Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adel Ahmed

Pride Parade 2023

5th annual Kamloops Pride Parade sees thousands in attendance

Aug 27, 2023 | 4:08 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Kamloops Pride Parade filled up the streets downtown Sunday (August 27) morning, wrapping up what was a prideful week in the city.

“We’re here to stay and we’re here to be thriving in the community,” President of Kamloops Pride Alyssa Christianson told CFJC Today.

After a smoky start to the week long festivities put on by the organization, the forecast became more friendly.

“We did have to change one of our events from an outdoor to an indoor event,” said Christianson. “Luckily that went off smoothly. We were definitely watching the weather and the smoke for today but we are super grateful that the smoke has subsided a bit.”

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Local MLA’s Todd Stone and Peter Milobar were also part of the pride walk Sunday. City officials took part in the walk as well, expressing why it’s important to have the LGBTQ2 community in society.

“The queer community are my cousins, my coworkers, my family, my friends,” said City Councillor Nancy Bepple. “They are part of our community and we need to show them that we value them and that they are part of our community.”

Others who took part in the pride walk spoke on the importance of making the queer community feel welcome.

“So many people have had to just hide who they are or lie about who they are and they have not been able to just be open about who they are so it’s very important to celebrate authenticity I think.” said one resident attending the parade.

Christianson echoed a similar message to celebrate authenticity now than ever before. On Saturday (August 26), a group of people stood outside the North Shore Thompson Nicola Regional District Library during a drag story time event, protesting against it.

“That just really showed me how much we still need pride,” said Christianson. “Sometimes it’s hard to remember because of course everyone knows pride, everyone loves the pride parade. You think that everyone is happy and willing to participate and then you experience something like a protest and you take a moment to think like we still need to be here.”