Festivities

Pride parades have been held in various cities throughout Canada since the events of Pride Week were first held in Canada in 1981, and have also become larger in attendance as legal and cultural attitudes towards LGBT citizens in Canada are relaxed. The first pride demonstration was held in Toronto in 1981 following that year's Operation Soap by Toronto Metropolitan Police; the bathhouse raid and reaction by LGBT people is considered the Canadian equivalent of the 1969 Stonewall riots

Stonewall riots

The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...

 in New York City.

Other major pride festivities include Capital Pride

Capital Pride (Ottawa)

The Capital Pride Festival is the annual Pride event in Canada's National Capital Region, which includes the cities of Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. It has been held annually since 1986.Capital Pride is a non-profit organization...

 in Ottawa and both Divers/Cité

Divers/Cité

Divers/Cité is an LGBT multidisciplinary arts and music festival taking place each year in the heart of Montreal, since 1993. An avant-garde event in the heart of downtown Montreal and in Montreal's Gay Village area held usually on the end of July and beginning of August every year and extending...

 and Fierté Montréal

Fierté Montréal

Fierté Montréal aka in English as Montreal Pride is an LGBT multidisciplinary arts and music festival taking place each year in the heart of Montreal. It is the second biggest LGBT event in Montreal after Divers/Cité...

 in Montreal.

Religion

While the earliest advocacy for LGBT rights initially came from or was adopted by members of the left-wing milieu of Canadian politics, LGBT-affirmative religious organizations such as the Metropolitan Community Church

Metropolitan Community Church

The Metropolitan Community Church or The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches is an international Protestant Christian denomination...

 played an early role in the advocacy for civil rights. MCC pastor Brent Hawkes

Brent Hawkes

Brent Hawkes, is a Canadian clergyman. Since 1977, he has served as senior pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto for LGBT parishioners, and is one of Canada's leading gay rights activists....

, rector of the MCC of Toronto

Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto

The Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto is a congregation of the worldwide Metropolitan Community Church movement located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is an welcoming congregation openly affirming lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual and transgender people...

, became one of the earliest openly-gay advocates for LGBT civil rights in the country, and performed the first same-sex marriage ceremony in the country, eventually participating in the successful legal struggle to have it recognized by Ontario.

The issue of LGBT-affirmative policies has also become a major topic of theological and political discussion in the United Church of Canada

United Church of Canada

The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...

, which now ordains LGBT clergy and performs same-sex marriage ceremonies.

On the opposite end, theological conservatives, including those who operate the Roman Catholic Church in Canada and related organizations, officially object to LGBT rights such as same-sex marriage and refuse to perform or recognize them.

Education

Federal anti-discrimination policies apply strongly to state school institutions throughout Canada. Catholic educational institutions, on the other hand, have tended to object to these laws and have entered into controversies with provincial governments over the prevention of gay-straight alliance

Gay-straight alliance

Gay–straight alliances are student organizations, found primarily in North American high schools and universities, that are intended to provide a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and their straight allies .-Goal:The goal of most, if not all,...

s being formed in Catholic schools.