The Vancouver Pride Society has announced its 2018 Pride Parade grand marshals.
“After our Indigenous entries the grand marshals open up the Pride Parade,” says VPS executive director Andrea Arnot.
The 2018 Vancouver Pride Parade’s grand marshals are Laurie McDonald, Ron Dutton and A Mile In Our Moccasins.
“Two of our grand marshals have a rich history of being involved with pride and the queer community for 40 years and a Mile in Our Moccasins are a group of young people who are doing amazing work,” says Arnot.
Laurie McDonald is a Two Spirit from the Enoch Cree Nation near Edmonton, Alta. who was accepted as he was by his family. In 1960, McDonald was scooped and placed in the Ermineskin Indian Residential School where he faced prejudice, sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect.
After leaving the school he worked as an educator and front-line child protection social worker and is now an instructor for Aboriginal social workers.
He was one of the founders of the Greater Vancouver Native Cultural Two Spirit Society (GVNCS), which has served as a surrogate family and culture forum for Two Spirit people and their allies.
Ron Dutton began working on the B.C. Gay and Lesbian Archives in the mid-1970s using his library science skills to document the political activism of the gay liberation movement.
After 42 years, the library has grown to contain three-quarter-of-a-million items, including pamphlets, press reports and posters. The archive was moved to the City of Vancouver Archives in March for its conservation, public access and conversion into searchable, permanent formats.
Dutton encourages others to add their memorabilia to the ever-evolving story of the LGBTQIA2+ communities.
A Mile in Our Moccasins is a short film created by five Indigenous youth living with HIV. The idea to create the film evolved from an Indigenous youth speaker series.
A Mile in Our Moccasins combines lived experience with scientific facts, Indigenous culture and spirituality. The film aims to fight HIV stigma, address HIV myths, raise awareness and awaken compassion in viewers. A Mile in Our Moccasins is described as a story of resilience, healing and empowerment.
The VPS celebrates its 40th Anniversary this year and the Vancouver Pride Parade will be held on Aug. 5 at 11 a.m.
