[1] The event was launched in 1991 by Hamilton's Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA), but was immediately mired in controversy over mayor Bob Morrow's refusal to issue a civic proclamation.
[2] Morrow cited a lack of consensus among Hamilton City Council rather than any personal animus against LGBT people,[2] although councillor Dominic Agostino tried to broker a compromise under which Morrow would write a welcome letter instead of a formal civic proclamation.
[11] The Hamilton Police Service subsequently faced criticism, both for taking too long to respond to the immediate situation[12] and for its post-confrontation arrests, which initially targeted people who were defending the event against the violence rather than the instigators of it.
[14] The community reaction included direct pickets of mayor Fred Eisenberger's home, which Eisenberger characterized as inappropriate harassment of his family and as not representative of the city's LGBTQ community.
[15] In 2021, Pride Hamilton filed a formal complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal over the police delay in responding to the 2019 incident.