Halifax Pride is an LGBT pride festival, held annually in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the largest 2SLGBTQ+ event in Atlantic Canada,[3] and one of the largest 2SLGBTQ+ pride events in Canada.[4]
First held in 1988,[3] the inaugural event featured just 75 marchers, some of whom wore paper bags over their heads due to the stigma against being openly identified as LGBT.[3] The 2014 event featured approximately 2,500 marchers, with 80,000 people in attendance as participants or spectators.[5]
The event's grand marshal in 2014 was Scott Jones, an LGBT activist from New Glasgow who launched the Don't Be Afraid campaign of LGBT awareness after being left paraplegic by an anti-gay attack in 2013.[6] The event also featured a commemoration of Raymond Taavel, a former chair of the event who was killed in a violent attack in 2012.[7]
The 2014 parade route started on Upper Water Street, and followed Barrington Street, Spring Garden Road and South Park Street to the Garrison Grounds at Citadel Hill.[5]
In 2011, co-chair Ed Savage created some controversy by describing the event as "less promiscuous" and more family-oriented than other Pride festivals across Canada.[8]
In 2022 Executive Director Adam Reid, and Operations and communications manager Fiona Kerr stepped down. Both had worked on the event since 2017.Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page).
The 2023 event was surrounded with uncertainty, after a planned community meeting on July 3rd 2023 was postponed. This left the community with no update regarding the event that was supposed to take place over the 20th - 23rd of July.Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page). The parade was postponed due to the 2023 Nova Scotia floods, and was never rescheduled. In October the board was overhauled with Adam Reid returning as chair and Fiona Kerr being rehired.[9]
References
- ^ "1988, the Paper Bag March". Halifax Rainbow Encyclopedia. 1 July 1988. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ "Search the Registry: Halifax Pride Society". Government of Nova Scotia. 10 June 1999. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ a b c "Halifax celebrates Pride Parade 2013". CBC News, July 27, 2013.
- ^ "Halifax gearing up for annual Pride Festival". CTV News, July 15, 2014.
- ^ a b "Music, colourful pageantry highlight Halifax pride parade". The Chronicle Herald, July 26, 2014.
- ^ "Scott Jones filled with Pride". The Chronicle Herald, June 19, 2014.
- ^ "Raymond Taavel remembered at Pride". The Coast, July 16, 2014.
- ^ "A parade everybody loves". The Coast, July 21, 2011.
- ^ "Halifax Pride overhauls board, promises parade will go ahead in 2024". CBC. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
External links
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