After a year-long hiatus, the Pride Parade returned to Yorkton on Saturday with an estimated record turnout. “I’m really happy that it’s back. I think that it’s great to have the community together and just having that support for everybody and being in times like these, it’s nice to have that community back again,” said Haley Pasiechnik from the Melville-based women’s group Held by Sisters. Pasiechnik and dozens of others were gathering near Yorkton’s Shaw Park just after 10 a.m. on Saturday to celebrate equal rights and to show support for members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community. She chose to participate in the parade and subsequent park party because of her firm beliefs that everyone deserves love regardless of their choice of self-expression. “Politics aside, I believe that human rights is the most important thing,” she said. The Yorkton Pride Parade returned after a year-long hiatus after severe harassment and bullying caused the previous organizers to step down, but the need for an inclusive event allowing members of the queer community to take up space remained. “Many of us who participated in the previous pride parades were very excited to still participate, though, and we saw a huge need in the community for it. So, a lot of us independently decided to resurrect it,” said one of the organizers, Jeff Possberg. Possberg said his community isn’t loud, something he hopes will change in the future. “It seems fairly quiet, although when we do ask around, we do find support in various nooks and crannies here in Yorkton,” he said. “We are very much hoping to make sure people feel safe, comfortable being a little bit more expressive in the community.” Saturday was a small step toward achieving Possberg’s goal, with an estimated record turnout walking down Smith Street and then First Avenue North, to conclude the colourful walk at City Centre Park, where other members of the community had been waiting. Among the crowd were people from all walks of life, including 14-year-old trans youth Julienne Atag, who praised the family-friendly event. “There’s a whole community where pride is so sexualized, and I don’t want it to be... for kids, queer kids like me. And I’m glad that this pride parade was able to do that here,” Atag said. Atag said there are definitely queer youth in his community, and he, too, hopes that Yorkton can carve out space for them. “There are queer kids. We are here,” he said. “[Yorkton can help] by social transitioning and respecting our pronouns and respecting who we are.” It is Atag and his peers whom Mayor Aaron Kienle referred to in his speech at City Centre Park. “In a smaller community like Yorkton, visibility can make a real difference,” Kienle said. “For a young person who might be wondering if there’s a place for them here, seeing people gather in support matters.” Later, the mayor told CTV News it was important for him to show up. “Being here as the mayor, I think it’s just important to show that level of respect and love that we have for everybody.” Supporters of the pride parade included representatives of the Saskatchewan NDP, the Yorkton Tribal Council, the Yorkton Indigenous Friendship Centre, Mosaic, CUPE, and the Saskatchewan Health Authority. Yorkton’s government representatives, MLA David Chan and MP Cathay Wagantall, didn’t attend the event. Sarah Greensides, one of the organizers, has participated in Yorkton’s pride parade before as an ally but said she’d never seen this many people. “Oh my gosh, the turnout is incredible,” she enthused. “From the people who turned out to walk to the people who are here for our party in the park, it’s just amazing the support that’s come out this morning.” She said her team of organizers hasn’t experienced too many bumps on the road toward realizing Saturday’s event. “There’s always controversial messaging, especially on social media. But you know what? We just ignored that and we keep going,” Greensides said. In the end, the parade didn’t face backlash from counter-protesters who were present in previous years. “This is amazing. I think this is the first time I’ve seen it without [counter-protesters]. And we are so incredibly grateful. I was amazed by it. Like, oh my goodness!” Kat Anderson, co-chair of the Prince Albert Pride Board, told CTV News. The Yorkton pride committee is already looking at organizing next year’s event. “I have big dreams, but the committee certainly needs to discuss that,” she said. “But I can tell you that it doesn’t stop here. We’re already planning on meeting next month, and we’re going to start planning next year already.”
