People of all backgrounds, many waving rainbow flags and sporting colourful attire, poured into Centretown on Aug. 23 to attend Capital Pride’s annual parade.
Tens of thousands of people lined up on the sidewalk of the parade’s route, which began at Bank Street and Gladstone Avenue and made its way west along Gladstone before turning on Kent Street. It then turned on Laurier Avenue and ended at Bank Street and Somerset Avenue at the heart of Ottawa’s gay village, where the largest crowds gathered.
Vendors pulled carts full of technicolour merchandise, catering to those who had forgotten to pick up a rainbow flag or some multi-coloured Mardi Gras beads the day before.
Recent Carleton University graduate Trevor Jones attended the parade. He said he was impressed with the student turnout, specifically Greek organizations and student groups from Carleton and the University of Ottawa.
“It was great to see student organizations put together floats,” Jones said, “even in August when it can be difficult to organize anything.”
The parade, hosted on a Sunday, wrapped up nine days of Capital Pride events and its 30th year of celebration. The first Pride march held in Ottawa was in 1986.
It was the first parade since Capital Pride declared bankruptcy and came under new management. This year, Capital Pride’s organizers promoted what it calls on its website the “Rainbow Community,” which includes all sexual and gender minorities.
A number of local LGBTQ groups and organizations, from roller derby teams to Canada’s Capital Kings drag troupe, marched in the parade or rode atop floats dripping with rainbow décor or fixed with DJs and full sound systems.
Mayor Jim Watson, Ottawa’s first mayor to ever march in a Pride Parade was in attendance, riding atop a City of Ottawa float while spraying parade attendees with a water gun.
“I’m very proud of that,” Watson said. “We had a record number of councillors on our float. It’s a great opportunity to support the GLBTQ community and to show what an inclusive city Ottawa is.”
The Ottawa police and other city emergency departments also participated, pushing decked out-stretchers and driving a police car wrapped in a rainbow decal.
Several religious groups, including the United Church of Canada, also participated in the parade.
There was also a small pocket of religious protesters picketing the event. A couple of protesters marched next to a police cruiser, holding large signs with Bible verses in opposition of the event.
Khaled Salam, the executive director of the AIDS Committee of Ottawa, marched alongside others from his organization to celebrate 30 years of HIV/AIDS movement in Ottawa.
“We celebrate a lot of community and diversity in the work that we do, so those are my two favourite components of Pride,” Salam said. “Pride stands for community, pride stands for diversity.”
