the special issue had a print run of 50,000 and reached a readership of 262,000. Also, in partnership with Cogeco, radio stations The Beat 92.5 (in English) and Rythme FM (in French) were on hand during the 2024 Community Days to conduct interviews with community organizations taking part in the activities, and thus raise awareness of their activities among the general Montréal public. The interviews were published on the stations' websites. Overall, more than 23 community organizations, voices for change, were literally and figuratively amplified by these two special media partnerships in 2024. Added to these examples is the extensive coverage of Festival activities, community events and 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy goals by community media with which Fierté Montréal collaborates, such as Fugues magazine and the Toustes podcast.
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In hindsight, the partnerships that Fierté Montréal demonstrate cumulative concrete commitments to the well-being of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and their rights. Through strategic collaborations, we not only celebrate advances in inclusion, diversity and equity, but also strengthen the foundations for a future where every voice, every identity and every call to action can be reflected and shine on.
Together, we make the Festival Ferté Montréal a catalyst for action and change, where communities and their allies unite to build a more inclusive world where we might all be prouder, together.
Never without our pride!
Source
Blouin, Samuel. Symposium international sur l'inclusion et l'exclusion des personnes LGBTQI2+ : bilan du passé, regard vers le futur. Minutes of the SAVIE-LGBTQ Symposium, 2024 held in Longueuil November, 28 & 29, 2024.
