Victoria Pride Society respond to free Palestine advocates’ demands during parade interruption

During the annual Pride parade in downtown Victoria this past weekend, a group of advocates for a free Palestine interrupted the planned route, causing the parade to be stalled and detour around them. 

This protest took place on Humboldt Street between Douglas and Government Streets. 

During this interruption, Ace Mann, President of the Victoria Pride Society (VPS) met the community-led blockade and held a discussion with the protesters to come to an agreement.

“Pride started as a protest. As queer people, our existence is politicized and many of us are, in turn, political,” reads a statement from VPS. 

“This incredible community needs activists to continue to push for a better world through peaceful protests, and VPS fully supports peaceful queer activism.”

This free Palestine advocates made the following requests of VPS:

• A public call for a ceasefire in Palestine
• Boycotting and divesting from institutions that fund Israel
• A removal of all law enforcement from Pride
• A stop to police sweeps of parks to remove unhoused community members
• To meet with communities for them to bring forward concerns

In the week following the parade and subsequent protest action, VPS has put together a response to each individual demand.

Public call for a ceasefire 

The Society says they have always fully supported a permanent ceasefire in Palestine.

To show this, they say they have put forth an effort to amplify posts in support of this throughout the year and will continue to do so. 

“We do not support the harm of any people and also call for the end of wars and/or human rights violations in Ukraine, Sudan, Congo, Afghanistan, China, etc,” said VPS. 

Call to boycott and divest from Israeli causes

During the parade, the community-led group of protesters cut off the TD Bank group and called out the bank as their main concern. 

“This is not the first time we’ve heard concerns about TD’s activities (e.g. Trans Mountain pipeline expansion; TMX, etc.), and we share them,” VPS wrote in their statement. 

“Though we are a non-profit organization, we have been working towards becoming less financially dependent on any one grantor.” 

They say that VPS only began taking on official partners two years ago and hope to hire a grant writer to help them diversify their income. 

To this end, VPS has committed to vet future partnerships to divest from companies that do not align with their set of values.

Call to removal of police from Pride 

VPS say that as per their website, they do not support having uniformed law enforcement in the annual Pride parade. 

“The Victoria Pride Society determined that law enforcement involvement in the Victoria Pride Parade does not align with our central mission at this time, and no uniforms belonging to law enforcement may be worn in the parade,” said VPS. 

This matter was initially brought forth in 2019 and discussions on the matter continue with VicPD to date, according to VPS. 

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“It is the hope of the Victoria Pride Society that this decision will help to foster a safe and supportive environment for all equity-deserving community members who are disproportionately affected by police,” reads VPS’s statement. 

However, according to City of Victoria bylaws, police presence is required for any event of this magnitude. 

To mitigate the number of officers needed, VPS say they seek out their own traffic control volunteers every year. 

For this year’s parade, VPS had VicPD officers in attendance but only on the perimeter of the festival grounds and to do any “walk-throughs” while in the presence of a VPS representative. 

Additionally, any VicPD officers who participated in the parade were not allowed to wear their uniforms while marching. 

Call to stop police sweeps of unhoused people

VPS say they are disturbed by the actions of City bylaw officers displacing unhoused Victorians from Vic West park over the last two years in preparation for their annual ‘Memorial Drag Ball’ game while blaming the displacement on the event. 

“As we wrote on our website, “VPS strongly believes that displacement of those sheltering the park is unacceptable,’” said VPS. 

“We had reached out to the by-law office prior to the event and asked them to not displace anyone in the park. By-law told us that they do these sweeps every day at 7 am regardless.” 

This year, VPS say that prior to the Drag Ball, team members attended the park and spoke to the residents to let them know they were welcome to stay, while also bringing them food, water and gift cards. 

Additionally, when the event was complete, they left any leftover food and water for the residents of the park.

To this call to action, VPS say they will continue to ensure their events are safe, accessible and inclusive for all and put forth an effort to do more for the unhoused community in Victoria.

They also note that they recognize that matters relating to the ongoing housing crisis disproportionately impacts gender, sexual and relationship diverse individuals as well as other equity-deserving communities. 

In terms of the call for meetings with the community for matters of accountability, VPS say they have always welcomed these meetings when a request is made. 

“Though few and far between, these have been invaluable for VPS in helping us to move more towards the organization and festival changes you have seen,” said VPS.  

“In the last few years, a Community Engagement Committee was started for this very purpose.”

VPS say they will commit to continue what they are doing by holding these meetings quarterly and inviting anyone with concerns, feedback, ideas, enthusiasm, activism, etc. to come forth and share their views. 

VPS apologizes to Pride parade attendees

The Society says their main concern during the parade’s protest was for the safety of participants and onlookers who were stalled in the summer heat.

They say they took this matter seriously and are grateful to those who assisted in rerouting the parade.  

Lastly, VPS say they made several attempts to reach out to the protestors for a free Palestine to connect. 

The Society did manage to meet with one group of organizers who are integral to the weekly demonstrations downtown, Victoria to Palestine, however they were among the group involved in the community-led blockade that interrupted the parade.