Some 2SLGBTQ+ groups have cut ties with the Edmonton Pride Festival citing concerns about an increased police presence and questions about whether an application from a police-affiliated group to walk in the parade was considered.
In a social media post earlier this week, festival organizers said they were bolstering their safety plan, and that doing so will involve an increased police presence at the Edmonton Pride Parade and Trans March this weekend.
In response, several organizations, including Pride Corner on Whyte, pflag Edmonton and the Edmonton Lesbian Event Network announced they would be cutting ties with the festival.
In a social media post, Pride Corner on Whyte said the decision was made in part because of what it describes as “unanswered calls to action from our Black and Indigenous Trans and Queer community members.”
The organization also cited a historic police raid on an Edmonton bathhouse, racial profiling concerns, encampment sweeps and police responses to protests as reasons for their unease.
At a news conference Wednesday, Edmonton Pride Festival executive producer Trevor Watson defended organizers’ decision to have an increased police presence, noting the event comes in the wake of an attack at a Pride celebration in Berlin last month. He also pointed to the 2025 attack on Vancouver’s Lapu-Lapu Day Festival, where 11 people died after a vehicle was driven into a crowd.
“We will take every bit of criticism directed towards the organization and festival if it means our guests, marchers, friends, family and loved ones can celebrate Pride and return home safely,” Watson said.
“We cannot knowingly remove a reasonable safety measure because it may be unpopular.”
He said police will be at the event to monitor traffic and to ensure the safe movement of festival-goers.
Trevor Watson with the Edmonton Pride Festival speaks about the decision to increase police presence at this year’s parade. (Emma Zhao/CBC)
“We have no intention of displacing or disrupting unhoused or vulnerable people who live along the parade route, call these streets their home or simply happen to be in the area,” he said.
Adebayo Katiiti is the founder of RaricaNow, a non-profit representing 2SLGBTQ+ refugees and newcomers.
He said the disagreement isn’t a new one, but this year, it’s been intensified because of questions about whether a police-affiliated group’s application to walk in the Pride parade was considered.
“Our communities were straightforward,” Katiiti said. “They informed [the organizers] that … we do not feel safe to have cops at Pride.
“It is very hypocritical for them to then go ahead and ignore marginalized community voices and go ahead and engage with police.”
Katiiti said the issue of police being present at Pride has long been an issue within the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and came to a head in 2018 when protesters stopped the parade. After that, law enforcement, including the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) and RCMP, were banned from participating in the parade.
Katiiti said he wants the Edmonton Pride Festival to start considering other options for security, instead of relying on a police presence.
“That is not what our communities agreed on, that is not what our communities stand for,” he said.
Watson confirmed on Tuesday that a police-affiliated organization would not be marching in the parade after it had applied to do so. He said festival organizers will continue to keep in touch with the groups who pulled out of this year’s parade in order to foster a collaborative relationship.
EPS told CBC News in a statement that its major events team has worked closely with festival organizers over several months on traffic management and emergency preparedness.
“We are mindful of the unfortunate circumstances that make this work necessary, including that acts of hate and targeted violence have impacted 2SLGBTQ+ communities around the world,” the statement reads.
Pride festival organizers confirmed there will be no police presence at Indigenous Pride programming over the weekend.