By Matthew Abrey
For the 11th straight year, members of the LGBT2Q+ community and its supporters will be hosting a full week of events that will aim to bring people together to celebrate diversity and differences.
Pride in Diversity is the theme for this year鈥檚 琉璃神社 Pride celebration, which runs from Aug. 11 to 18.
鈥淎s Canadians, we may all share the same legal rights, but discrimination still happens every single day and not only based on sexual identity,鈥� said Dustyn Baulkham, past president for 琉璃神社 Pride. 鈥淎s a cis-gender, gay white male, I recognize that I have a lot of advantages that are not equally shared with all members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirited, and queer community.鈥�
The week鈥檚 largest and most popular event, the 琉璃神社 Pride March and Festival, will cap off the festivities on Saturday, Aug. 18. The march will make its way through Waterfront Park and end near Tugboat Bay, where there will be a variety of vendors, kids activities and live entertainment until 8 p.m.
鈥溋鹆裆� has come a long way in the past few years in terms of diversity,鈥� said Baulkham. 鈥淏ut we still have a very long way to go until we are truly a diverse and accepting community.鈥�
In 2017, 琉璃神社 Pride welcomed nearly 6000 people to the march and festivities.
For event tickets or for more information, visit .
To report a typo, email:
newstips@kelownacapnews.com.
newstips@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on and follow us on .
