Pride Winnipeg

T425 8x42 (10.375x3) By Wren Egan P ride Winnipeg, the organization behind the popular pride festival and parade, has come a long way. Its humble beginnings in 1987 saw 250 people marching to raise accept- ance and awareness in Winnipeg, some with bags over their faces to protect their identities. Since then, people have begun to feel safer and more comfortable outwardly identifying as LGBTTQ*. The annual event has seen rapid growth with over 30,000 in attendance last year, and even more people anticipated for this year's parade and festivities. The march has expanded to a 10 day festival with additional events and programming throughout the year. Pride Winnipeg President Jonathan Niemczak noted the incredible growth of the festival. "Even in the last five or six years, we've seen tremendous growth," Niemczak says. "There were only six or seven community events [associated with the festival], mostly run by Pride Winnipeg. Now there are more than 30." He explains that the scale of the event has also dramatically increased, citing a budget expansion from around $20,000 then, to $180,000 in the current year. Thankfully, the organization has the backing of a number of notable sponsors who provide funding and other support, such as TD Bank, Mercedes-Benz and Fame Nightclub. Another sponsor, Half Pints Brewery, even created a seasonal beer timed for the festival called Queer Beer, which is both sold at MLCC stores and served at the festival site. The festival was relocated from the legislative grounds to The Forks in order better accommodate the massive crowds. The movement of the festival seems appropriate, as the focus of Pride has become less of a legal battle in Manitoba and more of an issue of creating supportive community and awareness of the issues that still effect LGBTTQ* people in the province. Although LGBT people in Canada have had a number of legal victories to help assure rights such as marriage, adoption and job protection, many people - particularly youth - still struggle with bullying, hate and ignorance. Pride is a place for people to gather and to feel included and accepted. It is a place to celebrate how far the community has come and to raise awareness regarding issues that still affect the LGBTTQ* community, their friends and their families. The success of the festival implies that acceptance in the greater society is improving, but the struggle is often more apparent in rural Manitoba. Pride Winnipeg has begun to reach out to other Manitoba communities to assist with programming. One such effort launched this year is Pride North of 55, an LGBTTQ* celebration for people in northern Manitoba. Pride Winnipeg is lending its extensive experience and financing to help with the planning, resources, web presence and costs of northern Manitoba's first pride festival, set to take place in Thompson this summer. While an accepting community remains a painfully relevant issue in many parts of the province, even the legal battles won in Canada are lacking in many other places. Elsewhere in the world, LGBTTQ* people can be sentenced to life in prison or even death. To address these issues, Pride Winnipeg has also started working with Reach Out Winnipeg, an organization created to help LGBTTQ* people who are facing terrifying persecutions to seek refugee status in Canada. Niemczak explains that Pride Winnipeg helps to fund the expenses associated with challenges such as housing, language and job training for newcomers to Winnipeg. Niemczak looks forward to the further expansion of Pride Winnipeg's programming, citing a desire to reach out and work more closely with organizations that focus on the diverse needs of the community - particularly with respect to lesser- recognized and more marginalized groups such as transgender, two- spirited and bisexual people. "We want to try to ensure that every member of our community can find something [at Pride] for them," he says. "Even in the last five or six years, we've seen tremendous growth," Pride Winnipeg has seen the pride festival and parade grow from 250 people in 1987 to over 30,000 in 2013. – Photo by Wren Egan The Evolution of Pride Winnipeg PROUDSUPPORTERS OFPRIDEWINNIPEG www.viscount-gort.com|204-775-0451 1670PortageAve.

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