Canada needs to lead by example on LGBT rights, Pride Winnipeg says

Winnipeg's Pride week wraps up today, and organizers hope the inclusiveness and leadership that has been shown over the years will serve as an example to be followed by other counties. 

Thousands of people have openly supported the festivities in Winnipeg, which culminate with the annual parade on Sunday. The large showing has grown dramatically since the inaugural march in 1987, when just 250 people took park, some wearing paper bags over their heads.

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Pride Winnipeg president Jonathan Niemczak said Canada has come a long way since that first march and he hopes Canadians continue to lead the charge for equality on the global stage.

"When you look at countries ... like Uganda for example, they had the [anti-]gay bill," he said. "There's massive challenges across the globe.

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"Kiev [Ukraine] will be having their Pride next weekend and they will do their march on June 12. They have been threatened by neo-Nazis saying that if they have their march it is going to be a bloodbath." 

Ottawa presented with policy piece 

Niemczak recently took part in discussions on Parliament Hill and was part of a group that presented the federal government with a policy piece and two reports on how Canada can be more supportive.

"We had a call to action, which had a bunch of various ways in which we encourage the government to get involved," he said. "I felt like they [government officials] did do their research and they did come prepared for our questions."

"It's been 29 years since that march," Niemczak said. "It's been those advocates that marched on Parliament Hill, that had those meetings with government officials saying 'We need this, we need these rights.'

"We're seeing that now with Ukraine. They're doing exactly what we were doing 29 years ago."

Numerous dignitaries are expected to speak and participate in Sunday's Pride march in Winnipeg, which gets underway at 12 p.m. CT.