Authorization to Release Section 37 Funds to Recognize and Commemorate the Cabbagetown Group Softball League - by Councillor Paula Fletcher, seconded by Councillor Chris Moise

The Public Gallery wrote no story on this item. What follows is the city’s own record of what happened to it, as filed: nothing on this page is summarised or scored by us.

The decision

2026-06-24 · Toronto City Council · adopted

As filed

City Council on June 24 and 25, 2026, adopted the following: 1. City Council increase the 2026 Operating Budget for Heritage Toronto on a one-time basis by $10,000.00 gross, $0 net, fully funded by Section 37 community benefits obtained from the development at 319 Carlaw Avenue, secured for local improvements (Source Account: XR3026-3700374), for the production and installation of a plaque commemorating the history of the Cabbagetown Group Softball League in Toronto (Cost Centre: HG0001).

Show the rest of As filed, 179 more characters as filed

2. City Council direct that the location of the plaque will be determined in consultation with Cabbagetown Group Softball League to be either McCleary Park or Riverdale Park East.

On the agenda

As the city filed it

For more than 50 years, the Cabbagetown Group Softball League has been providing a safe place for queer and trans people to play softball and build community. The Cabbagetown Group Softball League began in 1975 when a group of gay friends decided to play pickup softball each Sunday. In that first year they played wherever they could find an empty field and they did not think of themselves as a formal league. In 1976 they picked their first home of Riverdale Park East, and their numbers began to grow.

Show the rest of As the city filed it, 1,281 more characters as filed

In 1977 they became a formal league and chose a name based on the neighborhood where many of the original members lived: Cabbagetown. Their current home is McCleary Park. In August 1977, the Cabbagetown Group Softball League played the first international queer softball game against a team in New York City. In 1979, the Cabbagetown Group Softball League was a founding member of the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance, now called International Pride Softball. In 1981 and 2000, the Cabbagetown Group Softball League hosted the Gay Softball World Series. These friends were seeking a safe place to engage in a friendly, competitive sport and to build bonds of 2SLGBTQ solidarity during an era of overt discrimination. The league soon meant more and went on to become a pillar of the queer community in Toronto. Cabbagetown Group Softball League's impact should be formally recognized by the city with a plaque that will recognize their history as part of the 2SLGBTQ community in Toronto. This motion seeks authorization to amend the 2026 Operating Budget of Heritage Toronto to fund the creation and installation of a plaque commemorating the history of the Cabbagetown Group Softball League in Toronto. Heritage Toronto estimates the entire project to cost $10,000.00.

Staff recommended

Councillor Paula Fletcher, seconded by Councillor Chris Moise, recommends that: 1. City Council increase the 2026 Operating Budget for Heritage Toronto on a one-time basis by $10,000.00 gross, $0 net, fully funded by Section 37 community benefits obtained from the development at 319 Carlaw Avenue, secured for local improvements (Source Account: XR3026-3700374), for the production and installation of a plaque commemorating the history of the Cabbagetown Group Softball League in Toronto.

Show the rest of Staff recommended, 202 more characters as filed

(Cost Centre: HG0001). 2. City Council direct that the location of the plaque will be determined in consultation with Cabbagetown Group Softball League to be either McCleary Park or Riverdale Park East.

On the record

The item as the City filed it

More from this meeting

The whole meeting