About 400 people attended to celebrate and support diversity in the parade. Mayor Al Friesen and Altona Police Chief Perry Batchelor were among those who took to the streets with supporters after the six-color Pride flag was hoisted with the five-color chevron, which emphasizes integration and progress, outside her office. city. “Today was an assurance that the city is moving progressively,” Friesen said. “Our hope was that today those who came either from here or elsewhere experienced this in Altona. The 67-year-old mayor acknowledged that enthusiasm for the Pride parade was silent in some parts of the city, but called on residents to turn the page and look forward to a brighter and inclusive future. “There seemed to be a real appetite for a party event with the reality that it was not always a party place or a party-type atmosphere. I think it is reassuring,” Friesen said. “I think it speaks well to the people of our community to say, ‘This is our city.’ We want it to be part of our definition of who we are. “ Mayor Altona Al Friesen, left, and Pembina Valley Pride President Peter Wohlgemut say they believe the city is moving more progressively. (Andrew Wildes / CBC) The parade evolved from Morden’s first Pride Parade in 2019, which Peter Wohlgemut called “the genesis” of the Pembina Valley Pride. Wohlgemut, president of Pembina Valley Pride, called the Morden event a pivotal personal moment for themselves, as they did not have many 2SLGBTQ connections in the southern part of the province before that day. “At that event, it became clear that we have a community here and many of us thought we were alone,” Wohlgemut said. “It’s hard to find them sometimes when you have to be so careful.” But go three years later, and Wohlgemut is not afraid to speak. “There are people who want to be ashamed of who we are and the name Pride speaks to the fact that, no, we are not ashamed of who we are,” they said. “We are proud to be the rainbow community. We are proud to be 2SLGBTQ. We are not going to be ashamed. You can try to make us, but we will not go there.” Tamara Franz is not ashamed either. Franz, who has been inviting Altona for more than two decades, held a banner with other supporters during the parade. “It’s such a festive day, and until this year I would not think it would happen here, so it’s wonderful,” he said. Tamara Franz, left, and other supporters hold a sign at the opening parade of Pembina Valley Pride in Altona on Saturday. (Andrew Friesen / CBC) Franz believes that everyone will know that they are welcome wherever they are and whoever they are, even though a local pastor does not support homosexuality. Unlike some Christian leaders in the Altona area, Church Pastor Grace Covenant Riley Toews condemned Pride in a recent blog post. Toews, 30, who lives near Gretna, handed out leaflets at Saturday’s parade, as he did in Morden at the community’s first pride parade in 2019. Toews suggested that the core of his message was consistent with that of Christianity. “No matter what people say, what matters is what God says,” Toews told CBC News on Saturday. “God has spoken and spoken plainly, and he has spoken plainly on this subject. Whatever other pastors say, denying the pure word of God, does not change the fact that God spoke.”
