Charlie Jenkins joined this year’s Victoria Pride Parade on very short notice.
Jenkins, who is from Texas, was on an Alaskan cruise with her grandparents and didn’t know the Pride Parade was going on until she saw the traffic advisories on her way to whale-watching from the ship, which had made a stop at Ogden Point.
She decided to skip whale watching to participate in her first-ever Pride parade on Sunday.
“When I told my grandma I wanted to go to the Pride Parade, it was like her first real realization,” Jenkins said. “Basically I was like: ‘I’m not straight. OK, I’m gonna go to the Pride Parade!’ ”
Jenkins was quickly welcomed and marched as part of a Pride first-timers group. “Somebody did my makeup for me, somebody coloured my face. I got a balloon, bracelets, and necklaces. Everyone’s just been so supportive,” Jenkins said.
“I feel safe, like I’m not going to get shot. It’s an incredible feeling.”
The parade route from Chinatown to the legislature was lined with people, including many who also donned colourful costumes.
Katrina Hieland, who marched in the same group as Jenkins, is also a first-time Pride attendee. “This city’s amazing for just acceptance of who you are,” said Hieland, who transitioned at the age of 53.
Pride has been a great opportunity to go out and meet people who share similar ideals, she said.
“People don’t advertise, most of the time. They don’t go around and go: ‘Hey, I’m trans, hey, I’m gay,’ that sort of thing.”
Leilani Jonas has been riding at the head of the Victoria Pride Parade on her motorcycle for the past seven years, and says it’s always a thrill. “We’ve come a long way.”
The tradition comes from San Francisco, where the motorcycle group Dykes on Bikes has led that city’s Pride Parade since 1976. “We want to show all the little girls in the crowd that riding a bike isn’t just for boys,” Jonas said.
Among the entries leading this year’s Pride Parade were the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
Breanna Bear, an art vendor at MacDonald Park who is from Songhees Nation, said she was glad to see her nation near the start of the parade.
Bear said in recent years, chief and council have taken steps to join events in the wider community.
“They’re really supportive,” Bear said. “Everyone wants to be engaged in some way.”
The Victoria Pride Society said on its website that applications to march in the parade are reviewed to ensure applicants support LGBTQ communities year-round.
The 120-plus groups included in this year’s march included local businesses, non-profits, four provincial political parties — including representatives of the NDP, Greens and federal Liberals — local governments, provincial ministries, and a number of media organizations.
Police participation in Pride parades has been controversial over the years, but at the Victoria parade, some officers who weren’t in uniform participated behind the Greater Victoria Police Diversity Advisory Committee banner.
Thousands took to the streets for the final 1.5-kilometre stroll to MacDonald Park in James Bay, where festivities continued into the evening.
Kelly Kurta, executive director of the Greater Victoria Festival Society, called the day a huge success.
“We are so thrilled. The parade was fantastic,” she said. “The grounds are full. The bands are amazing. The entire team at Victoria Pride Society has done an incredible job.”
