The rainbow flag is a staple in Gay Pride parades all over the world. The colours are intended to reflect the diversity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. Photo by Adrian Lam/Times Colonist
Protesters have interrupted recent Pride parades in Edmonton and Toronto, with fractured relationships between police departments and the LGBTQ2+ community in those cities sitting at the core of the conflict. But this weekend’s Victoria Pride festivities will not suffer the same fate, according to Victoria Pride Society president David Tillson.
“We are making progress,” he said. “Maybe they are not making progress in Toronto, or have problems in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. But our police are working within our communities. We would like Victoria to be the example, in regards to the participation of the police, and not the exception.”
Victoria had its first Gay Pride Parade in 1994, and has seen the size and scope of what is now Victoria Pride Week grow considerably with each passing year. Tillson, who has been at the helm of Pride-related events for the past 14 years, is once again welcoming Victoria police representatives to participate in Sunday’s parade at 11 a.m. along Government Street and the subsequent festival at noon in MacDonald Park in James Bay.
He has met with representatives from the City of Victoria, the Cool Aid Society, the Rainbow Health Co-operative, the Greater Victoria Diversity Action Committee, the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria, and Two Spirit elder Laurie McDonald in advance of the event, and they “are all on-board for working with the police, and participating in the parade with the police.”
Police representatives have been parade participants for the past decade, Tillson said.
“We talk to everybody who works with vulnerable and marginalized communities within our community, and they are all willing to work with the police and have them present in the parade.”
Though the event is expected to proceed without interruption, Victoria police will be deploying temporary closed circuit cameras to ensure public safety. The enhanced security measures are commonplace at other large events in downtown with a large number of attendees, including Canada Day and Car Free YYJ. Organizers are expecting 10,000 parade participants and upward of 25,000 people at the festival.
According to police, temporary cameras will be installed during the next two days in accordance with B.C. and national privacy legislation. They will be removed shortly after the event.
Seven police cruisers and several uniformed officers participated last year, but it was an overwhelming sight for some in the LGBTQ2+ community, Tillson said. Out of respect, police and support staff who are participating this weekend — which is expected to be about 50 people — will be wearing civilian clothes. Only higher-ranking officers will be in uniform, and will march this weekend with only one vintage patrol car.
“Officers can wear their uniforms if they choose, but we find that they choose not to,” Tillson said.
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced Friday he will march in the Victoria parade and attend the festival, alongside local MPs Randall Garrison, Alistair MacGregor and Murray Rankin.
“Pride month is a time for celebration and solidarity, but it is also an important opportunity for reflection and a renewed commitment to activism,” Singh said in a statement. “That is what makes Pride Month such a beautiful and important time of the year — it’s an opportunity to recommit ourselves to the advocacy that has helped us progress to this point, together.”
Tillson expects few protests. He hopes those who claim police involvement undermines the greater issues at hand do some research of their own. What they discover will undoubtedly surprise them, he said.
“We all have the same end goal. But our little pocket of identity, we’re all on different timelines of acceptance. There’s room for everybody. But if you can’t share the parade we created for us, then maybe it’s not the parade for you.”
mdevlin@timescolonist.com
