By Matthew Abrey
For the 11th straight year, members of the LGBT2Q+ community and its supporters will be hosting a full week of events that will aim to bring people together to celebrate diversity and differences.
Pride in Diversity is the theme for this year’s Kelowna Pride celebration, which runs from Aug. 11 to 18.
“As Canadians, we may all share the same legal rights, but discrimination still happens every single day and not only based on sexual identity,” said Dustyn Baulkham, past president for Kelowna Pride. “As a cis-gender, gay white male, I recognize that I have a lot of advantages that are not equally shared with all members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirited, and queer community.”
The week’s largest and most popular event, the Kelowna Pride March and Festival, will cap off the festivities on Saturday, Aug. 18. The march will make its way through Waterfront Park and end near Tugboat Bay, where there will be a variety of vendors, kids activities and live entertainment until 8 p.m.
“Kelowna has come a long way in the past few years in terms of diversity,” said Baulkham. “But we still have a very long way to go until we are truly a diverse and accepting community.”
In 2017, Kelowna Pride welcomed nearly 6000 people to the march and festivities.
For event tickets or for more information, visit www.kelownapride.com/events-and-pride/.
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