Mandel praised for Pride Week support
Hundreds of people thanked Mayor Stephen Mandel on Sunday for his public support of Pride Week, which they said made Edmonton a more welcoming and inclusive city.
Sunday marked the eighth year the mayor hosted a Pride Week brunch.
While there was much to celebrate – including the flying of a rainbow-coloured Pride flag at the Canadian Forces Base in Edmonton, the first time a Canadian military base has done so – the mayor’s decision not to seek re-election left many Pride participants with heavy hearts.
More than 300 people attended the brunch, held to raise money for Camp Fyrefly, a summer camp for sexual minority youth who face hardships because of their identities.
Tears were shed as people paid tribute to Mandel for his leadership and support of the LGBTQ community. Former city councillor Michael Phair, the city’s first openly gay elected official, said he won’t forget the moment in 2005 when he rode in a car alongside the mayor in the city’s first officially recognized Pride Parade.
Mandel officially declared Pride Week in the city in 2005, a monumental proclamation for the LGBTQ community, especially after the repeated refusals to do so from Mandel’s predecessor, Bill Smith. For many, that simple announcement marks a significant part of Mandel’s political legacy.
“You brought the concept of social justice to life,” said a teary Fern Snart, dean of the faculty of education at the University of Alberta. “You turned the status quo at the time on its head when you proclaimed it Pride Week.”
Phair called it “the start of a new era.”
“The proclamation was an enormous step toward making Edmonton a very inclusive city.”
Andre Grace, director of the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at the U of A, announced the creation of a new scholarship in Mandel’s name on Sunday. The $25,000 endowment, called the Stephen Mandel Leadership and Diversity Award, will be given to students who use their studies and research to make a difference in the community.
The scholarship’s donor, who asked to remain anonymous, has a gay son who has been deeply affected by Mandel’s contributions to the gay community, Grace said.
Mandel said the most memorable part of Pride Week brunch will not be the attention he received Sunday, but listening to the many stories of how Camp Fyrefly changed lives over the past eight years.
“The camp has given young people an opportunity to discover themselves and that they are not much different from other people,” Mandel said. “It’s quite heartfelt.”
Following the brunch, young people flocked to the mayor and thanked him for his support.
Isabella Parkin, a transgendered girl who attended Camp Fyrefly in 2010, said Mandel helped make the city more welcoming for youth like her.
“The mayor’s support shows us all, especially young people, that things are changing and the city is becoming more positive and supportive.”