As a parade of about 2,500 rainbow-clad, flamboyant revellers snaked its way through the downtown corridors of Winnipeg, both participants and spectators were swept up in the festive spirit of Winnipeg Gay Pride. After all, it’s not every day you see 7-foot-2 drag queen, Vida LaMour, propped up on a parade-float pedestal as it lumbers along Memorial Boulevard.
For newcomers like Stacey Traynor, 19, and Colby Sabourin, 18, it was inspiring to see the city transformed during the 10-day festival.
“Itâe(TM)s reassuring that there are so many people here. You know that there are a lot of gays in the community but you never get to see them all. Itâe(TM)s justreassuring to know that they exist,” said Traynor of the Winnipeg Gay,Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgendered Youth Group.
For others, the 17th annual Pride festival was a time to reflect on advancesthe community has made since last year. Parade organizer, Brad Tyler-West, hopes that with the Manitoba NDP elected to another term in office, he will see more legislation advancing the rights of gays.
“The gay and lesbian communities have been big supporters of the NDP. If they continue to support our community, we will continue tosupport them,” he said.
However, this year’s announcement that June 8 would become Gay Pride Day wasa far cry from the announcement last year that government would be passinglegislation that would extend property rights to common-law partners —including same-sex couples. The legislation requires the division ofproperty accumulated during a relationship if a couple splits, as do the lawswhich apply to married couples.
This is as far as the province could go in recognizing common-law andsame-sex relationships. The rest is up to the federal government.
Tyler-West noted that many of the MLAs had been supportive of the propertyrights legislation and that many of them were not aware that equal rightslegislation was not already in place.
“Thatâe(TM)s part of the benefit of these educational programs. A lot of peopledonâe(TM)t realize that certain laws prevent individuals from accessing equality; it should be legislated and it should be accessible.”
Rachel Morgan, coordinator of Winnipeg Transgender Group, said thereâe(TM)s stillroom for improvement but she hopes that support will come from the federalgovernment.
“But it (the legislation) still doesnâe(TM)t recognize marriage, but marriage, ofcourse, is a federal responsibility,” she said. “Thereâe(TM)s room for improvement.”
While itâe(TM)s only her second year in the parade, her group has seenparticipation grow to 17 participants in this yearâe(TM)s event, up from five last year.
“A lot of Winnipeggers think that transgendered people only exist on theSpringer Show. A lot of transgendered people are contacting usand are trying to sort out who they are,” she said. As the profile of the group is raised, Morgan says that people who work withtransgendered people, such as health care professionals and educators, arealso seeking out the group to seek advice on how they should work with theseclients.
It was a family affair at the Barr household as school trustee Kristine Barrwas joined by her mother, Kathy, and sisters, Cari and Susie, who were wearing shirts that read, “I luv my gay sis,” and, “Straight, but not narrow.”
“We have been coming for five years and this year theyâe(TM)re going to join mein the march. It is a family celebration. They have been very supportive and I wouldnâe(TM)t be able to be the public spokesperson that I have been without that type of love and support from my family.”
If there were any protesters at the event, they didn’t make their presenceknown. A pair of Christians waved signs from the margins of the crowd,warning of the coming judgment day and calling for sinners to repent. Theystressed though that they were not opposing the event; they wanteveryone to repent.
But not every church group was preaching an apocalyptic vision.Walter Chan was joined by many from his congregation of Augustine UnitedChurch who marched in the parade. The church is an affirming group, whichencourages diversity in the community.
While Pride Parade Day was free of political speeches, a number ofpoliticians were seen mingling with the crowd, including MP AnitaNeville, MLAs Jim Rondeau and Rob Altemeyer and city councillors HarveySmith and Jenny Gerbasi as well as school trustee, Kristine Barr.
Why pride day?
“Pride is really about an act of being visible and celebrating your culture,your history, your heritage. When you’re a minority, just being visible canbe political,” said Tyler-West, who wore a shirt that said simply “Gay” onthe front.