EDMONTON — A group of protesters blocked the Edmonton Pride Parade on Saturday afternoon to make a series of demands to the organizers — including one to halt all police and military from marching in future parades.

Protestors say their demands were met after they consulted with Edmonton Pride Festival Society representatives at the blockade, which took place after 11 a.m. on the parade route at Whyte Avenue and 104 Street.

“We feel strongly that police should not be welcomed to march in pride parades because police have done little to seriously address the constant mistreatment of trans people, Indigenous people, Black people, people of colour and the homeless community,” the group’s media liaison Agnieszka Kucharska said in a statement.

“Engaging in civil disobedience is the true meaning of the history of pride, which was and is the struggle to create a better world for all.”

The group, which billed itself as a coalition of queer and trans people of colour, additionally demanded the Edmonton Pride Festival Society restructure its board and staff to have better representation of ethnic minorities and trans people.

The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) could not be reached immediately for comment.

Around 30 protesters formed a chain at the intersection shortly after the parade started. They held up the parade floats while chanting “Pride for all” and carried signs saying “No pride in police” and “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.”

While the floats waited behind them, protest organizers say they talked to representatives from the society, who agreed to their demands, and the parade was on its way shortly after noon.

According to a release from the group, it made four demands. These include the the society fund spaces “specifically designed for people of colour and trans folks” and that these spaces “acknowledge and honour pride’s history as a demonstration against police oppression.”

Read more:

Edmonton Pride Festival Society denies United Conservative Party’s application to march in the 2018 pride parade

Pride Toronto apologizes to Black Lives Matter for ‘history of anti-Blackness’

Stepping up for Edmonton Pride, Wiccans say they’ve long been the most LGBTQ-friendly religion

On Saturday evening, the Edmonton Pride Festival Society’s board of directors issued a statement saying they “were in agreement with each of the demands presented.”

“EPS, RCMP and military will not march in the parade until the community feels that they have taken the necessary steps for all community members to feel safe with their presence,” said the statement.

The society announced it will hold confidential consultations with the protestors and stakeholder meetings with community members in order to “best support all communities suffering from systemic racism and oppression.”

Edmonton police had agreed to march in the 2018 parade in plain clothes as a way of easing tension between officers and marginalized members of the LGBTQ community who may be wary of police.

The move came after Black Lives Matter protesters ground Toronto’s pride parade to a halt in 2016 as they made a list of demands, including banning uniformed officers from participating in the parade.

Toronto Pride then banned uniformed officers from their 2017 festivities.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

After consulting with members of the queer and transgender Indigenous, Black and people of colour community — what they called QTIBPOC — the Edmonton Pride Festival Society followed suit and restricted the use of police vehicles, lights and sirens in their 2017 parade.

But Kucharska said that isn’t enough.

In the statement, the activists lauded the society for taking “positive steps” to invite queer and trans people of colour to marshal this year’s parade, but said their concerns regarding police presence in the parade were ignored.

“The pride board had multiple opportunities to engage in dialogue with the queer and trans community of colour, after being ignored repeatedly, community members had no choice but to take action, by halting this year's pride parade.”

After the brief standoff, the parade resumed. Leaders from all of Alberta’s major political parties attended except for United Conservative Party (UCP) Leader Jason Kenney. The party’s application to march in the parade was rejected.

Instead, the UCP, which forms the official opposition in the Alberta legislature, decided to hold a pancake breakfast at the McKernan Community League on Saturday morning that was open to the public. Kenney attended with fellow party caucus members and mingled with the crowd, which included several candidates vying for the party’s nomination in the 2019 provincial election.

“I think this was a fantastic move by the UCP, given that they were denied their application to (march in) pride,” said Payman Parseyan, who is running for the UCP nomination in the riding of Edmonton-Whitemud. “Instead of pouting away in a corner, the UCP took on the initiative to host a mini pride for their own supporters that may have been discouraged (from) attending based on the application rejection.”

Around 50 people gathered around to hear Kenney speak at the breakfast. In his address, the former federal minister for citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism talked about initiatives he undertook during his time in Ottawa to assist LGBTQ people persecuted abroad.

He ended by urging people to support the UCP in next year’s election, making a pitch focusing on jobs and the economy.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re gay or straight or what your sexual orientation or identity is, if you don’t have a job, I want to get you a job in Alberta.”

Two members of the Alberta Handsmaids Coalition – a pro-choice group – stood by the edge of the community league, collecting money they said would go toward LGBTQ youth who are at risk of homelessness.

The pancake breakfast, they said, was happening the same time as another fundraiser for homeless LBGTQ youth, so they had decided to attend the UCP breakfast to collect donations.

With files from Claire Theobald and Kashmala Fida

Read more about: