Pride in Edmonton seeks to amplify, not dictate

Pride festivities in Edmonton are gathered from the bottom up, not dominated by one top-level organizer, says the curator and historian who collects those celebrations of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

"We're very unique," said Ron Byers of Pride Edmonton, which gathers and shares events from myriad organizers, great and small. "In most cities around the globe, they have one organization that celebrates Pride. It's made up of a group of people from the community, they get together, they plan a weekend or a week of fun and activities, and it's all focused around that."

In Edmonton, Pride is more distributed, Byers said, and the celebration extends over several months. The approach jibes with Explore Edmonton's efforts to display the city's queer-friendly nature to the world.

"Something that we consider a unique selling point for our destination is just how collaborative we get," Gina Schopfer of Explore Edmonton told Taproot. "Something that I think really makes Pride in Edmonton unique is how it extends into this grander Summer of Pride."

Pride in Edmonton kicks off this year with the Edmonton Drag Festival, taking place at Churchill Square from May 29 to 31. The festivities continue through June, widely known as Pride Month in recognition of the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969. Explore Edmonton is among those who will keep the party going in July with queer programming at KDays. The Edmonton Pride Festival gears up in August, with large events planned between Aug. 21 and 23, including a parade on Aug. 22. (The parade returned last year for the first time since 2018; the Edmonton Pride Festival Society cancelled it and dissolved in 2019 amid protests about police inclusion, the treatment of racialized people, and other concerns.)

Pride and Explore Edmonton go way back, at least spiritually. A year after the Pisces Bathhouse raid in May of 1981, which galvanized queer people in Edmonton to rise up against persecution, Michael Phair entered a Pisces bathhouse-themed float into the Sourdough Raft Race, one of the signature events in what was then called Klondike Days (long before Explore Edmonton existed or was the steward of the annual summer festival).

"(Phair) is known to do outrageous things like that, and that really was kind of the most visible presentation of the Pride community in our history," said Byers, who shares queer history through the Rainbow Story Hub. "It was kind of an odd thing to have an actual raft race as the kickoff to Pride celebrations."

Explore Edmonton now works with Byers to highlight queer life year-round and amplify Pride events, as well as Queer History Month in October.

The marketing impact that Explore Edmonton provides would be out of reach for more grassroots producers, Byers said. "The value of the marketing they do for the events … is invaluable. I mean, that's worth thousands and thousands of dollars."

Explore Edmonton is Rainbow Registered and accredited by The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association.

"Having that recognition is a clear indicator for those folks who might be considering a visit to Alberta or Edmonton, and having questions about that welcoming and inclusive aspect," Schopfer said. "I hope that this is a bit of an indicator for those people that there are opportunities to come here, have that inclusivity, and take part in all these really great businesses, experiences, and events."

As for the people living here amid provincial restrictions on trans people's access to healthcare and inclusion in sports, as well as limits on depicting queer people in books, Byers says the community has fought and won before.

"One of the biggest challenges (that) older people feel, myself included, is that young folks don't know the challenges that we faced," he said, noting that when he came out in 1968, homosexuality was still a crime. "We're facing a bit of a challenge right now, (but) I have every confidence that we are going to overcome it. I think, in the end, we will prevail, but we just should not have put the effort into doing that again and again and again."

This story is based on a larger conversation with Ron Byers and Gina Schopfer on the May 22 edition of Taproot Exchange, a members-only livestream conversation that goes deep on issues of interest to Edmontonians. Become a Taproot member for access to future livestreams, as well as recordings and transcripts.