Fredericton Pride parade a 'culmination' of week-long celebration of queer joy
Sam Farley | CBC News | Posted: July 24, 2023 9:00 AM | Last Updated: July 24, 2023
Event takes place in heightened climate of LGBTQ scrutiny after Policy 713 review
Capping off a week of celebrations and events, Fredericton's Pride parade happened Sunday afternoon with a theme of "queer joy."
For event organizers, that theme was a clear choice.
"We don't want to just focus on all the negative events that are happening to queer people, because it can feel exhausting," said Georgia Brown, a Fredericton Pride board member.
The parade took place under increased backlash against the LGBTQ community as the Conservative government under Premier Blaine Higgs rescinded key parts of Policy 713, meant to protect transgender children in schools.
"Though Pride is always political — and we will have things to say — we did really want to put an emphasis on queer joy because we deserve to be happy and feel safe," Brown said.
Brown said members of the queer community from all across New Brunswick came to Fredericton to celebrate.
After a week of events such as comedy nights, a legislature sit-in for reproductive justice, and even an Acadian cooking party, Brown said the parade through downtown was the "culmination of it all."
Policy 713 on the minds of many attendees
Among those watching the parade were people directly affected by changes to Policy 713.
Rowan Little is a member of the LGBTQ community, and also a new teacher. They carried a sign saying "All students are welcome in my classroom."
Little said they came to Pride in response to the political climate in New Brunswick and the United States.
"I think it's really important for me as an educator to come out today to show students that they have support in schools," they said. "And that part of their community is there, too."
Little said when they felt "super safe" going into the education field after first hearing about the protections for transgender students in Policy 713. But after the recent changes by the Higgs government, they said they're less sure.
"If I don't feel safe as an openly LGBTQ+ teacher, I can only imagine how some of my students feel as they're the ones primarily losing their protections," Little said.
Alex Thibodeau, who performs in drag as Luna Lafleur, said he has been especially mindful of the changes.
"Trans people and non-binary people and drag artists are the ones being specifically targeted by all of this hate," Thibodeau said. "So I think it's more important than ever to be as loud as we possibly can in our pride."
But despite his worries, Thibodeau's message echoed the parades' theme of queer joy.
"Pride means to me, at the end of the day, just being unabashedly yourself and supporting and loving other people who are doing the same."
Increased security responds to lone protester
Brown said that alongside police presence, there was additional security made up of members of the community. But she did not provide details, citing safety concerns.
She did say Pride partnered with "grassroots community organizations that work with combating fascist groups," and also that there would be many members of the community in marked security vests.
"We want our community members to protect our community members, and these are people who have had training," Brown said.
As floats and marchers began to assemble in a parking lot an hour before the parade, a protester began speaking into a microphone with anti-LGBTQ religious messages.
We will hold hands, we will link arms, because after all, what's more important than joy?
- Georgia Brown, Fredericton Pride board member
Several members of Pride security immediately approached the man, yelling and dancing around him as festival organizers confronted him and repeatedly asked him to stop.
One man threw rainbow-coloured confetti onto the protester.
Police arrived approximately five minutes later and separated the man from Pride organizers. No more confrontations took place.
"Our community helped to surround him and spread more joy," Brown said.
While she had been helping prepare for the event all year, Brown said queer people can never be prepared for these types of confrontations.
"I want to assure people that although there are protesters who still don't believe in our existence, we as a community are here to back you," Brown said.
"We will hold hands, we will link arms, because after all, what's more important than joy?"