CBC NewsA woman watches the Calgary Pride Parade pass by on 6 Avenue in 2019. Spectators that year numbered in the thousands. The Pride Festival will kick off on Saturday at Prince’s Island Park.According to Anna Kinderwater, communications manager with Calgary Pride, it's crucial for allies and members of the local community to participate and showcase their support."What we're hoping to focus on and bring folks' attention to is that ...
This is still something important for us to take up spaces of community and show people that we're still here and we're still proud and we're still going to represent our community and each other. So, yeah, the anxiety has been heightened, but we're still telling folks that we're bolstering security to make sure that this is a safe event for everybody.Calgary Pride celebrations were back in person for the first time last year since 2019.
LM: What can you tell us about that, about the measures being taken to make sure performers and spectators and attendees are safe?Right now, it's just our security is being bolstered. It's something we're just making sure [of]. LM: You've been making the case that … this year, this series of events and parade is especially important for people to show up to the parade. Why is that?We're kind of communicating that Pride is mandatory this year. You know, I think that physical presence ... and having that support visible is incredibly important not only to the community but, you know, like younger queer folks who maybe haven't realized that about themselves yet, or folks who are in the closet.