dandeebaker:

emilianadarling:

buzzfeednews:

Justin Trudeau made history as the first Canadian prime minister to march in a pride parade on Sunday in Toronto

Some more photos while we’re at it!

While Trudeau has attended Toronto Pride before, this is his first time doing so as Prime Minister. 

“For me, it is just another great Pride celebration. I’ve been coming to this for years and it’s sort of frustrating that it has to be a big thing. It shouldn’t be a big thing that a prime minister’s walking a Pride parade, and from now on it won’t,“ he said. 

It might not be a big deal in the future, but this time around Trudeau’s presence is certainly cause for excitement. It means that representatives from all three levels of government were at the parade, with Trudeau marching alongside openly gay Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne (white dress) as well as Toronto Mayor John Tory (pink shirt).

A few high-ranking cabinet ministers came along as well, including the Minister of Justice (on Trudeau’s left) and the Minister of Finance (standing right behind her).

Trudeau also participated in a moment of silence for the victims of the Orlando shooting. He cited the event as a reminder that “we can’t let hate go by … we have to speak up any time there is intolerance or discrimination”.

 In a change from previous years, some Conservative leadership contenders joined the parade as well (Kellie Leitch, left). The NDP was also out in force, including potential leadership candidates Nikki Ashton (orange dress) Jagmeet Singh (pink turban). 

As always, Green Party leader Elizabeth May also joined in the festivities.

At one point in the parade, gay HIV-positive Syrian refugee Bassel Mcleash was able to snag a spot next to the PM for a while (white baseball cap).

Check out how happy he was afterwards!!

“We owe a tremendous amount to everyone who has been fighting to get to the day we are today but we have a lot more work to do,” Trudeau said. 

In addition to the need for the government to pass its transgender rights bill into law, he also acknowledged that what the government has done so far in the ongoing effort to get Canadian Blood Services to accept blood from gay men is “not good enough”. Trudeau also mentioned the possibility of introducing gender-neutral federal identification cards in the future. 

Overall, it looks as though he had a pretty fantastic time! 

SERIOUSLY CANADA SHARE. YOU’VE HAD HIM LONG ENOUGH IT’S OUR TURN.