Some members of Winnipeg’s LGBTTQ community are disappointed with the upcoming parade route for the 2018 Winnipeg Pride Parade, including organizers.
Treva Lynn Knott attended the parade for the first time in 2017, during the festival's 30th anniversary.
Floats weaved through downtown including Portage Avenue, but this year the route has been scaled back.
"We fought so hard,” said Knott who came out in 2013 as transgender. “It feels like we took a step back."
On Sunday June 3, the parade will begin on Memorial Boulevard, move north to York Avenue, continue east to Fort Street and finish at Bonnycastle Park.
Pride Winnipeg said it would love to march on Portage and asked the city about having the parade there this year, but was quoted the same cost as the Santa Claus Parade which was around $50,000.
"We don't receive any funding from the city of Winnipeg and given that we are a major festival we do believe it's high time, it is high time the city reconsider the value we bring to the city and support us in this endeavor," said Pride Winnipeg president Jonathan Niemczak.
Niemczak said Pride Winnipeg is paying around $11,000 for the upcoming 2018 parade.
The city said when it receives a request for a special event it discusses and reviews applicable fees, and the cost depends on a number of factors including:
-Day and time of the procession
-Size and scope (Does the event have floats?)
-The type of street
-Number of Winnipeg Police officers required
-Parking spots lost
-Permits
Knott said it's important for her and other members of the LGBTTQ community to be visible, and hopes marchers can return to Portage Avenue.
“We can't be hidden away in society because society will never get used to our presence, they won't they won't learn and be educated,” said Knott.
Pride Winnipeg said the last time the parade was on Portage was in 2009, and wants the parade to be more visible on city streets in future years.
Niemczak of Pride Winnipeg said organizers plan to make a formal request to the city to return to Portage Avenue in 2019.
