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Although it wont march as an official group later this month, Black Lives Matter Toronto is satisfied with the changes Pride has made over the past year.

Theres been clear and visible progress, says Rodney Diverlus, the 27-year-old co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto.

During the 2016 parade, Pride Toronto agreed to a list of nine demands after Black Lives Matter halted the march for half an hour. The demands were later endorsed in a vote by Pride Torontos membership.

While most of the public and political focus has been on the demand to remove police floats from the parade, the eight other requests mostly focused on increasing diversity and grassroots participation throughout Pride month.

The hype around the police demand has erased all of the work, all of the thought and all the energy put around the other eight demands, Diverlus told Metro.

The spirit of some of those demands came from a general feeling in the community that Pride was evolving into a corporate, non-community-driven event.

He held up the reinstatement of the Black Queer Youth and South Asian community stages as well as increased funding for Blockorama as signs of success.

Pride Toronto spokesperson Ryan Connelly also pointed to the organizations increased focus on community stages and diversity among Pride Toronto staff while acknowledging there is room for improvement.

I think weve made very good strides, Connelly told Metro.

Were never going to get it all in one shot, but what is important to note is we will make our best effort as soon as issues are raised.

Despite these improvements, Black Lives Matter wont officially march in this years Pride parade on June 25. The group did not apply by the May 20 deadline.

Diverlus called it a tactical decision.

If you know the work we do, applying for permits and registering on a deadline is not really our MO, he said, adding that safety is a concern for the organization.

You should expect BLM to do what we do, which is not fill out an application and let you know where were going to be.

Black Lives Matter Torontos demands from 2016:

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Black Lives Matter applauds 'clear and visible progress' by Pride Toronto - MetroNews Canada