MLAs hoist Pride flag above McDougall Centre
When the Pride parade winds its way through downtown Calgary on Sept. 2, it will be with youth in the lead.
The selection by parade organizers of Gay-Straight Alliances and Queer-Straight Alliances as this year’s parade marshals recognizes students as “some of the voices of change in our province,” the coordinator of the GSA network in Calgary said Monday.
“GSA students are really the youth that are facing a lot of adversity but still stepping forward, and putting themselves in a position of building community, building social change, and building messages for future generations of Albertans,” Hilary Mutch said.
Mutch spoke moments after the Pride flag was raised outside the McDougall Centre in recognition of Calgary Pride.
Ricardo Miranda, Alberta’s minister of culture and tourism and the MLA for Calgary-Cross, said this is the third year the NDP government has raised the Pride flag outside the building.
“Having an event like this ... allows for the creation of spaces where people can feel safe and people feel welcomed, and that to me is something very important to do,” Miranda said. “So it’s beyond the symbolism of the flag itself or the raising, but it’s actually recognition of the fact that the community’s here, and it’s here to stay.”
Miranda was joined by a group of NDP MLAs and cabinet ministers, UCP MLAs Ric McIver and Mike Ellis, and a crowd of attendees.
Mutch said for LGBTQ2S youth, acts like the Pride flag flying outside government buildings “shows that those spaces are safe” and serves to validate their identities.
While she said there has been a shift in perceptions over the years, she believes there is still “a long ways to go” when it comes to support for transgender youth and transgender individuals. She told the crowd outside the McDougall Centre that in her role as GSA coordinator, she is constantly reminded of Pride, “and that Pride is still a rights movement for many in this province.”
“Today in Alberta, queer and trans youth, especially two-spirit youth and youth of colour, are among the most isolated and most marginalized in our province, and that is why it is so powerful to see these voices standing up for human rights in their GSAs, making their voices known and heard, and really being clear about what Pride means to them,” she said.
Calgary Pride organizers said last week the theme for this year’s parade and festival is “evolve.”
“It is an honour for us to have the youth and teachers who support one another to lead us in honouring the past and building an evolving and inclusive future,” organizers said in a news release.
The Calgary Pride Parade will start at 11 a.m. on Sunday.