Calgarians celebrate love during Pride 2022
Posted Sep 5, 2022 8:49 am.
Thousands of people flocked downtown Sunday to watch Calgary’s first Pride Parade in three years.
The 2SLGBTQ+ community celebrated knowing they were surrounded by love in a space free from discrimination.
Several people at the parade told CityNews they felt isolated from their communities during the pandemic, and it took a toll on their mental health. They’re happy to be able to celebrate Pride with thousands of people in-person once again.
“Well, it feels like for once in my life, everything is normal and I don’t have to be afraid of who I am,” one Pride-goer said. “Even though online spaces can be really helpful for queer people, you don’t get the same kind of experience online. And being out in the real world, out with everybody here, it’s an energy that can’t be matched anywhere else.”
The parade had a new route, along 9 Avenue SW, this year to accommodate the large crowds organizers expected.
Some attended Pride for the first time.
“I came out to my parents this year and I thought it was a really big deal,” one Calgarian said. “So I decided to come to Pride and celebrate, and I dragged all of my friends here with me.”
According to the Calgary Pride website, the festival started in 1988 “very consciously in honour of the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York.” Calgary’s first Pride Parade happened in 1991.
Some who have been attending Pride for years recognize the work being done by the youth at the festival.
“I’m so proud and happy to see that generation here, visible, and they’re standing up for the community in so many different ways, so it’s good to see,” one Calgarian at the parade said. “Especially the trans community is so big now and the youth that’re associated with that, it’s so heartwarming.”
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek was in attendance, as were some members of the Alberta NDP. Calgary Pride barred members of the UCP from coming to the parade.
