Pride celebrations first started in 1980 in Calgary, though they have evolved greatly and gained much more attention in the last decade.
In 1980 the Gay Information and Resources Calgary (GIRC) hosted a national gay rights conference at the U of C. These conferences took place through the 70s and 80s with Calgary’s conference being the 8th annual event. The conference consisted of a concert, workshops, community displays, a dance and a family picnic. Typically, these conferences would include a parade however, the City of Calgary Police Chief at the time refused the permit. He explained that there was too much possibility for a confrontation. On June 28th, 1980 organizers decided to march any way. They marched for half an hour ending at City Hall carrying their signs. This march was held on the 19th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
By 1989, the festival had grown, and turned into a week long celebration. Some local bars even held pride nights. In 1990, one of the Project Pride Partners organized the first political rally. 140 People gathered at the Old Y where they picked up Lone Ranger masks, to wear as a symbol for the discrimination the community was up against. Some participants were worried about being identified so they wore paper bags over their heads. As everyone gathered they began to walk over to the Boer War Statue at Central Memorial Park. This all took place on Monday June 18, 1990.
Things ramped up a little in June 1991 and the first official Pride Parade in Calgary was held. Over 400 people gathered at City Hall to listen to Svend Robinson give an inspiring speech. Unfortunately, there were also about two dozen anti-rights protesters in attendance. They were rowdy enough that 3 people were arrested. Following the arrests, some churches held rallies to pray for the city. The whole kafuffle would provoke the mayor to make a statement that Pride would not be happening in our city again.
Not to be stopped, the Gay and Lesbian community started to take out newspaper ads, and promote the event anyway, without the civic endorsement in 1992.
Following that, Pride has been an annual event in Calgary. In 2009 Pride Calgary made the decision to move the events from June to the long weekend in September. At this point Pride Calgary also became an incorporated non-profit society. In 2015 Mayor Nenshi became the first Mayor to march in the parade, making national headlines. This was also the year that Calgary decided to paint the rainbow cross walks as it marked the 25th anniversary of Pride in Calgary. In 2017 the pride festivities were large enough that they had to relocate from Shaw Millennium park to Prince’s Island Park.
As Calgary becomes more inclusive and equality becomes more of a discussion in our city, we are excited to see how Pride continues to grow. To learn more about Pride in Calgary you can check out www.calgarypride.ca.
