Meet one of the trailblazers behind London's first pride march

Suzanne Couture still remembers how she felt.

She blazed the trail for London's first pride march in 1991 before same-sex marriage was accepted in Canada.

"It was such an awesome feeling. It was like winning the lottery," said Couture. "We did it."

She said the march started off as a small-scale gathering at the former Homophile Association of Canada in downtown London and grew to about 1,500 supporters sporting pride flags and banners.

Couture joined the association because it provided a support system for London's LGBTQ community.  For years its members celebrated their sexuality in silence.

Then, the first march.

"Back in those days you could be beaten, you could lose your job, you could lose your home and you could lose everything … just because you were different."

The LGBTQ advocate has been selected as Pride London's grand marshal. So she will be one of the people leading the 23rd annual parade, which caps off the 11-day festival.

 London's pride continues to grow

"I think Pride is about family and community," said Andrew Rosser, the festival's president, pointing to more than 30 events across the city. "Just like non LGBTQ identified people we come from families and we have children so our events need to reflect our community."

He said the festival's success has grown through dozens of community partners and sponsors.

Since 1991, the celebration has expanded from one day to more than 10. 

Couture plans on continuing her support beyond the festival.

She's set to donate more than 100 VHS tapes documenting four decades of London's LGBTQ community events to the Pride Library at Western University.

"We have a long way to go before we start accepting each other with love and pride and look beyond all that prejudice," she said. "We just need to accept each other."