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Pride intensifies throughout Metro Vancouver
By Mercedes Deutscher, News Editor
Summer marks a time of celebration for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies throughout the Lower Mainland. Here is a list of events and organizations flying their flags proudly this summer.
DSU Pride Community
The DSU Pride Community can be found on the second floor of the DSU building on the New Westminster Campus.
The community meets every second Tuesday, from 2:30–3:30 p.m. They can also be found tabling in the concourse every second Thursday, alternating from meeting weeks.
There have been some special events planned by the community to take place throughout the summer. There is an upcoming Whitecaps FC event on July 13, where a limited number of tickets are available for the cost of $20 each, and each ticket comes with a set of pride laces. Other events include movie nights and ice cream outings.
Vancouver Pride Society
The Vancouver Pride Society is preparing to kick off the city’s Pride Season on July 21 with Pride Premiere at Celebrities Nightclub. This will be the first of several official Pride parties hosted at Celebrities throughout the following week.
The kickoff will be followed by the Davie Street Party on July 29.
July 30 will mark the Terry Wallace Memorial Breakfast. Wallace used his position as manager at the Old Castle Pub to fundraise enough to keep the Vancouver Pride Society alive through its toughest years, through the 80s and 90s. He has been memorialized with the annual breakfast since his death in 2004.
July 31 hosts the Vancouver Pride Parade, starting at 12 p.m. and ending at 3 p.m. The parade attracts around 500,000 spectators annually. Returning to this year’s Pride is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who previously attended the parade in 2014 and 2015.
Bigger and brighter rainbows
While already passed, Metro Vancouver has hosted several other events over the past month.
A parade in Surrey took place on June 26. Surrey’s parade was the first of its kind, and followed shortly after a decision was made by the municipality of Surrey to fly a pride flag at City Hall earlier in the month. The parade was met with mixed reviews, with some more conservative residents complaining about the event being taken outside of Vancouver.
Queer Prom also had its annual appearance in June, hosting dozens of LGBTQ+ youth and their allies. The event provides a safe space for students to celebrate the end of another school year.
