Today’s Pride Parade in Saskatoon will pass a block away from the downtown office of the Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools division.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
That proximity underlines the ongoing importance of the most prominent event in the city’s annual Saskatoon Pride Festival celebrations.
The Catholic division is still dealing with fallout from a leaked email sent by superintendent Tom Hickey in May, directing principals to ensure students visiting the Nutrien Children’s Festival avoided the Rainbow Tent featuring Drag Queen Storytime.
Hickey apologized to protesters outside the board office earlier this month for the “hurt” caused by the email. But the division administration and board members have refrained from saying the email was a mistake — and there’s no indication any division officials even visited the Rainbow Tent.
Board chair Diane Boyko told reporters on Monday that the division will “continue to love and find space and welcome every student and staff member who chooses to come to our schools.”
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
That’s a nice message, but a more powerful one would have been to offer insight into the decision to send the email and that no future Rainbow Tent warnings loom.
For those who argue the school division’s directive was simply consistent with providing a Catholic education, consider that there are Catholic school boards across this country and only a small minority have expressed controversial views about the LGBTQ2S+ community.
That seems to have been lost on Saskatchewan Education Minister Dustin Duncan, who said while speaking to reporters in Saskatoon this month that he agreed with and supported the Catholic school division, adding decisions on “sensitive” issues should be left to parents.
If you think the culture wars stoked by conservative politicians in the southern U.S. could never happen here, it’s time to wake up. They’re happening.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
And protests earlier this year at the Shaw Centre were prompted by dubious claims about a transgender woman with male genitals undressing in the women’s change room.
This unproven fable gained traction on social media, even though it was remarkably similar to debunked stories from other cities, including Calgary. (The editor of a newspaper in Australia departed after printing a letter recounting a similar change-room story that was revealed to be fake.)
So as much as Pride serves as a celebration, it’s also an ongoing political statement in a context that seems like we’re moving backwards in some ways.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
It will also provide much-needed animation for Saskatoon’s downtown with the cancellation or relocation of some of the Bridge City’s signature summer festivals.
And for those who love a parade, reportedly everyone, today’s event will mark the only one this summer in Saskatoon. The expected return of the Exhibition parade in August for the first time since 2019 has been cancelled, apparently due to a dispute between Prairieland Park and city hall over road construction.
So the Pride Parade is not only an important symbolic event for equality and inclusion, it’s also a vital one for Saskatoon’s struggling downtown, which would normally be packed for much of the summer with people attending festivals.
The parade has evolved from a fringe event to as mainstream as you can get, now in its 22nd year and touted as the province’s largest parade. Former mayor Don Atchison was criticized for failing to attend the parade during his record 13 years in office, even though he did attend other Pride events.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Now, every current member of council has attended the parade. Premier Scott Moe made news by attending Saskatoon’s Pride Parade in 2019, becoming the first Saskatchewan premier and first leader of the Saskatchewan Party to do so.
Columnist Murray Mandryk urged Moe to attend the parade again this year in a piece last month about the Catholic schools email, suggesting it required a symbolic response from the province’s political leader.
But Moe’s fear of losing the support of social conservatives to fledgling right-wing parties could keep him away.
That shows why the parade and its symbolism remain so relevant.
Recommended from Editorial
The Saskatoon StarPhoenix has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.
