An event celebrating southern Manitoba’s LGBTQ2S+ community was forced to cancel this weekend due to safety concerns. Steinbach Pride was scheduled to hold its annual Pride March in the community Saturday, but it was cancelled due to threats received the night before, according to the organization’s president Chris Plett. “It was an extremely hard decision to make,” Plett said. “We felt, in some ways, like we were letting people down.” “Some people did feel let down. We could see that from their reactions, but again, our number one priority at Steinbach Pride is to make sure that everybody that attends Steinbach Pride is safe, whether it would be safe from violence or safe from violent language, that all falls into the same category.” Plett did not go into detail about the threats received but said one of the performers received information from a “far-right group” in the community that had planned to be disruptive, and the performer feared for their safety. The cancellation comes in the wake of the fatal shooting of American conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk. Plett said he was told the alleged threat to the performer was in “retaliation” for the shooting. “It heated up the whole environment when it comes to LGBTQ rights and relationships between LGBTQ people and some of the more right-thinking groups that are out there,” Plett said. Plett said their concerns were shared with RCMP, but a discussion with other board members prompted them to decide to cancel the entire event. “We just decided we have so many children, and we have so many families, and we have so many people that come to the event, and we couldn’t knowingly put people at risk,” Plett said, noting they draw as many as 800 people to the event. Manitoba RCMP confirmed to CTV News they are investigating. Professor not surprised by threats amid ‘growing social polarization’ The threats did not come as a surprise to Kawser Ahmed, an adjunct professor at the University of Winnipeg who studies radicalism and violent extremism. “We have witnessed a growing social polarization based on intolerance of other groups,” Ahmed said, noting the pandemic led to an exponential increase in that polarization. He said a big contributor is the creation of echo chambers on social media—with algorithms tailoring feeds with rhetoric, both political and social, that reflect personal viewpoints and opinions. He said some media literacy can go a long way. “Do not just click and share something that you see,” he said. As for the events of the past week, with a growing rift between the right and left, Ahmed said Canadians need to address the issues individually. “Many say, ‘You know, it’s not my problem,’ that sort of attitude. “These kinds of things, they’re not helping because we need to deploy our narratives of correctness, justice and equality,” he said. “It is a difficult time for everyone, and we can only talk about empathy… We can only talk about solving problems non-violently, because if we take this path with a trajectory of violence and bigotry and hate, this is not going to take us to a solution." ‘We hope this will just be a blip in history,’ said Plett Plett said in the wake of the cancellation, Steinbach Pride has appointed a board member to focus on safety and security as they plan their 10th anniversary event for 2026. Plett said Steinbach Pride is committed to creating a safe space and hopes this incident doesn’t stop people from attending future events. “I think everybody needs to just be a little more careful and just be aware of your surroundings, and but still remember to hold your head up high,” he said. “We hope this will just be a blip in history, and we can move forward celebrating our individuality, each and every one of us and to be proud of who we are as individuals.” -With files from CTV’s Danton Unger
