Pride parades were established to commemorate the experience of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and trans people at the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City. Since then, parades have worked their way into Canada to help celebrate queer life across two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, and asexual (2SLGBTQIA+) communities and ignite social change. As excitement ramps up for the month’s events, it’s essential to acknowledge that the 2SLGBTQIA+ community is not lacking in contradiction. For example, Pride festivals have been criticized by Black, Indigenous and racialized communities for allowing police to carry firearms and attend events in uniform and for mishandling grant funding that would result in the exploitation of Indigenous and two-spirit artists.

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