Advocate says Windsor-Essex Pride Fest controversy shows need for more inclusion in leadership

A transgender athlete is speaking out about comments made by the president of Windsor-Essex Pride Fest. CTV Windsor’s Travis Fortnum explains.

When Marni Panas first heard comments made by the president of Windsor-Essex Pride Fest this week, she says she was ‘incredibly disappointed.’

Panas, a transgender athlete and Canadian Certified Inclusion Professional, says she came across the backlash online after Pride Fest president Wendi Nicholson’s remarks on AM800s Mid-Morning Show Tuesday.

Nicholson was discussing the ongoing debate about transgender women in Olympic-level sports — comments that many have since called deeply harmful.

“I was incredibly disappointed that a leader of a pride association would even have those views,” Panas said.

“Somebody with those types of views, that would exclude trans people, really [has] no leadership role to play within an organization like this.”

The Windsor-Essex Pride Fest board has since said it was “shocked and disappointed,” writing in a statement that Nicholson’s words “do not reflect the values, beliefs, or position of Windsor-Essex Pride Fest.”

The organization added that it will work with Trans Wellness Ontario and members of the local Trans+ community “to listen, learn, and ensure their voices guide our next steps.”

Panas said what makes the incident so painful is that comments like these come from inside a community that is supposed to stand for inclusion.

“We have our many battles in society of just existing and trying to live our lives, without having to fight within our own community to include us,” she said.

She explained that language questioning whether trans women belong in sport is rooted in misinformation — and that exclusionary policies hurt everyone, not just transgender athletes.

“When you block trans women from a sport, any sport, it actually harms all women,” Panas said, pointing to examples in her home province of Alberta where, she said, blanket bans have led to cisgender girls being excluded if they don’t fit narrow ideas of what a female athlete should look like.

For her, representation within leadership is part of the solution.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Pride Fest board webpage was offline, but its most recent membership list did not include any transgender people.

“Had they had a diversity of people on their board, they would be able to identify some of these issues earlier on,” Panas said.

“We need to include voices at these tables that have historically been silenced.”

She said progress depends on meaningful inclusion and willingness to learn.

“My overall view is that anybody who is in a leadership position, particularly for an organization like Pride, should not hold these views, period,” Panas said.

“They are there to advance inclusion … equity and human rights for all people within the LGBTQ+ community.”

CTV News reached out to Windsor-Essex Pride Fest for further comment Wednesday but did not hear back.