Diversity, inclusivity celebrated at Altona's inaugural Pride parade

Under warm sunny skies, a large and boisterous crowd filled the streets of Altona for Pembina Valley Pride's inaugural parade in the southern Manitoba town on Saturday afternoon.

Approximately 400 people turned out to celebrate and support diversity at the parade. Mayor Al Friesen and Altona Police Service Chief Perry Batchelor were among those who walked the streets with supporters after the six-coloured Pride flag with five-coloured chevron, which emphasizes inclusion and progression, was raised outside the town office.

"Today was a reassurance that the town is moving in a progressive way," Friesen said. "Our hope was that today those who came from either here or elsewhere that they experienced that in Altona."

The 67-year-old mayor acknowledged that enthusiasm for the Pride parade was muted in some parts of the town, but he invited residents to turn the page and look forward to a brighter and more inclusive future.

"It seemed like there was a real appetite to have a party kind of event with the reality that it hasn't always been a party-kind-of place, or a party-kind-of atmosphere. I think it's reassuring," Friesen said.

"I think it speaks well to the people of our community saying, 'This is our town. We would like this to be a part of our definition in who we are.'"

The parade morphed out of Morden's first Pride parade in 2019, which Peter Wohlgemut called "the genesis" of Pembina Valley Pride.

Wohlgemut, the president of Pembina Valley Pride, called the Morden event a pivotal personal moment for themselves, since they didn't have many 2SLGBTQ connections in the southern part of the province prior to that day.

"At that event, it was made clear that we do have a community here, and a lot of us thought we were all alone," Wohlgemut said. "It's hard to find each other sometimes when you have to be so careful."

But skip ahead three years later, and Wohlgemut isn't afraid to speak out.

"There are people who want us to be ashamed of who we are, and the name Pride speaks to the fact that, no, we are not ashamed of who we are," they said.

"We are proud to be the rainbow community. We are proud to be 2SLGBTQ. We are not going to be ashamed. You can try and make us, but we're not going there."

Tamara Franz isn't ashamed either.

Franz, who has called Altona home on and off for more than two decades, held a banner along with other supporters during the parade.

"It's such a celebratory day, and up until this year I never would have thought this would happen here, so it's wonderful," she said.

Franz believes everyone would know they are welcome wherever they are and whoever they are, even though a local pastor doesn't support homosexuality.

Unlike some Christian leaders in the Altona area, Grace Covenant Church lead pastor Riley Toews condemned the Pride celebration in a recent blog post.

Toews, 30, who lives in nearby Gretna, handed out pamphlets at Saturday's parade, just as he did in Morden at that community's first Pride parade in 2019.

Toews suggested the core of his message is consistent with that of Christianity.

"Regardless of what people may say, what matters is what God says," Toews told CBC News on Saturday. "God has spoken and He has spoken with clarity, and He spoken with clarity to this issue. Whatever other pastors may say in denying the clear word of God, it doesn't change the fact that God has spoken."