Ottawa’s annual Pride Parade was abruptly cancelled halfway through yesterday after pro-Palestinian activists—led by the group Queers for Palestine—blocked the route near Parliament Hill and issued a list of demands to organizers and city officials.
The disruption, which parade officials said could not be rerouted due to permit constraints, brought the celebration to a standstill and exposed deep fractures within the movement itself. What was meant to be a day of unity and celebration turned into a public unraveling of ideological contradictions.
Ottawa has long been a city of paradoxes—where tulips bloom in May and logic wilts year-round. But lately, our capital has become the epicentre of a new intellectual pandemic: cognitive dissonance. And nowhere is this more evident than in the curious alliance between Ottawa’s Pride Parade organizers and the ever-enthusiastic “Queers for Palestine” movement. If irony were a currency, we’d be richer than Jeff Bezos.
Let’s rewind. Ottawa’s Pride Parade has long been a joyful fixture—a celebration of love, identity, and the unapologetic right to wear glitter in public. But over the past 18 months, the mayor, police, and city council have stood by as a wave of so-called “pro-Palestinian protests” swept through the city. Many of these demonstrations feature cowardly masked men spewing hateful, threatening rhetoric directed at Ottawa’s Jewish community. And here’s where the plot thickens—only to collapse under the weight of its own absurdity.
Pride organizers, in what can only be described as a display of cognitive dissonance on steroids, have embraced these so-called “protests” in a misguided show of solidarity—seemingly unaware (or willfully unwilling to acknowledge) that many of the ideologies being championed are violently anti-LGBTQ+. Hamas, the governing authority in Gaza, enforces Sharia law under which homosexuality is not merely illegal—it is punishable by torture and execution. Human rights organizations and journalists have documented numerous cases of LGBTQ+ Palestinians being publicly executed or brutally tortured—simply for being gay.
This isn’t conjecture. It’s a fact. Yet the folks running Ottawa’s Pride events seem to have skipped the most basic step of activism: a Google search. Try typing “Hamas LGBTQ record” and see what pops up. Spoiler: it’s not rainbow flags and drag brunches.
So what do we make of “Queers for Palestine”? A group that sounds like it was formed during a very confusing game of charades. These activists proudly wave rainbow flags while chanting slogans in support of Hamas—an organization that, if given the chance, would throw them off rooftops or stone them to death. Literally. In one documented case, Hamas executed its own commander, Mahmoud Ishtiwi, for allegedly engaging in homosexual activity. Before his death, he was tortured with sleep deprivation and brutal, depraved beatings.
Meanwhile, the only country in the Middle East where LGBTQ+ individuals enjoy legal protections, can marry, adopt, and march in Pride parades without fearing for their lives? Israel. Yes, the same Israel that these activists routinely vilify. Tel Aviv hosts one of the largest Pride parades in the world. LGBTQ+ Israelis serve in parliament, enjoy full civil rights, and live openly in a society that protects them under law.
And here’s the staggering irony: Hamas violently persecutes LGBTQ+ people, while Israel—despite being the activists’ favourite scapegoat—is the only country in the region where LGBTQ+ rights are protected, celebrated, and legally upheld. Yet the organizers of Ottawa’s Pride events initially aligned themselves with pro-Hamas sympathizers. When it was pointed out that they were endorsing a regime that would gladly see them dead, they scrambled to walk it back. But the damage was done. Their own radical offshoot, Queers for Palestine, turned on them—accusing Pride organizers of abandoning Gaza’s oppressed.
The tragic twist? Gaza’s regime doesn’t just oppress LGBTQ+ people—it targets them for elimination. If the dunderheads from Queers for Palestine actually set foot in Gaza waving rainbow flags, they wouldn’t be welcomed as allies—they’d be hunted and killed as enemies. In trying to stand for everyone, Pride Ottawa ended up standing for no one—and now their parade is in shambles, hijacked by a cause that fundamentally rejects their very existence.
This isn’t about denying the right to protest or ignoring the plight of Palestinians. It’s about recognizing that not all causes are compatible—and that blind solidarity can sometimes lead you straight into absurdity. So to the Pride organizers and Queers for Palestine: maybe take a moment to Google the platforms you’re endorsing. Or better yet, try waving your rainbow flag in Gaza and see how long it takes before someone notices you’re not welcome.
Until then, enjoy your stay in Stupidville—where critical thinking is not required.
Photo: Urban Mode
