Pride

by Michael Rowe, Michael Rowe (Contributor), Angel John Guerra (Photographer)

As Toronto marks the fiftieth year of its first gay rights march comes this celebration of those who march with pride. For the past fifteen years, Toronto photographer Angel Guerra has captured his city’s pride parade on a human scale. In these 120 photographs, which glimpse beyond the usual media coverage, Guerra zooms in from the glorious spectacle to the small scenes and single participants, shining a light on moments of joy, strength, ferocity, resilience and love. In 2024, Toronto will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the first Gay Pride March in 1974, when more than one hundred people gathered to march from Allan Gardens to Queen’s Park, calling on lawmakers to include sexual orientation in the Ontario Human Rights Code. In the book’s introduction, Lambda-awarding-winning writer Michael Rowe brings this history, and the challenges the gay community has faced since, into sharp focus. At a time when 2SLGBTQ1+ rights are under renewed threat throughout the world, Guerra and Rowe’s work captures the power of a movement that contains multitudes.

160 pages, Hardcover

Published October 22, 2024

About the author

Michael Rowe is an independent international journalist who has lived in Beirut, Havana, Geneva, and Paris.

His work has appeared in the National Post, The Globe & Mail, The United Church Observer and numerous other publications. He has been a finalist for both the Canadian National Magazine Award and the Associated Church Press Award in the United States. The author of several books, including Writing Below the Belt, a critically acclaimed study of censorship, pornography, and popular culture, and the essay collections Looking For Brothers and Other Men's Sons, which won the 2008 Randy Shilts Award for Nonfiction, he has also won the Lambda Literary Award. He is currently a contributing writer to The Advocate and a political blogger for The Huffington Post.

--from the author's website

Reviews

[Scott Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of images captured by Angel John Guerra accompanied by a moving essay by Michael Rowe. It celebrates Pride — looking back to see how far we’ve come while acknowledging the present challenges and those ahead.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful essay that you wished could have been longer and photos which you sort of wish could have showed more range of a community not performing a role. Still the collection of photos is a panorama of Pride and the essay is filled with so much wisdom that it's hard to complain.