‘It just makes me feel home’: LGBTQ2 newcomers celebrate first Pride in Toronto
Global News
After living in Turkey for seven years as a refugee, Zhya Aramiy relocated to Toronto last year. He said he had never seen so many Pride flags out in the open on Church Street.
When Zhya Aramiy was living in Turkey and Iraq, he had to keep his Pride flags hidden away.
Aramiy, who identifies as gay, fled from Iraq at the age of 27 after facing threats, physical violence and ostracization from his family because of his sexuality.
“I was at the point where I said, ‘I can’t stand it anymore,’” said Aramiy. “Either I have to lose my life here, just stay living this way, or I have to save my life … go somewhere safe.”
After living in Turkey for seven years as a refugee, Aramiy, now 35, relocated to Toronto last September. He said when he first visited the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood, known as the city’s Gay Village, it was the first time he had seen so many Pride flags out in the open.
“When I was going out on Church Street, I could see lots of rainbow flags, all over, around me, everywhere I could see,” Aramiy said.
“This I can say is the most beautiful moment, when I experienced it for the first time.”
Aramiy is among hundreds of LGBTQ+ newcomers to Canada who are celebrating their first Pride in Toronto this month, an event that some of them say is not only a celebration of identity, but also a symbol of hope and belonging after fleeing persecution.
The Canadian government says more than 70 countries criminalize consensual same-sex relations, including six countries that punish same-sex relations with the death penalty. A 2022 statement from the United Nations Human Rights Office notes that while accurate data on forcibly displaced LGBTQ+ people is lacking, they are among the most vulnerable of the 84 million forcibly displaced people worldwide.