Time to celebrate or act of protest? Pride means different things to different people

The history of the Pride parade in Edmonton has seen many forms. What started out as a protest of discrimination against people who are lesbianor gay, bisexual or trans, queer, questioning or two-spirited has morphed into more of a celebration.

But for some members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, Pride is still a protest.

"In the last year, I've learned a lot about the history of Pride," Sissy Thiessen, an Indigenous spoken word poet, told CBC's Radio Active Friday. "It started as a protest against oppression."

This Pride month, there were divisions in the local community after protests stopped the parade in its tracks on June 9. Protesters had four demands, including uninviting police and the military from future parades and making more room on Edmonton Pride's board for people of colour and transgender people.

With that context in mind, Thiessen said she understands the protest. "The organizers were protesting the very same thing they were protesting in 1969 which was the oppression from institutions," she said.

Michael Phair was a part of Edmonton's first Pride parade in 1990, nine years after the Pisces Health Spa raid where 56 men were arrested for "acts of indecency" and many were effectively outed when their pictures and names were published in local newspapers.

For Phair, this year's protest reminds him of those difficult days of discrimination. "It still represents, for me, a bit of the notion of protest, the difficulty with discrimination," he said.

Boyd Whiskeyjack said two-spirit people like himself only started participating in the Pride parade in 2015. He views the parade as a celebration of how far everyone has come rather than a protest of the inequalities the communities may still face.

Whiskeyjack, who uses he/him pronouns, acknowledges thateveryone's voicematters. For him, "Pride means just honouring who I am."

'A need for both'

Whiskeyjack said the protesters' demand to diversify Edmonton Pride Festival Society board was very much needed. He plans to seek a seat on the board this fall.

"[I'm running] so that we Indigenous LGBTQ people have voices," he said. "We've been here on 'Turtle Island' for centuries before the settlers came."

Thiessen said that acknowledgingPride's storied history as rooted in protest is only part of the answer. Another important piece is supporting the community year-round.

"There's a lot of commercialization going on," she said. "People using a rainbow instead of taking a bit more direct action.

"Just showing up for one part, the best part, where are they the rest of the year?"

Phair said plenty of organizations show their support in multiple ways, including government, teachers and church groups.

Thiessen sees the need for both celebration and protest in that it's important to recognize the progress, but also acknowledge more needs to be done.

"I think they both could exist," she said. "I think there's still a need for both, even though we're almost 50 years out of Pride."