Thousands gathered in and around downtown Winnipeg on Sunday to celebrate the LGBTQ + community in the province, the first personal pride parade since the pandemic.
Chloe Minkley is celebrating her first personal pride parade since she came out as pansexual in 2019 and finally as a gender queer.
“It means a lot to be able to take my sister [to the parade] and don’t be afraid to show it anymore, “Minkley said, wearing the colors of the pansexual flag.
Over the years, Minkley had felt the shame and loneliness of their gender and sexuality, but they set aside the day to celebrate who they were.
“Now I have supportive people and I’m very happy for them and I like that the only people who are allowed in my life are people who will support me and love me completely,” Minkley said.
Chloe Minkley (right) attends the Winnipeg Pride Parade with her sister and father. This is their first parade since they left. (Walter Bernal / CBC)
Chantel Pavao attends the parade with his mother Sally and father John, both dressed in shirts expressing their pride in their daughter.
For Chantelle, the feeling of being in Pride with her support system was astounding, even six years after its release.
“I never thought when I was younger that I would go out, be accepted by my parents and even be here. When I’m here today, here with them, they wear their shirts, they just support me, it’s me, no words, “she said.
Sally, Chantelle and John Pavao took part in the Winnipeg Pride Parade. Both Sally and John wore shirts in support of their daughter. (Erin Broman / CBC)
Sally said she wanted Chantelle to come out earlier so she could live authentically.
“We don’t care who she loves … we would never love her less,” she said through tears. “I am a proud mother.”
WATCH Defile a celebration and a united cry for change that is still needed, participants say:
Thousands take to the streets for Winnipeg’s first personal pride parade since the pandemic
Thousands marched in Sunday’s Pride Parade in Winnipeg, the first since the pandemic. Although the parade is a celebration, many say it is also a unifying call for work to fully involve all members of the LGBTQ + community.
Drag Queen Contessa Lestrange said the day could not get better.
“Ever since I was a teenager, I used to come to Winnipeg Pride, come here and see us all together … it just makes me remember that I’m not alone and weird people are never an island,” she said.
Feather Talia holds a plaque that reads “No Wardrobes in Types” at the Winnipeg Pride Parade. (Joan Roberts / CBC)
Feather Talia got on the float for local Sunshine House to represent Indigiqueers near and far.
Although there is always room for growth in promoting and supporting LGBTQ + rights, Talia said strange people are good at supporting each other.
“I feel that what we are doing and what we are trying to promote is like selfishness, self-acceptance. And I think we are doing a good job as a community,” Talia said.
The Winnipeg Pride Parade on Sunday was the city’s first personal parade since the pandemic. (Anne-Louise Michel / Radio Canada)
Former Winnipeg mayor Glenn Murray, who was one of the first openly gay mayors in North America, became emotional on Sunday, thinking about how far the LGBTQ + community has come.
I remember in ’86 and ’87, when it all started, we had 80 people who showed up with paper bags on their heads with their eyes cut out because there was no human rights protection and showing up here meant you lost your job. “, he said.
“I do not think that all my life I have believed that in our lives we will experience the kind of liberation of our souls and hearts and the kind of human equality.
Even further
Although Pride is a holiday, many say it is also a unifying call for work to fully involve all members of the LGBTQ + community.
Some attending the parade held signs calling for gender-sensitive health care, while others called for harm reduction measures.
Pride Winnipeg president Barry Karlenzig says there is still a lot of work to be done.
A man holds a plaque in the colors of the trans flag that reads “Gender Confirmation Saves Us” at the Winnipeg Pride Parade on Sunday. (Erin Broman / CBC)
“Currently, there are many of our community partners who do not have equal rights. They are still being persecuted at work. They are still being persecuted where they are. This is not right,” he said.
Karlenzig said 118 groups had signed up to take part in this year’s parade, although a final count was not yet available on Sunday night. He said somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 people attended various Pride Winnipeg events over the weekend.
Murray, who saw where the province was more than 30 years ago, hopes to see the liberation of the LGBTQ + community on the streets of Winnipeg in the future.
“This gives me special hope, as we are taking on some of the worst and most difficult prejudices and systemic racism,” he said.
WATCH Dear queens, dancers in dresses and even pets showed up for the Winnipeg Pride Parade:
Check out the 2022 Winnipeg Pride Parade
The Winnipeg Pride Parade returned in full force this year after being canceled during the pandemic. Here’s a look at some of the drag queens, dancers in dresses and even dogs marching and dancing in the city streets in honor of the LGBTQ + community on Sunday.
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