Alison Prentice, the President of the Quesnel Pride Society, says while they could have used a more positive statement, “we are not invisible” was deliberately chosen because pride is about more than just a parade.
“It’s not just a celebration of how far we’ve come, or a celebration of how resilient our community is in hardship. The pride parades are also protests, and that’s how they started. They are protests in support of other LGBTQ2S+ people around the world who continue to be bullied, jailed, beaten, threatened, and even murdered just for being who they are.”
Prentice says in Uganda it is still against the law to be gay so people have to stay invisible just to stay alive.
But she says there is also a ways to go in North America.
“There are still attacks. The one that stays with me was the one in Orlando in 2016 because I was there within days of that shooting, and 49 people were killed at a gay nightclub just for being who they are, and that was a mere 6 years ago.”
Prentice says youth are still hiding as well because they are afraid to tell their parents.
A firm date for this year’s parade hasn’t been set yet, but Prentice confirms that it will be sometime in June.
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