麻豆传媒映画

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Oof. An editor鈥檚 letter on Pride from a straight, cis-gender, white millennial. I must be mad.听

I won鈥檛 claim here to know the complete history of how and why Pride came about. Not because I don鈥檛 attempt to learn, but, more specifically, because I wasn鈥檛 there.听

I wasn鈥檛 there in 1972, when the gay community claimed a stretch of summer as Gay Pride Week.听

I wasn鈥檛 there in 1980, when Vancouver鈥檚 Pride celebrations coalesced into a festival based out of the West End Community Centre. Or, in 1983, when black arm bands appeared in the parade as a symbolic protest of the BC Human Rights Act, which left gays and lesbians vulnerable to discrimination based on sexual orientation.听

I wasn鈥檛 there in 1993, when Vancouver鈥檚 gay and lesbian food bank faced closure due, in large part, to overwhelming demand from 鈥渟traights,鈥� and volunteers walked the parade with petitions to try to keep the facility open for all. I wasn鈥檛 there, that same year, when the growing Gay Pride Parade announced plans for a 鈥渘ew route鈥� down Denman to Beach Avenue, and held fundraisers in the West End to offset the mounting costs.听

I wasn鈥檛 there the first year that the Westender staff signed up to walk in the parade 鈥� making it one of, if not the first newspaper in the city to do so. Nor was I there the first time the Westender partnered with the 麻豆传媒映画Pride Society to print and distribute the festival guide.听

I wasn鈥檛 there; but, as shown by my trip through our archives this week, the Westender was.听

While I cannot place myself at the front lines of the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, Vancouverites fighting for equality have long found a front line here, in these pages. And, in this office, the LGBTQ+ community can find a listening ear and an honest pen, a forum for change, when needed, and a place to celebrate, when achieved.听

As I sit here writing this, the myriad reasons why we have Pride march through my head. Feel free to tell me why you take part as we鈥檙e walking side by side on Aug. 6.听

I walk because there鈥檚 so much more we can do, and so many more stories to tell.

鈥揔elsey Klassen, Editor听