Pride Winnipeg

04 | Pride MAY 24 – JUNE 2 here's still more than a week before the first floats hit the street, but this year's Pride Winnipeg parade is already off to a good start. Just ask parade and rally director Micaela Reeve, who earlier this year made an announcement that came as music to many participants' ears — namely that this year's march, which takes place Sunday, June 2, had been restored to its original route along Portage Avenue. ough the event's growing numbers have prompted logistical tweaks in the past, this year's development is especially significant, since Por- tage was the site of Winnipeg's very first Pride parade in 1987. And recently, the route — which for years has looped from the Legislature down York Avenue and back down Broadway — has been the subject of some debate, particularly among those who feel it didn't afford the same visibility enjoyed by similarly high-profile downtown events. "We want to make sure that people are getting the visibility they deserve in terms of representing diversity and inclusiveness, so having that major route is really important," says Reeve, who's been a member of Pride's volunteer team for four years, three in parade-related roles. "It also sends a message from the city that that support is there … As one of the larger Prides in Canada, we were one of the only major cities that didn't have [our parade] on a major route." As Reeve explains, Pride organizers have al- ways done their best to balance the priorities of the GSRD (Gender, Sexual and Relationship Diversity) community with their own mandate to host safe, manageable and — crucial for a non-profit — fi- nancially affordable festival events. Aer hearing feedback from the community last year, they were able to get an early start on securing Portage as the parade path, ushering in the latest phase of an event that has evolved from small-scale political protest to wildly popular downtown party. "[Portage] was the original route, but 32 years ago, Pride was not nearly the same size that it is now … so it's not something that was feasible every year," says Reeve, noting this year's parade could draw any- where from 4,500 to 6,000 participants. "We are extremely happy to be back on this prominent route, and we feel that it's very import- ant — to the people in Pride, and to the people in- volved in Pride, alike." Interest in the new route was no doubt stoked by Pride Winnipeg's 30th anniversary in 2017, when the parade was moved to Portage for the first time in decades, raising hopes among many community members that the change would be permanent. But due to logistics (and related costs, and a series of competing events), organizers weren't able to se- cure the same path in 2018 — though that didn't stop a small but vocal group of marchers from splintering off York and taking a detour down Portage, anyway. is year, there will be no detour required — the route runs from Memorial to Portage and Main to e Forks, coming to an end within sight of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. e more prominent path aligns nicely with the overall theme of this year's event — Pride of Colour, which seeks to amplify the voices of racial minorities, while raising awareness of the barriers that may have prevented them from participating in past events. "It's very important to ensure people are being seen and heard, and included," says Reeve. "at's something that's even bigger than Pride." e new route isn't the only thing with ties to Pride's earliest days. e Grand Marshal of this year's parade, Two Spirit activist Peetanacoot Ne- nakawekapo (Winnie Sunshine), was present at Winnipeg's very first Pride march, where she and others faced a much less welcoming climate — one that prompted a few of her fellow marchers to take part with bags over their heads. "It's really special to know that she was involved in the first Pride," Reeve says of Nenakawekapo. "irty-two years to some people isn't a long time, but when you look at it — even here in Win- nipeg, where we are diverse on so many levels — it's amazing to see how far we've come. ere is still a lot of work to do, but it really is amazing to know that Winnie Sunshine was involved in that first parade, and she's going to be part of this pa- rade. I find it very inspiring." Nenakawekapo will be joined by youth marshal Janelle Campagne, who was nominated for the role by members of her high school's gay-straight alliance club. Together, they'll lead the 100 or so registered floats, plus the several thousands of people who'll either be marching or attending as spectators. As Reeve points out, this year's parade seeks to expand on Pride's commitment to accessibility — via increased accommodations for groups with mobility issues, ASL interpreters at rallies, and skywalk view- ing areas for those who can't access the street or pre- fer a quieter spot from which to take in the festivities. As always, things get started with a 10 a.m. rally on the steps of the Legislature, followed by the parade kickoff an hour later. Pride of Place PARADE ROUTE RETURNS TO PROMINENCE ALONG PORTAGE AVENUE "IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO ENSURE PEOPLE ARE BEING SEEN AND HEARD, AND INCLUDED," SAYS REEVE. "THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S EVEN BIGGER THAN PRIDE." MAYOR BRIAN BOWMAN (LEFT) MARCHES IN THE 2018 PARADE WITH GLEN MURRAY, WHO WAS WINNIPEG'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MAYOR FROM 1998 - 2004. PHOTOS BY TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

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