In the crisp early morning of September 20th, 2023, a group of people congregated outside of City Hall. Despite the sunny weather, the atmosphere was bleak. Attendees appeared bedraggled—demoralized not only by the early time of morning, but equally by the matter at hand. One notable absence, meanwhile, came in the form of the Trent Central Student Association.Whereas many students made the decision of their own conviction to attend, and some professors went so far as to cancel classes and encourage students to attend the counter-protest, the body possessing theoretically the largest potential for mass student mobilization stayed silent on the matter

Should you have had the pleasure or opportunity this summer of attending any pride parade marginally larger than that of our own beloved Peterborough, you’ll know that Toronto Pride, Fierté Montréal, and other such spectacles often attract the benevolence of any number of high-profile private and public sector sponsors.‍ However, no one has yet, to my knowledge, seen fit to ask: what is objectively the best corporate, government, or otherwise in-poor-taste pride float?

Despite Pride Month being a time for celebration, June of 2023 saw numerous instances of violent anti-LGBT hate crimes, as well as dramatic blows to the civil liberties of queer and transgender people. Coordinating Editor Evan Robins unpacks the concerning trend, and points the blame squarely at the conservative and religious political right.