Call for Volunteers: Pride Festivities 2024

Pride parades around the world have grown into massive, colourful celebrations of 2SLGBTQ+ joy.

Rainbow Faith and Freedom will be marching and holding a booth at Pride Toronto this year to celebrate 2SLGBTQ+ joy. We know that a considerable amount of homophobia and transphobia stems from misguided religion. RFF is working to ensure that all 2SLGBTQ+ folks can celebrate with their faith communities and that religious-based homophobia and transphobia is reduced for the whole 2SLGBTQ+ community.

Please join us for this special moment!

• Staff a shift at our booth and talk to Pride attendees about RFF; you can choose your own shift

• March in the parade with us on June 30!

Please send your responses to volunteer@rainbowfaithandfreedom.org.

We look forward to seeing you!

Why RFF Matters

There are still 72 of 195 countries in the world (37%) where same-sex sexual activity is criminalized (1). 32 of those countries, nearly half, are in Africa (44%); 23 are in Asia (32%), 10 are in the Americas (14%), and six are in Oceania (8%).  

LGBTI(2) people in these countries live with the real, state-sanctioned reality of overt discrimination, arrest, and imprisonment. In eight countries, LGBTI people are subject to the death penalty.

The principle opposition to equality rights for LGBTI people stems from mainstream organized religion, whose tenets and teachings are based on ancient texts/books over two millennia in the making. The interpretation of those texts has varied over history – occasionally to suit the time, a moral or societal imperative, or a crisis of confidence by followers of the religious institution itself (think Savonarola and the “Bonfires of the Vanities” during the Renaissance period).

Modern religious scholarship has shown that there is a continuum of interpretation of the sacred texts of Christianity (the Bible), Judaism (the Torah), Hinduism (the Vedas), and Islam (the Qur’an). A strict, or fundamentalist, interpretation of the Bible, for example, would prohibit women from wearing red because red is associated with immorality, adultery and prostitution (Revelations 17, 1 – 6).  The practicality of barring all women from wearing red in 2018 is improbable and almost impossible.  

Yet when it comes to the issue of homosexuality, a strict or literal interpretation is commonly and currently used to deny, restrict and repress the human and equality rights of LGBTI people.

As Idan Dershowitz, a biblical scholar, wrote in the The New York Times (July 21, 2018 – “The Secret History of Leviticus”), “No text has had a greater influence on attitudes toward gay people than the biblical book of Leviticus, which prohibits sex between men. Before Leviticus was composed, outright prohibitions against homosexual sex — whether between men or women — were practically unheard-of in the ancient world.

Chapter 18 of Leviticus contains a list of forbidden incestuous acts, followed by prohibitions against sex with a menstruating woman, bestiality and various other sexual acts. In Verse 22, we find its most famous injunction: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” (Leviticus 20:13 repeats this law, along with a punishment for those who violate it: “They shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.”)

Like many ancient texts, Leviticus was created gradually over a long period and includes the words of more than one writer. Many scholars believe that the section in which Leviticus 18 appears was added by a comparatively late editor, perhaps one who worked more than a century after the oldest material in the book was composed. An earlier edition of Leviticus, then, may have been silent on the matter of sex between men.”

Recent history (the latter half of the 20th century until present day) has shown that securing human and equality rights for LGBTI people is a long, hard struggle in many countries. Change, in its many forms, is often gradual and the result of a confluence of forces working together to advance broader individual rights within a country.  As of May 2017, there are 124 United Nations Member States (of 193 – 64%) with no legal penalties for consensual same-sex sexual activity. This is incredible progress for LGBTI people.

Rainbow Faith and Freedom’s focus is on those countries and areas of the world where religious-based LGBTI discrimination continues to deny human and equality rights for LGBTI people.

(1) International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association: Carroll, A. and Mendos, L.R., State Sponsored Homophobia 2017: A world survey of sexual orientation laws: criminalisation, protection and recognition (Geneva; ILGA, May 2017).

(2) The Acronym LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex) is used when referring to international human and equality rights for LGBTI people. The acronym 2SLGBTI (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex) is used when referring specifically to the 2SLGBTI community in Canada.

The Pride Parade

Pride parades around the world have grown into massive, colourful celebrations of 2SLGBTQ+ joy. While we love that many see Pride as a fun party, we at RFF also feel it is important to acknowledge the history of how Pride came to be.

The Pride parade can be traced back to the Stonewall Riots in June 1969. The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, was raided by the police, leading to several nights of protests and clashes between the 2SLGBTQ+ community and law enforcement. 
In commemoration of the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the Christopher Street Liberation Day March was organized in New York City on June 28, 1970. This event, which included a parade and rally, marked the first Gay Pride March in U.S. history.

The Toronto Pride Parade specifically can be traced back to the 1981 Bathhouse Raids. In February 1981, the Toronto police conducted Operation Soap, a series of raids on several gay bathhouses in the city, leading to the arrest of over 300 men. The humiliation and outing of these men by police sparked outrage and protests across the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Toronto’s first unofficial Pride parade came a month later in response this and other incidents of police harassment of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. 10 years later, Toronto officially changed the name of this annual parade to that of a Pride parade.

Many social movements have been birthed and led by those most marginalized, often trans folks of colour. This was particularly true in the case of the Stonewall Riots. We support Pride Toronto and Pride parades around the world in continuing the work of ensuring that Pride is for everyone. We support an intersectional Pride that acknowledges the diversity of experience that comes from varying ages, abilities, genders, classes, races, faith, and other identities.

Rainbow Faith and Freedom will be marching and holding a booth at Pride Toronto this year to celebrate 2SLGBTQ+ joy. We know that a considerable amount of homophobia and transphobia stems from misguided religion. RFF is working to ensure that all 2SLGBTQ+ folks can celebrate with their faith communities and that religious-based homophobia and transphobia is reduced for the whole 2SLGBTQ+ community.

If you would like to march with us at this year’s Pride parade or help us with our booth over the June 23rd - 25th weekend we’d love to have you join us. Fill out this form to get involved!

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2022

On National Truth and Reconciliation day we reflect on Canada’s history of residential schools. Here at Rainbow Faith and Freedom we are spending today and everyday remembering and learning about the children who were abused or never came home and how this still impacts their families today. From 1831 to 1996 over 150,000 Indigenous children were ripped from their homes by the Canadian government and local Christian institutions and forced to attend residential schools. There, children were forbidden to speak their Indigenous language, were forced to cut their hair and disparage sacred Indigenous hair traditions, force themselves into a colonial hetoeronormative gender binary, forced to eat food they could not properly digest (if fed at all), perform hard labour, and locked in windowless rooms where they were subjected to sexual, physical and emotional abuse. DDT insecticide was used on their scalps; an agricultural insecticide that was banned in the 1970s due to health concerns. Thousands of children never came home from residential schools due to disease, fire, violence, and overall direct neglect. While it is hard to have an accurate number of those who died, we know it is well into the thousands. This does not include those who have died due to the intergenerational trauma caused by these schools.

Today we see the lingering effects of residential schools in the excessively high rates of Indigenous people in the Canadian carceral system, substance abuse, high suicide rates, a reliance on survival sex work*, and the amount of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. While progress has been made in reparations with the Indigenous people of Canada, not enough has been done. Turtle Island (commonly known as North America) was taken by force from the Indigenous people and colonized. For too long we have forgotten to look to our Indigenous communities for their wisdom. The Indigenous people had a dynamic and fluid understanding of gender and sexuality. They have taken care of our planet while colonizers have worked to destroy it. 

Today on National Truth and Reconciliation Day and every other day of the year we must remember the strength and tenacity of our Indigenous communities. We must also work continuously to heal the wounds of residential schools and continuous marginalization of Indigenous peoples. If you or your organization are looking for a place to start we recommend visiting the Native Land website to learn more about the traditional land you live on.

 We would like to acknowledge that most of the work of RFF takes place on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

*While RFF supports all sex workers in their agency we want to acknowledge that the ratio of Indigenous women in street-based sex work (which is incredibly dangerous due to the criminalization of sex work) is astronomically high. 

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To learn more about the 94 Calls to Action for Reconciling and to track how our government's progress visit: https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform-single/beyond-94?&cta=1

To donato to Indspire visit: https://indspire.ca/ways-to-give/donate/
Indspire is a Indigenous national charity that invests in the education of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people for the long-term benefit of these individuals, their families and communities, and Canada.

Resource Portal Highlight - Buddhism & Queerness

Today's RFF resource portal highlight includes a variety of articles that tackle the intersection of queerness, race, and Buddhism. We hope these resources encourage you to feel comfortable interlacing all your different identities so that you may live life harmoniously. Whether you are interested in learning more about how Buddhism understands queerness or are looking for support, we hope these articles give you new encouragement and wisdom.



Autostraddle 's The Angsty Buddhist: Growing Up Kinda-Sorta Buddhist - A mid-length narrative about growing up as a Chinese American, nonbinary, and finding my own relationship with Buddhism, in a country where so many of its ideas have been whitewashed.

All Beings Are Equally Embraced By Amida Buddha": Jodo Shinshu Buddhism And Same-Sex Marriage In The United States - An academic article explaining why Jodo Shinshu Buddhists in America widely and easily affirmed same-sex weddings in the later 20th and early 21st centuries.

The Black Queer Buddhist teacher who is Smashing Stereotypes and Leading an Awakening on the Left - An interview with Rev. angel Kyodo williams (@zenchangeangel) on the intersection of Blackness, queerness and Buddhism.

TransBuddhism - an interview with the creators of transbuddhists.org. The practitioners share insight on their experiences as transgender folks in the Buddhist community and the challenges they face. This includes the lack of trans inclusivity at retreats, within their community, and from their teachers. They offer tips for Buddhsit practitioners to become more aware and to celebrate their transgender Buddhist community.

See Us Clearly: A Buddhist’s View of Transgender Visibility - Ray Buckner shares their experience as to what it means to be gender-queer, trans, and Buddhist, and how all of these identities can fit together harmoniously. They share the importance of visibility to trans identity, and how a Buddhist practice can foster this.

Religious Intolerance Happens in Canada Too

“Civil rights are never ‘won’ … they’re just advanced to be better prepared for the next battle.”

… Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes, Founder and Executive Director of Rainbow Faith and Freedom

Last week, RFF’s Founder and Executive Director was officially sanctioned by the government of Russia, joining the likes of Prime Minister Trudeau, Deputy PM Freeland and US President Biden.

While Russia may seem the extreme example of intolerance and lack of acceptance rooted in religious beliefs, similar sentiments are driving policy backwards for millions of people just south of our border.

In an op-ed published in today’s Globe & Mail, Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes addresses his Russian sanction, the US Supreme Court’s recent ruling on Roe V. Wade, the legal threats potentially facing marriage equality in America, the rise of populist rhetoric and subsequent occupations here in Canada – and how toxic, extremist religious messaging intertwines itself through all these developments.

Rainbow Faith and Freedom was founded in 2018 to create a home for the global movement that confronts religious discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These recent developments demonstrate why an organization like ours is so important still today.

You can read Brent’s full op-ed HERE.

To learn more about RFF and to support our work, please visit https://rainbowfaithandfreedom.org/ourmission.

Worshipping with Love

Although Canada is a leader in 2SLGBTQ+ legislation, many people in different sectors of Canadian society still experience homophobia and transphobia. This has led to higher rates of suicide, addiction, and mental health issues in these communities. It has also led to higher rates of unemployment, hate crimes, and marginalization. 2SLGBTQ+ discrimination is often justified by religious belief by different faith traditions. Canada is currently at an important juncture: now that conversion therapy has been banned, other, more insidious and invisible efforts could take their place in faith-based communities to force individuals to repress their sexual and gender identity.

RFF is a leader in this new chapter of LGBTI activism. This chapter begins with Worshiping with Love, a project RFF developed to create a safer place for 2SLGBTQ+ people everywhere, but specifically for 2SLGBTQ+ people of faith. Worshiping with Love is a 2-year, Ontario-based project funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada. We will start by conducting research alongside 2SLGBTQ+ folks and affirming faith organizations to better understand the extent and impact of religious-based discrimination. We will examine both the best practices of affirming faith communities and barriers experienced by those trying to become affirming. The results of all our research will be published on our website, in our newsletter and on social media, and shared with everyone who has participated. We will develop resources and materials to both create awareness and increase organizations' capabilities to become affirming to the 2SLGBTQ+ community. The materials will be distributed online, for faith-based institutions such as places of worship and community organizations across Ontario.

Though RFF has a global mandate to end religious-based discrimination, this particular project is focused on Ontario, Canada and achieving inclusion and equality for 2SLGBTQ+ people in Ontario.