Salaam and Trikone won't walk in Vancouver Pride parade

Instead, they'll be part of an alternative march in the Downtown Eastside

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      Black Lives Matter Vancouver has two new allies in what appears to be a dispute with organizers of the Vancouver Pride parade.

      The queer-Muslim group Salaam and the South Asian group Trikone won't participate in the annual event, which takes place in Vancouver's West End next Sunday (July 31).

      Instead, they'll march in what's being billed as the "Two Spirit Queers, Trans, Intersexed, and Bisexual People of Colour Pride March" next Monday (August 1).

      Pride organizers have rejected Black Lives Matter Vancouver's demand that Vancouver police not be allowed to march in the Pride parade.

      They're boycotting the annual Pride parade "in solidarity with Black Lives Matter", according to a statement issued by 2SQTIBIPOC Pride march organizer Imtiaz Popat.

      Underlying the issue is a claim by queer Muslims and Latinx queers that unlike other queer organizations, they were not invited to speak to city council about how to respond to the massacre in Orlando.

      "Then the Mayor met with Black Lives Matter, but again the rest of the Queers of Colour organizations were not invited," the statement declared. "Queer Muslims and Latinx Queers were profoundly affected by the events of Orlando, yet we have been forgotten in this process. We met with Pride organizers after the Vigil they had organized at the Vancouver Art Gallery and suggested that we need to have some sort of an inclusive healing ceremony at Pride. But Pride too has forgotten us in this process."

      The Vancouver Dyke March announced that they invited Black Lives Matter Vancouver to be their grand marshal for this year's event and BLM-Vancouver accepted the invitation. The Vancouver Dyke March takes place on Saturday (July 30) in East Vancouver.

      The 2SQTIBIPOC Pride march will start at 1 p.m. next Monday (August 1) with a gathering at Victory Square. From there, participants will march east along Pender Street to Main Street before turning left toward CRAB Park, where a healing circle will take place.

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