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In 1996, two members of TCAN marched nude in the Pride parade. There was some discussion in the gay press afterwards, including a strong show of support in an editorial by David Walberg in Xtra.
There were a few offhand comments in the mainstream press in the months following Pride that indicated an expectation of nudity at Pride, e.g.: The Toronto Sun, Sunday December 22 1996, C4: "Our Cops Are Topless // What Are The Police To Do? Just Grin, And Bare It" by Pete Garvey: "Anybody who goes to the Gay and Lesbian Pride bash in downtown Tronner will see more flesh flying around than you'll find at a butcher's picnic. And yet nobody has ever been arrested as far as I know."
That December, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that topless women were not criminals. There was a huge media fuss over that, but Pride Toronto had nothing to say about bare-breasted lesbians at Pride.
In 1997, twelve members and friends of TNT!MEN marched in an official contingent in the Pride parade. We started off wearing hot-pink triangle loin-cloths. Most stripped completely nude (except for footwear, a criticial point discussed below), and the reaction from the crowd was extremely positive. The police saw us, but were not interested. At the end of the parade they asked us to put something on. We obliged. That was it.
There was some mainstream media coverage of this, mostly sensational, none very negative, until about a week later, when one cop told a Sun reporter that they would shut Pride Day down if any more nudity took place. This caused a big flurry in all the papers and even CityTV, which decided to air some footage of us marching. The other papers all went out and got quotes from police higher-ups reassuring everyone that Pride is NOT in jeapordy, and that they had no concerns about nudity in the parade.
In 1998, Pride Chair David Clark chose to make nudity an issue. From a sales point of view, it was a brilliant move: suddently every single person in Toronto, and most people in Canada, knew when Gay Pride was happening, and that there would be naked people all over the place. In fact, two men, one from Regina and the other from Calgary, came to Toronto and joined us in the parade because of the advance publicity they had heard in their home towns. You can't pay for that kind of press!
It was also the year Mayor Mel Lastman decided to join the parade, though he was quite homophobic about it, and insisted that there be no nudity.
Claiming (and perhaps inventing) threats to the future of Pride Day, Clark instructed the volunteers to report naked people to the police. He also chose to march beside us for the entire parade. That year we work plastic green leaves on cockrings that didn't hide anything from the side, or orange netting that was completely see-through. Both of these satisfied the cops, though Clark and some security people insisted on dragging some cops to the TNT!MEN booth before the parade to check us out. Clark seemed quite upset that the cops thought our outfits were fine.
At least one man marched most of the parade nude, though not with us. One woman roller-bladed the entire parade route nude. There was no problem with this until Pride staff tried to apprehend her. She fled into a nearby restaurant, where she was turned over to the police while onlookers shouted "Shame, shame!" at the Pride volunteers. The important point is that the cops weren't interested until after she left the parade. I understand that she was eventually released, no charges being placed against her.
The next day, the Toronto Sun called TNT!MEN: "one of the most photographed, and loved, groups of the day."
In 1999, we won Hanlan's Point beach, and at the request of the Pride committee hosted a Pride picnic at the nude beach on the weekend before. In the parade we wore cardboard cards attached to cock-rings that hid very little. Several men marched completely naked. Again, no interest from the police until the end of the parade, when the naked ones were asked to put something on. There was no particular excitement in the media this time about us being nude, though most papers mentioned it. On the days leading up to Pride, the Star promised "naked torsos" in the parade, and the Sun said of Gay Pride that it is "famous for its spectacular costumes and nudity."
This year, we will again have cock-covers available, and leave it up to the individuals who join us whether or not to march naked, or fully dressed for that matter. We have a strong legal opinion, given below, that MARCHING NAKED IN PRIDE IS LEGAL, and therefore can both march naked in the parade AND obey the Pride Committee's requirement that we obey all laws regarding nudity.