The first collective Pride event is thought to have occurred at Camp Harris, with a campfire, softball game, and picnic that attracted about 75 people. Previously, Dignity Edmonton held an annual picnic and BBQ in June.”
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1981
A small group of gay and lesbian Edmontonians launched the “S.S. Pisces,” billed as a gay 1890’s bathhouse, as part of the Klondike Days Sourdough Raft Race in August 1981. Michael Phair dressed as a rubber ducky as the crew of three gay men and three lesbian women sought to draw attention to the injustices of the Pisces Health Spa raid when the Edmonton Police Service and RCMP arrested 60+ gay and bisexual men in the early hours of May 31, 1981. ”
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1982
The first Gay Pride Weekend (June 25-27) was launched with the theme “Pride Through Unity,” which was part of ongoing community organizing resulting from the Pisces Health Spa raid.
Seven local lesbian and gay groups helped to organize Unity weekend, which kicked off with a drag show and buffet at Flashback sponsored by the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose, and a Unity Dance held at the Phoenix Hall sponsored by GATE with about 250 people in attendance, followed by a picnic and BBQ at Camp Harris. Unity celebrations concluded with a softball tournament featuring gays vs. lesbians and teams from Calgary and Red Deer. The games were held at Camp Harris and sponsored by the Roughnecks, Edmonton’s gay and lesbian sports group. Over 100+ people came out to the ball games, BBQ, and sing-along.
Earlier this year, Dignity Edmonton hosted its 6th annual conference at the Hotel Macdonald (May 21-24), with the theme “Free To Be.” Conference workshops included freedom and authority in the church, gay freedom and gospel values, and freedom and women in the church. ”
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1983
Edmonton’s Gay Pride Week Committee organizes ten days of activities (June 25 to July 3) to celebrate Pride throughout the city, including a fundraising food fair contest for the “culinary queens and ladle-swinging lesbians.” Come and find out if your buns win a prize!
Other Pride Week activities include a picnic in the park, sports games, film nights (with one night dedicated exclusively to women’s films), lesbian book sale, gay and lesbian history discussion, musical performances, art show, community awards, pride dance, and an ecumenical church service sponsored by MCC and Dignity. A special Gay Pride Week Pass meant you could take in all the events!
Scott McConnell, one of the committee organizers, states that Gay Pride Week is an opportunity to “work with the straight community and become more unified.” A film night organizer, Kathy Baker, highlighted how Pride is “an acceptance of self and others within the community and facilitating good feelings about ourselves as lesbians and gay men and as individuals.” ”
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1984
Gay Pride Week morphed into Gay and Lesbian Awareness (GALA ’84) week, which represented the coming together of several gay and lesbian community organizations to host a week full of planned activities. These initial organizing groups included the Gay Alliance Toward Equality (GATE), Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), Edmonton Vocal Minority Chorus (EVM), and Womonspace. The new name was also deemed to be more reflective and inclusive of the involvement of the lesbian community.
The week of events (June 21-29) included a lesbian drop-in wine and cheese hosted by Womonspace; a GATE open house; an all day picnic at Rundle Park (with sporting events, games, ecumenical church service, and children’s concert with Lynne Weeds); two public forums on ‘Pornography: A Gay Perspective” and the “Church, State, and Civil Rights;” a film night at The Citadel; art appreciate night at Flashback; and the GALA Dance at Hazeldean Community Hall. Common Woman Books also held its 3rd annual lesbian book sale. Expenses for the week were about $2,000 and mostly covered by donations and fundraising.
The newly formed GALA Society petitioned the City of Edmonton to declare June 27th as Gay and Lesbian Awareness Day. Mayor Laurence Decore refused due to what he suggested was a lack of public appeal. Alderman Julian Kinisky stated he “would never in one minute endorse such a thing,” adding on “[he has no] sympathy whatsoever” for gays and lesbians. The Edmonton Sun published a virulently homophobic editorial comparing the request to supporting pederasty and chastized the gay and lesbian community for requesting an official proclamation and closed their editorial by stating, “Have a nice week people, but let the rest of us get on with our heterosexual lives in peace.”
GALA would go on to coordinate most Edmonton Pride events until 1999, when the Edmonton Pride Festival Society (EPFS) was formed. ”
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1985
GALA ’85 (June 20-27) continues to grow with events including a jazz concert, potluck picnic, poetry and film nights, lesbian book fair, GALA dance, art show, and public forum on Hepatitis B. The Camp Harris picnic day also continued, with more than 150 people attending. Womonspace continued with its successful wine and cheese open house. GALA cited how Pride Week was necessary during “a time when AIDS stories dominated the news… Positive exposure is vital in reminding Edmontonians that our city is home to a visible lesbian and gay community.”
Alderman Ed Ewasiuk made a second attempt to officially proclaim Gay and Lesbian Awareness Day on June 27th in Edmonton. When the matter came before City Council for discussion, “the mayor and alderman smirked and chuckled like a pack of adolescents.” After the motion was defeated 12 to 1, Bill Lee of GALA stated, “It’s frustrating, but we’re not giving up.” As justification for the rejection, the city noted the special day was denied because it represented “official recognition and endorsement of a particular lifestyle.” ”
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1986
GALA ’86 (June 18-26) hosted another impressive array of events, including an art show in the AIDS Network foyer, a lesbian wine and cheese reception hosted by Womonspace, film nights, an information seminar on safer sex, a public forum on “homosexuality and the family” held at the University of Alberta, the Common Woman lesbian book fair, a picnic, games and potluck at Rundle Park, and the annual GALA pride dance. The week led up to International Lesbian and Gay Pride Day on June 27. The entire schedule of Pride Week events was published in the Edmonton Journal for the first time. ”
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1987
GALA ’87 (June 22-28) continues to grow with the ever-popular Womonspace wine and cheese drop-in, Common Woman book fair, and the annual pride dance with a picnic, games, potluck, a church service at Rundle Park. New pride events included three plays, “Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are”, “Retrospective: A Dramatization of Our Gay and Lesbian History,” and “Fit for Life: An Evening of Skits”, as well as a lesbian and gay Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at the Unitarian Church.
Events continued to be published in the Neighborhood Calendar section of the Edmonton Journal. ”
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1988
GALA ’88 (June 20-27) featured many favourite Pride events, including the Common Woman lesbian book fair; Womonspace wine and cheese drop-in; Pride dance; and potluck picnic at Rundle Park featuring an “All Out Croquet Match” between Guys in Disguise and Northern Chaps. This year, new Pride Week events include a coffee house performance at the Unitarian Church and the return of a public forum on “homophobia and self-oppression” at the University of Alberta. ”
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1989
Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, and Winnipeg all host successful Pride weeks across the prairies. In Edmonton, GALA ’89 featured the theme “Celebrate Our Differences” (June 16-27), and festivities grew to encompass 12 days of events. The Pride Festival opened with a special concert by Lynn Lavner and David Sedera held at the Provincial Museum. The event was emceed by newly elected MP Svend Robinson from British Columbia.
Robinson was also on hand to help officially open the new Gay and Lesbian Community Centre of Edmonton (GLCCE) and participated in a community BBQ hosted by GALA’s Civil Rights Committee, which had long been advocating for the inclusion of sexual orientation protections in Alberta’s human rights legislation.
This year’s Pride festivities included more than two dozen events, including a Womonspace dance; a workshop for people of colour, mixed ancestry and white allies hosted by Westwood Unitarian Church; a discussion on gays and lesbians and the law held at the Faculty of Business, UofA; a panel discussion on Edmonton’s lesbian and gay past at Common Woman Books; a film screening of “Torch Song Trilogy” at the Princess Theatre; a safer sex workshop entitled “Hot, Healthy, and Horny” hosted by the AIDS Network of Edmonton; a lesbian photography exhibit; a GALA Pride dance with a 60’s dress-up theme; and a special 20th anniversary Stonewall Picnic at Victoria Park, which featured the 2nd Annual Northern Chaps Croquet Tournament.
Mayor Terry Cavanagh and City Council continued to reject GALA’s Pride proclamation request leading GALA to self-proclaim “Gay Day Anyway” punctuated with a public rally and mock proclamation in the form of a special “silly city council meeting” held at Centennial Plaza (by City Hall) with local actors playing the roles of city aldermen and the mayor. A highlight was the portrayal of Alderman Julian Kinisky, who earlier had threatened to “run off to Australia where men are still men” if GALA Day was proclaimed in Edmonton. The rally was attended by more than 150 community members, with two NDP MLAs addressing the assembled crowd.
Brian Mason, President of the Edmonton Voters Association, stated that Mayor Cavanagh’s decision not to proclaim GALA day “displayed an unfortunate lack of political courage on his part and a lack of awareness.” Only Aldermen Lance White and Jan Reimer voted in favour of GALA’s proclamation request.
As a lead up to this year’s GALA celebrations, Labour Minister Elaine McCoy publicly announced her support to amend Alberta’s human rights statute to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination. McCoy was the first provincial government Minister on record to come out publicly in support of gay and lesbian civil rights. There was much to celebrate at Pride this year as Edmonton’s community grew more visible and vocal and gained new allies. ”
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1990
Pride ’90 (June 15-27) opens with a bang as newly elected Mayor Jan Reimer becomes the first Mayor in Edmonton’s history to participate in Pride festival activities. She joins a celebrity dunk tank held as part of the “Something Wicked, Something Wild” party at the Northern Light Theatre. All proceeds from the event supported the Ross Armstrong Memorial Fund/Names Project Quilt.
Other highlights of the 12-day pride festival included a special workshop for parents; a public forum entitled “Should I be tested for AIDS? What about AZT?”; the annual Womonspace wine and cheese; Stonewall picnic at Rundle Park; and an information fair at Centennial Plaza featuring gay Alderman Glen Murray from Winnipeg. ”
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1991
Pride ’91 (June 19-29) kicked off 11 days of events, including the first official Pride march. Michael Phair and Maureen Irwin led a small informal parade down Whyte Avenue. Several marchers were reported to have worn paper bags over their heads to protect their identities. There were still no human rights protections on the grounds of sexual orientation in Alberta.
Pride Week events this year included a well-attended outdoor concert featuring “Mandy” and “Women in Comfortable Shoes;” a film night; special club nights; an evening with Svend Robinson; a poetry reading; community picnic at Victoria Park; and a packed pride dance with more than 400 participants.
There was no formal request for a Pride proclamation this year as many felt there was no need. Earlier in the year, the City of Edmonton amended its “Equal Opportunities Policy” to include sexual orientation protections for all city employees.
In recognition of Pride Week, Mayor Reimer issued a formal letter of support and sent cyclists to the bike-a-thon fundraiser, which raised over $3000 to support the Delwin Vriend Defense Fund. Delwin had been fired earlier this year from his job as a lab instructor at King’s College and was fighting his unjust dismissal, which would ultimately end up before the Supreme Court of Canada (Vriend v. Alberta). ”
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1992
The theme for this year’s Pride Festival was “Pink, Pride, Power” (June 18-27). This year Womonspace celebrated its 10th anniversary, and community leader Michael Phair was elected to City Council, making him the first “out” politician in Alberta’s history and one of only a few in Canada.
Despite the objections of Alderman Ken Kozak, who said proclaiming a Gay Pride Day would be akin to “having a day for flying elephants,” City Council approves the motion. However, while Mayor Jan Riemer is away on vacation, acting Deputy Mayor Alderman Sheila McKay refuses to sign the proclamation stating, “I refuse to accept that burden. I am not a bigot. People in their private lives, if they’re adults, can do what they want.”
Pride Week activities included a leather and safer sex workshop; Womonspace dance; GLCEE garage sale; a three-night film festival; a safer sex casino held by the AIDS Network of Edmonton; and a women’s summer solstice dance.
A Pride-a-Thon was held on Saturday, June 27, at the Kinsmen Field House, where Edmontonians walked, cycled, and jogged to raise money in support of the Delwin Vriend Defence Fund. A letter written and signed by Delwin Vriend was given to each participant, thanking them for their support. The letter stated, “This event is not only about raising funds for the legal battle I am now mounting, it is a visible demand for equality and justice.”
The first organized Pride parade marched down Whyte Avenue again this year and concluded at McIntyre Park, where MP Svend Robinson addressed the rally with about 200 people gathered, despite a few hecklers. Pride Week events concluded with an evening concert at the Garneau Theatre and a “Party in Pink” night at The Roost. ”
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1993
This year’s Pride Festival Theme was “A Family of Pride”. The nine-day Festival (June 18-27) involved more than 20 community groups and kicked off with a lesbian art exhibit at Latitude 53 gallery. Festivities throughout the week included a Mr. Drummer brunch and contest; a safer sex workshop; Unitarian church service; multi-night film festival at the Citadel; live music and art show; and a LesBiGay, Motown, and Womyn only community dances.
Another notable event was the first-ever LesBiGay Business Fair, which featured 40 different vendors ranging from florists to lawyers. Alderman Michael Phair opened the fair and stated how it would be good for the city’s economy. Phair said, “People in the gay and lesbian community are not only involved in businesses but are consumers. It’s easy for us to forget how important the business aspect is.”
On Saturday, June 26, the annual Gay and Lesbian Pride Day Parade and Rally were held at McIntyre Park, followed by a Pride picnic at Queen Elizabeth Park. The evening concluded with a “Voices of Pride” concert hosted by Edmonton Vocal Minority. The Pride-a-Thon returned on Sunday to close out the week of activities with funds being raised to support Team Edmonton Gay and Lesbian Sports Association.
The first-ever Pride Award recipients were given to Michael Phair and Maureen Irwin for their many contributions in building Edmonton’s gay and lesbian community. The Pride Awards, each year after that, would be named after them to honour their legacy contributions.
Mayor Jan Reimer officially proclaimed June 26, 1993, “Gay and Lesbian Pride Day” for the first time in Edmonton’s history. Along with her proclamation, she writes, “Dignity and respect for all people, without discrimination based on sexual orientation, is an important goal for a free and democratic society.” The proclamation is met with resistance from some city Aldermen. Alderman Hayter objects stating, “I don’t think this particular lifestyle should be promoted.”
Newly elected Alderman Michael Phair, the first openly gay man ever elected to Edmonton City Council, states, “this has nothing to do with promoting a certain lifestyle… the day is meant to represent that gays and lesbians exist in this city.” ”
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1994
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City, Edmonton’s theme for this year’s Pride Festival (June 17-25) was “Stonewall 25.” Mayor Reimer proclaims June 25, 1994, as “Gay and Lesbian Awareness Day” in Edmonton.
The successful LesBiGay Business Fair returned this year along with many other regular festival events. Edmonton Vocal Minority held another sold-out concert. A draw was held for a special rainbow flag quilt by the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose in support of Karios House. The Pride Parade was held again in Old Strathcona and attracted 450+ participants making it the largest in Edmonton’s history thus far. PFLAG hosted a family picnic in the park following the parade.
The Delwin Vriend legal case was cited by many as the reason for the larger turnout, with more individuals joining the rally to protest the provincial government’s refusal to grant legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation. David Sanders, one of the Pride Parade organizers, stated, “We’re here, and we’re queer, and we’ll be here if there’s a Ralph Klein or not. In fact, the lesbian and gay community will be here long after the Klein government is ancient history.” ”
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1995
The theme for this year’s Pride celebrations is “Past Present, Pride: Celebrating Our History” (June 16-24). Pride events include workshops on safer sex, a film festival, the Boystown Cabaret, and a rally and march down Whyte Ave. Notably, during this year’s Pride Festival, Anne Erskine and George Davidson were honoured as recipients of the Maureen Irwin Award and Michael Phair awards, respectively. Erskine was recognized for her counselling efforts with women in the community, and Davidson for his supportive efforts in the Vriend Case and other civil rights issues.
The Pride Parade marches down Whyte Avenue and attracts hundreds of participants. Still, it is also met with disgust and disapproval from some businesses and protestors who describe the parade as “a freak show.” Potter’s House Christian Church members handed out pamphlets and preached to the crowd, stating that they do not hate, nor are they against gays and lesbians, but they want to inform them of a “better life.”
Despite some community opposition, Mayor Reimer proclaims “Gay and Lesbian Pride Day” for the third year in a row.
Notably, the Gay and Lesbian Archives of Edmonton are created in partnership with the City of Edmonton Archives to help preserve this important local history. ”
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1996
In October 1995, Bill Smith was elected as the new Mayor of Edmonton. Unlike his predecessor, Jan Reimer, Smith refuses to proclaim “Gay and Lesbian Pride Day” this year. Smith told GALA their proclamation request was one of many he had denied. However, GALA received a letter from the city’s corporate communications office stating their proclamation request was the first and only one that the Mayor had actually, in fact, denied. GALA demanded an apology from the Mayor. City Alderman Michael Phair said, “I was very disappointed. I’m surprised the mayor didn’t have the courage to do this. I think that’s sad. Personally, it hurt me as well.”
This year’s Pride Festival (June 15-28) continued on with many familiar events, including a Womonspace picnic and dance; discussion on same-sex marriage sponsored by MCC; lesbian and gay history talk by Maureen Irwin and Michael Phair; PFLAG family picnic in Victoria Park; and Edmonton Vocal Minority concert and Pride Awards ceremony at Convocation Hall, UofA.
In lieu of a city proclamation, a rally was held outside the Alberta Legislature protesting the provincial government’s ongoing refusal to grant human rights protections based on sexual orientation. After the rally, the Pride Parade marched from the Legislature grounds to Victoria Park. ”
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1997
This year’s Pride Festival theme is “Celebrating our Diversity and Pride” (June 20-29). For the second consecutive year, Mayor Bill Smith refuses to proclaim “Gay and Lesbian Awareness Day,” because “it isn’t something he believes in.”
Pride festivities kicked off in a big way with a special Loud N’ Proud “fun-raiser” at the Citadel Theatre featuring Christopher Peterson in “EYECONS”; Darrin Hagen’s “Drag Fest ’97”; a screening of Brad Fraser’s film “Parade”; Klodyne Rodney’s “Sister Sappho Stage” cabaret; and an Apres Party in La Pavillion.
This year’s Pride Festival Day started at Gazebo Park featuring Delwin Vriend, community lawyer Julie Lloyd, and Edmonton Vocal Minority, followed by the Parade, which marched south down 104 street to Rollie Miles Park by Strathcona High School. Following the Parade, PFLAG held a community picnic in the park featuring a “boys vs. girls” football game.
Other Pride Week events included a fundraiser for the Delwin Vriend Defence Fund and the Imperial Soverign Court of the Wild Rose at the Roost; MCC and Lambda ecumenical faith service; film festival at the Edmonton Art Gallery; Pride karaoke, talent shows and drag performances; a literary salon event with costumes and impersonations at Orlando Books; safer sex workshop; Womonspace pride dance; and Edmonton Vocal Minority concert and Pride Awards. ”
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1998
This is a milestone year as the Supreme Court of Canada rules in favour of Delwin Vriend and reads sexual orientation into Alberta’s human rights statute, thereby making it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation. Premier Klein makes national news when he threatens to use the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to exempt Alberta from the ruling.
As this year’s Pride Festival approaches, Mayor Bill Smith continues to refuse to proclaim “Gay Pride Day,” stating, “It’s nothing I’m going to debate. My position has been that I’m not going to proclaim Gay Pride Days in Edmonton, and I’m pretty clear on that.” Smith goes on to say that he interprets the issue differently than the Supreme Court of Canada, stating “there’s only one judge in the Supreme Court here.”
This year’s Pride Festival (May 15-23) coincides with hosting the Canadian GALA Choruses Festival (May 15 to 18), which brought together choral groups from across Canada, the largest such gathering in Canadian history. This ground-breaking coral event was proudly organized and produced by Edmonton Vocal Minority.
Other Pride Festival activities for this year included the PFLAG-T family picnic, Womonspace pride dance, Pride Awards, and a rally with several hundred people gathering at Churchill Square in front of City Hall. Notably, there was no Pride Parade this year. Most likely due to the Festival’s shift to May and a new city policy requiring the Pride Festival to pay for road closure barriers, pylons, and security. Organizers said, “they simply couldn’t afford it.” ”
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1999
The Pride Festival returned to June (12-19) with the theme “Community, Celebration, Visibility.” Festivities included the return of a vibrant, colourful, and growing pride parade with 500+ marchers and a very full week of activities, including an Equal Alberta town hall; Flamingo Business Fair, art show and craft sale; drag fashion show at Vicious Pink; and the annual Edmonton Vocal Minority concert.
GALA decided not to ask Mayor Bill Smith for a proclamation and marched into City Hall and proclaimed it themselves. Mayor Smith stated that he would only proclaim a Pride Day if the courts forced him to, as had been the case in Ontario, where municipalities had been taken to court and fined $10,000 for refusing to issue a proclamation.
This year’s Pride rally started downtown at Grant Notley Park, followed by a Pride march to Oliver Park and concluded with a PFLAG-T picnic, beer gardens, and Pride Awards. The Pink Flamingo Pride Dance capped off the evening at the Hellenic Hall.
The Edmonton Journal featured the Pride Festival in the “Ten Best Things to Do This Weekend,” which prompted some backlash in the Letters to the Editor.
GALA members helped form the newly created Edmonton Pride Festival Society (EPFS), which took over the planning and organizing of Pride Festival events and activities.
Progress for lesbian and gay rights continued as same-sex couples were now legally allowed to privately adopt children in Alberta. ”
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