Toronto To Host World Pride In 2014

Toronto will host the World Pride event in 2014 after winning a vote among gay delegates at the international InterPride Conference in Florida.

Toronto beat its main rival for the event, Stockholm, on Sunday to win the hosting duties.

Tracey Sandilands, executive director of Pride Toronto, told Toronto television station CP24 that Toronto captured 77 votes to Stockholm’s 61 in the first round of voting, eliminating Stockholm.

But that wasn’t enough for the two-thirds majority needed to win the right to host the political and cultural event, she said.

A second vote of yes or no gave Toronto a 78 per cent endorsement, said Sandilands.

Pride Toronto officials said that this summer’s Pride Week drew an estimated one million people to Toronto and contributed $136 million to the city’s economy.

“World Pride is going to be about five times bigger,” said Sandilands.

A delegation of 10 people went to Florida to present Toronto’s bid, including representatives from Pride Toronto, Tourism Toronto and Toronto police.

The Toronto event will be the fourth scheduled World Pride since the event’s inception in Rome in 2000.

World Pride promotes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues on an international level through parades, festivals, and other cultural activities.

The next one is set for just prior to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London, England in 2012.