Pride 2014: Photos from Vancouver Pride parade
Over the years, the Vancouver Pride parade has grown larger with more corporate floats, more community groups, and yes, more politicians.
Judging from the size of today's crowds, this hasn't diminished its appeal.
The photo above is a float promoting Stolichnaya Vodka, which has a colourful history.
Originally a Soviet brand, the internationally distributed vodka is bottled in Latvia.
The brand has been at the centre of trademark disputes in Russia, which is on everyone's shit list for its treatment of gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender residents.
Below, you can see other snapshots I took while I was at the parade.
I deliberately kept all the politicians off this post.
There once was a time when the religious right used to decry the pernicious influence of those "goddamned secular humanists". But humanists have often been strong allies of the LGBT community.
The corporate floats that usually offer the most razzle-dazzle are those from Telus and TD Bank. Here, you can see the folks from Telus before the parade began.
I included the Burnaby school board image below because it was the first group of trustees to really take on the Christian right.
In 2011, Burnaby Citizens Association trustees passed an antihomophobia policy in the face of intense opposition. Today, they were marching to celebrate diversity.
There were plenty of broadcasters participating in the parade. CKNW Radio's Simi Sara was there with staff from sister station Classic Rock 101.
Two veteran CKNW hosts, Bill Good and Philip Till, retired last week. Program director Ian Koenigsfest wasn't ready to tell me who will replace them in the morning-drive and late-morning slots, saying the announcement will come later this month.
Also on-scene were a large number of broadcasters from other stations.
In 2011, Georgia Straight reporter Carlito Pablo broke the story of a new Filipino Canadian LGBT group called Pinoy Pride. Pablo, who hails from the Philippines, has unearthed many other original stories over the years involving this community. Many readers will be pleased to know that Pinoy Pride is stronger than ever.
It wouldn't be Pride without a strong presence from the fetish community. Sin City is a regular at the parade, and this year was no exception.
This has been a breakthrough year in Vancouver for the trans community. The Vancouver park board and school board have both passed policies making their facilities far more friendly to gender-variant people. Part of the reason has been a consistent effort by the Trans Alliance Society to educate the public about their concerns.
Comments
14 Comments
william
Aug 3, 2014 at 6:59pm
thought there would be more pics.....
Scott Place
Aug 3, 2014 at 7:16pm
DJ Scotty Evil rocking it behind the scenes with Anne Drewa and Fiona Forbes for the 2nd straight year!
Naturalmystic
Aug 3, 2014 at 8:41pm
No way in hell there was 650k at the parade. Does any rational person believe you can put that many people over 30 city blocks, 50 city blocks? The numbers are a lie and the media, organizers, city should be ashamed.
mikey
Aug 3, 2014 at 9:00pm
what an awesome day!
Well...
Aug 4, 2014 at 12:53am
I'd take humanism over feminism any day.
whack
Aug 4, 2014 at 5:40am
Celebrate debauchery!
mary lou......straight and proud
Aug 4, 2014 at 8:17am
put some clothes on!!!! you look ridiculous!!!
Statsman
Aug 4, 2014 at 11:43am
I agree 650,000 is a gross exaggeration as was 400,000 for any night of the fireworks. I don't understand why they (city & media) have been doing this for more than a few years now? Maybe to boost Vancouver compared to cities like Toronto which gets larger numbers at their Pride and Caribana festival/parades?
It has to be some kind of marketing &/or political ploy. Remember how Robertson/Vision lied about a million cyclist trips across the Burrard Bridge.
If we look deeper there is probably something that has to do with big money buried somewhere under the propaganda.
By the way I love the fireworks and the Pride parade, just don't lie to me about them!
jZee52
Aug 4, 2014 at 11:55am
A float promoting Russian vodka first up? Really?
Forest
Aug 4, 2014 at 12:08pm
I much prefer the politicos to the corporations. A bunch of vanilla straight people pretending they're queer on a corporate float. Hunh. And Telus sucks.