Pride week kicks off in Vancouver
Posted July 25, 2016 4:35 pm.
Last Updated July 25, 2016 4:57 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The day before Pride Week holds a special place in the heart of Danny Ramadan and kicks off a week of a unique celebration in his life.
On June 24, last year, he received word from the federal government that his Canadian visa has been approved, after spending two years as a Syrian refugee in Lebanon.
“Being out of the closet in the Middle East is a very difficult place to be,” he says. “I feared for my safety every single day.”
Ramadan is one of this year’s Pride Parade marshals and understands firsthand the importance of accepting others despite lifestyle differences.
“People like me realizing that we have the freedom to be who we truly are, to be the people that we are and to present ourselves and to be welcomed by this beautiful community,” he says.
To the sounds of Caribbean beats, First Nations ceremonial drumming, and a men’s choir on the freshly poured rainbow pavement of the Jim Deva Plaza, Mayor Gregor Robertson, along with members of Vancouver city council, officially launched the 2016 Vancouver Pride Week.
“This pride week and the pride parade in particular really stand for symbols of remarkable progress that we’ve made in our city towards securing acceptance, safety and equal rights for the people in Vancouver,” Robertson says.
Despite this year’s theme of Better Together, the annual parade has been marred by divisiveness over whether the Vancouver Police Department should be allowed to have its own float in the parade. The organization Black Lives Matter say they do not feel safe with police participating in the parade separately and have demanded police pull their float, but have said they could be part of a first responders float.
Vancouver Police say officers will participate in the parade but neither the department, pride organizers nor the city will say exactly whether police will have their own float.
“I met with people from Black Lives Matter in recent days and been in touch with Vancouver Pride Society. Everybody is talking,” Robertson says. “My expectation is police will be in the parade.”
