According to Toronto Police Service (TPS), exposing oneself fully naked in front of children is legal when done during a Pride-related event.
Over the past few weeks, several images have appeared on social media of adults doing just that.
At the Toronto Pride event last week, an entire group of marchers proudly waved to the crowd while showing off their genitalia to onlookers, which included children.
Similar scenes have been captured in US cities during their respective Pride events.
All of this has citizens wondering how exactly it’s legal to do so.
On Tuesday, social media user Rob Primo, from Niagara, posted a video of himself calling the TPS to clarify if and when adults can present themselves fully nude in public.
The officer told Primo that being nude in public is against the law. But when Primo said he saw naked people at the Pride parade, the officer replied “it happens every year.”
Primo asked, “So it’s okay when it’s at the Pride parade, but not in other situations, obviously?”
“Yeah, exactly,” the officer said.
The Criminal Code of Canada
Section 173(2) of the Criminal Code of Canada makes it illegal to willfully expose one’s genitals to a person under 16, with violators liable to imprisonment for a term no more than two years.
If skeptics think full frontal public nudity is not sexualized, it’s worth remembering Pride events literally celebrate sexuality.
Either way, section 174 makes it illegal to be nude in public “without lawful excuse.”
Politicians and the media
Canada’s Liberal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland attended a Pride event this year, as did New Democrat Party Federal leader Jagmeet Singh. The same parties that condemned protesters for honking their horns, have nothing but praise for marchers who show theirs.
Prime Minister Trudeau shockingly missed marching in a Canadian Pride event this year, but made sure to virtue signal with a picture of him standing next to a Pride crosswalk while in Iceland, where he was busy lying to the media about a public inquiry.
Conservatives, meanwhile, get shamed for not supporting Pride enough. Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has been chastised by mainstream media outlets for not attending a Pride march, and even for not attending the “raising of the Pride flag” earlier this month. Poilievre said he missed the flag raising because he was busy actually working.
Victim-Parent blaming
In response to the disturbing footage going viral online, some users are blaming the parents who bring their children to Pride events where adults show their genitalia. The thinking goes, parents shouldn’t take their children to Pride events if they don’t want their little ones to see nudity.
But lost in this line of reasoning is the simple fact that the children are still victims in this scenario. By giving criminals a free pass during Pride, police are sacrificing children’s rights that are meant to be protected in the Criminal Code of Canada — regardless of what their parents think.
The Counter Signal followed up with the TPS to confirm this is their official position, but did not receive a response back before publication.
