Pride struggles to 'balance' competing interests of minority groups

With the 26th Pride Parade about to kick off on Sunday, organizers are struggling to strike the right balance between celebrating big strides made by Calgary's LGBT community, while staying true to the event's roots as a protest for equal rights.

"Pride is political, and Pride should always be a protest," says Gio Dolcecore, one of the organizers of the Calgary Dyke and Trans March.

Ever since its inception six years ago, the Dyke March has been held separately from the main Pride Parade.

"We are not here to celebrate, although we are greatly acknowledging all the success that has come.We're still trying really hard to make it apparent that there are hardships in our community that need to be battled," Dolcecore said.

The trans communityjoined the Dyke March two years ago, rallying for equal rights on unique marginalization issues such as gender neutral bathrooms, and higher rates of violence and discrimination.

"We feel as though Pride is not listening as intently as we wish that they were, [so] we're going to stand strong to our roots," he added.

Another group that's taking a stand against alleged discrimination is Voices, a coalition that represents Calgary's queer and trans people of colour.

The group caused a stir earlier this month by asking that Calgary police officers not wear their uniforms in Sunday's parade as it triggered fear in people who felt oppressed.

"You have people from the community coming forward and saying that we get profiled," said Evans Yellow Old Woman, a community member with Voices.

"I myself get profiled and to see an officer in parade in full uniform and with their weapon, it's triggering," he said.

Yellow Old Woman said he was not singling out individual police members, but the institution overall.

"We're talking about recognizing that institution and the past trauma, and the trauma that is still going on today against people of colour," he said.

Unlike the Black Lives Matter group in Toronto, Voices has no plans to disrupt the parade in any way, he stressed.

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Voices had asked that instead of uniforms, police don T-shirts in a show of support for queer people of colour, but Pride Parade organizers dismissed the request.

"To us, it's a balancing act," said Calgary Pride spokesman Craig Sklenar.

"It can be both, we just need to ensure that we are continuing to balance that act between advocacy and celebration It really depends on why you're marching and that's really for individuality," he said.

The parade has evolved over its 26-year history, starting with a small protest march in 1990, with many people wearing masks, as they were afraid of being seen.

Calgary didn't get an official parade until 1991, some 11 years after they first asked for one.

"It has changed from a small political rally of a few hundred people to now over 60,000 people attending the parade and 4,000 people marching in it itself," Sklenar said.

"It's more from people being afraid of showing their identity, to people who are very proud of who they are, and not afraid anymore," Sklenar said.

A decade after its launch, Naheed Nenshi became the first mayor to take part in 2011. Alison Redford was the first premier to walk in the parade in 2012.

"I think that speaks volumes to the progress we've made, but we always need to maintain that there's still more to be done," he added.

As participation grows, some community groups complain that there is too much corporate involvement in the parade, but organizers say community groups still make up the majority of entrants.

"Only about 30 per cent of our entries are actual corporations that enter. The rest are government bodies, politicians and community groups," Sklenar said.

He says having an event to celebrate is important, but so is remembering that people come from different walks of life.

"Thankfully our community keeps us on our toes for that. And we continue to evolve as an organization, and what we are today [and] 25 years from now will probably be vastly different," he said.

This November, Calgary Pride will launch its first Diversity Symposium, a day-long event dedicated to exploring issues that impact its diverse communities.

Dolcecore of the Calgary Dykes and Trans March welcomes the move, but says the group will decide whether to participate once he sees who is running the discussion, and how strongly minority groups are represented.

From the CBC archives: Calgary Pride's first gathering

9 years ago

Duration 1:24

Calgary Pride is celebrating its 33rd anniversary this weekend. Here is a look at the first gathering in 1990 from the CBC's archives.