Montreal Pride wants event to 'remain festive' in wake of Orlando attack

Montreal Pride is meeting with the city today to see where itstands as the organization prepares for celebrations inmid-August.

Jean-Sebastien Boudreault, vice-president of the organization,said that so far there are no plans to make changes to the event in the wake of the attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.

"We want it to remain festive," Boudreault told CBC News.

"We are hoping everything goes as planned."

Boudreaultadded that if Montreal's pride parade were now, or in the U.S., the stress level would be so high they would definitely be doing things differently.

"We're very lucky in Montreal. Montreal is like a haven for people of theLGBTcommunity,"Boudreaultsaid.

"We are a leader inLGBTrights, but there's still a lot to be done."

He added that the shooting at Pulse strengthened the will ofLGBTactivists to continue working.

"Everything we've acquired is fragile. It's easily broken,"Boudreaultsaid.

"We know how long the road is."

The group has alsoplanned a vigil Thursday night with the group Carr Rose at the corner of Panet and Ste-Catherinestreets.

They are hoping to see 5,000 people attend. Mayor Denis Coderre has confirmed he will be there.

Hate-fueled politics

Bill Ryan, aprofessor of social work at McGill University and international expert in the field of homophobia, said it's important to make sure people remember that the shooting was not just at a nightclub it was a gay nightclub.

He said the media's first reaction was to mask that it was a gay bar and call it simply "a nightclub."

"We have to make sure people remember that we need to look at ISIS as much as hate-fueled politics," Ryan said.

"Mainstream politicians are saying things that mainstream politicians didn't say before."