Toronto Gay Pride Parade

"It's really easy to tell who they are..." said my friend, referring to undercover cops near the nude contingent as the parade formed. "Just look over there!"

I looked, and he was right. So here, mingled amongst our regular photos (and from the safe legal haven of a foreign country), we present a series of photos of the police -- uniformed and ununiformed -- who wasted everyone's time watching, photographing, and eventually arresting 7 gay nudists who just wanted the world to renounce body shame.

The individuals identified with red arrows in these photos were identified on the basis of their participation in the arrest and booking at the end of the parade. There may be others whom we have not identified. Those with arrows and a question mark are almost certainly NOT police; they are people I wondered about in the course of following the actual cops along the parade route. I now believe that the question-mark individuals were taking photos for their own, non-police purposes (although, of course, I can't be sure). I nevertheless identified them in these photos to give you a taste of what it feels like to wonder, suspect, and in general get paranoid about everyone around you.

600 x 400
67K S

535 x 400
46K S

335 x 400
37K

483 x 400
62K S

253 x 400
26K S

591 x 400
57K S

239 x 400
21K S

238 x 400
30K S

735 x 400
87K S

449 x 400
51K S

And below are the ones who are pretty clearly identified as law enforcement.

485 x 400
59K S

572 x 468
61K S

285 x 400
28K

229 x 400
23K S

246 x 400
25K

Now here's an interesting question. The police here seem to have a fondness for this green bug. They lean on it, they walk alongside it, they talk to the driver, they help toss out packets of stuff (lube, whatever). Was the green-bug contingent part of the police's effort? Formally, probably not. Perhaps they co-opted it on the spur of the moment, just because it was there. Or possibly I'm just being overly paranoid. However, some of the actions captured in these photos would be against the policy of some police forces in the U.S. In some cities, police are forbidden while on duty to perform any action which would seem to indicate that they are members of a group they are not members of. That would mean no distributing green-bug packets, for example. I don't know of Toronto's police work under the same restriction.

673 x 400
72K

448 x 400
51K S

601 x 400
64K S

596 x 400
61K

442 x 400
46K S

519 x 400
51K

473 x 400
56K S

603 x 400
65K S

343 x 328
31K

400 x 400
43K S

565 x 400
70K S
Oh no! It's the giant pink penis!

Buddies in Bad Times Theater again...

329 x 400
31K S

161 x 400
21K S

524 x 400
61K

411 x 400
49K S

240 x 400
35K S

479 x 400
51K S

We now return you to our regularly scheduled photographs....

385 x 400
41K

329 x 400
43K S

422 x 400
52K S

346 x 400
37K S

247 x 400
28K S

339 x 400 35K S

368 x 291 15K S

524 x 400
51K S

349 x 400
39K S

295 x 400
35K

650 x 400
88K S

813 x 345
109K S

481 x 400 57K S

292 x 119 9K S

483 x 400 62K S

318 x 208 14K S

594 x 400 84K S

156 x 132 6K S

147 x 121 6K S

568 x 400
66K S

470 x 400
62K S

185 x 413
20K S

525 x 400
57K S

567 x 400
60K

620 x 400
75K S

737 x 400
97K S

364 x 400 37K S

200 x 240 8K S

544 x 400
57K S

358 x 400 39K S

177 x 221 9K S

388 x 400
45K

500 x 296 51K S

429 x 133 14K S

219 x 400
31K S

308 x 400 37K S

569 x 269 20K S

325 x 400 36K S

267 x 161 9K S

243 x 400
28K S

These guys were dancing while having huge bulges under their towels. But when they flashed us, it turns out they were covered up underneath, too. What a disappointment!

277 x 400
23K S

418 x 400
39K

285 x 400 34K S

148 x 400 17K S

424 x 400
40K S

295 x 400
30K S

636 x 400
59K S

Now take a look at this last photo. Here my red arrows don't point TO the police, they point FROM the eyes of the police. The one on the left is in uniform; the one on the right in plain clothes. It's very speculative to say so (and I'm not sure I'm right), but it sure looks to me as if these two fellows were exchanging knowing glances -- as if they knew what was going to happen next.

They presumably knew that uniformed and plain clothes police were about to fall in after the naked contingent, then arrest them at the end of the next block.

The noose tightens...

427 x 400
43K S

460 x 400
51K

572 x 400
60K

537 x 400
54K

Arrests! Controversy! Court dates!