OVERARCHING VALUE: Love
CORE VALUES: Integrity, Equality, Respect & Accountability
PERFORMANCE & ASPIRATIONAL VALUES: Compassion, Collaboration & Inclusion
Sounds about right for all of us, however we identify.
Get your rainbow gear or whatever floats your boat on, grab some friends and family and head on down to the Victoria Pride Parade on Sunday, July 8.
It’s epic, vibrant, fun, strong, open, vital, supportive, welcoming, inclusive, colourful, hilarious, electrifying, emotional and beautiful. As Victoria’s largest parade (2017 saw 120 parade entries, 3,000 participants and 25,000+ spectators), it has grown nearly tenfold since its inception, 24 years ago, when it was a small gathering of lesbians, gays and allies.
“As identities expand, as does the need and responsibility to give voice and room to more identities,” Shared Matt Tremble, VP of the 100% volunteer-run Victoria Pride Society board.
Since June 25, five flags have been flying at City Hall, the rainbow Pride flag, the Transgender flag, the Two-Spirit flag, the Genderqueer flag, and the Non-Binary flag, reflecting our evolving diversity as a society.
Although July 1-8 is the most visible component of the work the Victoria Pride Society (VPS) does, it is committed to “inspiring full inclusion within the Pride Community, and society at large, through visibility, collaboration, ongoing conversation, and celebration.”
How? Outreach, community connection, LGTBQ+ youth support and education. This year VPS donated a $25,000 donation to Uvic which will provide a perpetual $1,000 bursary each academic year, awarded to a deserving undergraduate or graduate student who self-identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirited, queer, questioning, gender non-binary, and/or asexual. Victoria Pride Parade’s vision includes becoming a destination event, in kind with San Francisco and Sydney, Australia.
“Twenty years ago, I was mostly concerned about being beaten up. Things have shifted, we have come a long way, but there is still a lot of work to,”
—Matt Tremble, VP Victoria Pride Society board
Victoria Pride week includes The Pride Parade, Drag Ball, Big Gay Dog Walk, Pride in the Word, and the after-parade festival at MacDonald Park in James Bay. For more information, check out Victoria Pride Week events.
