Hundreds of people donning the colours of the rainbow poured onto the streets of downtown for the annual Calgary Pride Parade.
For many in attendance, it’s a celebration of personal pride and a chance to showcase who they are.
“As queer people, we haven’t always had the opportunity, but I think in many ways, we’ve got a day to celebrate our ability to create opportunities. We’re here to connect, we’re here to celebrate, we’re here to find ways to help each other out,” said Ty McKinney.
While Sunday’s parade down 9th Avenue was a celebratory experience for many, some believe the Pride message needs to carry over to the rest of the year.
“I hope it’s not just today. I think it’s important to celebrate Pride 365 days of the year. It means inclusivity is welcome – being able to be your true, authentic self at work, in the community, at home. I think Pride is just extremely important,” said Lucy L’Hirondelle.
Paradegoers say the event also gave them a chance to stand up for their values.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“Pride is rooted in resistance. At this point, I think we’re here to celebrate the progress we’ve made and come together as a community to continue to move forward,” said Holta Soli.
Soli said they feel there is a movement against some members of the LGBTQ2 community, especially in Alberta.
“I think there’s a global movement toward anti-trans legislation and I think it’s rooted in the control of queer people and queer bodies. We’re seeing it coming up quite a lot in Alberta right now with the book bans and control over kids in school.”
Meanwhile, at Heritage Park in Calgary for the Alberta Day celebrations, Tanya Fir, Alberta’s minister of arts, culture and the status of women, said the new legislation on books in schools must remain a collaborative effort between schools and the province.
“I think it’s just important that we continue to work together, that our education system and the government continue to work together on that.”
She said she does not see a scenario in which these same book bans come to public libraries.
“I think we’ll just take it as it comes and it’s important the schools and the libraries work together with our government for the best outcome,” said Fir.
The Calgary-Peigan MLA also said she was happy to support local Pride parades, joining in Edmonton’s Fringe Festival recently and planning to attend Calgary’s events.
Starting Sept. 1, new policies will take effect in Alberta schools, including the need for parents to opt their child into sexual education and students needing parental consent to go by a specific name or pronoun.
“Sometimes being in school is the only safe place you have and there’s so many teachers that care about kids and it doesn’t make sense to punish them and the students,” said Charlie Wheatley, a 23-year-old trans-identifying person.
Others at the parade simply said it’s important to support the Pride community.
“For us, it’s also just a movement to stand against hate. I would say that it’s a hateful message that our government is sending and we’re a people of love and people of hope, so it’s our continued presence here in saying that trans kids matter, trans lives matter, queer lives matter,” said Lindsey Jorgensen-Skakum. “We want to welcome all and we hope our government can too.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
