At its roots, Pride is about activism. Straight people who think they’re not homophobic will often lament, around this time of year, Well, why do you need a parade? Whereis straight pride? It’s the unfettered coddling of the status quo that prevents these I’m-just-saying types from recognizing that every day is straight pride. When heteronormativity is the air one breathes, it’s no wonder it is invisible.

Even our own community, however, can easily drift away from the point. Pride has, over its lifespan, become rapidly and expansively commercial, with its radical jabs at straight society blunted. Recent victories for our American cousins – as important as they are – carry with them certain complacency about the inevitability of acceptance and equality.

It’s quite clear then that events like the Calgary Dyke and Trans* March are necessary, as much for the solidarity and visibility it provides as for the visceral reminder of the demands for social and legislative change that inspired the creation of Pride in the first place. "Where the dyke march originally came from," says organizer Jillian Thompson, "is recognizing that, yeah, we do have things to celebrate... especially in Canada. Pride should be a celebration, and we should have space for that, but at the same time there is still a lot of oppression in the queer community, especially for visible minorities in the group... While we have things to celebrate, we also have a long ways to go."

The current march evolved from the prior Calgary Dyke March, which expanded in 2014, to explicitly include trans individuals with equal prominence. "While Calgary Pride is a great celebration," Thompson says, "there are still people in our community that... experience discrimination every day. So the grassroots of [this event] was to fight against this and show resistance against this oppression."

Oppression may seem like a strong word to some, even in a wedge of Canada so notorious for its conservatism. Public perception insists we’re not as bad as those fire-and-brimstone types south of the border. At a systemic level, however, there are many without adequate protections. "Specifically with [respect to] the trans community, policies change when political parties change," Thompson says. "I know that for a long time, funding was revoked for transitioning, so for surgeries – for hormones, for those types of procedures – those were revoked."

This is true across the board. At the federal level, journalists and activists have watched bills intended to protect vulnerable members of the queer community fall resoundingly inert through multiple parliamentary sessions, most recently in the form of bill C-279, which would have enshrined language protecting gender identity in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Of the recent NDP sweep of Alberta at the provincial level, Thompson says, "[W]hile it’s a more progressive political party, you still don’t know what will change under [them] in terms of funding and policies."

Queer youth are also vulnerable though, at the provincial level, there has been some encouraging movement, with the legislative changes allowing GSAs to be formed by Alberta students.

Apart from the lofty goals of social and governmental change, the board of directors organizing this year’s Dyke and Trans* March had more practical concerns. Following some administrative difficulties Thompson says their "focus is to make sure the Calgary Dyke and Trans March happens." Further avenues of activism and organizing will be explored after the march’s AGM this fall.

Anyone who has attended one of our Calgary Pride parades in recent years will no doubt have noticed the conspicuous presence of political parties, candidates and sitting public servants, ostensibly marching in solidarity. As Pride’s inclusivity in welcoming allies has created avenues that the cynical often use for self-promotion, the march organizers opted for a more deliberate approach. "The dyke march happens in Mission, and that’s Joan Crockatt’s riding. We made a point of making sure she is not invited – we did not reach out to her," Thompson states. "A lot of political parties use Pride as an opportunity to gain some coverage, and she’s not supported bills that could help the dyke and trans community, so we didn’t reach out to her at all." More supportive politicians, however, are more than welcome. "We did reach out to Kent Hehr – invited him to be part of our day and our march – because he has been really supportive... It’s not about coverage; it’s about who’s going to stand up for us when it counts. We have also reached out to Greg Clark... [He] had a huge influence during the by-election, especially against Gordon Dirks, because Dirks was one of the people who was supportive of some of those oppressive laws against GSAs. We’re making sure [our collaborations are] very intentional."

One of the major aspirations of this year’s march is healing; for all of the marginalization visited upon the queer community from without, there is also a great deal of harm done internally. "There’s a lot of hurt in the community," Thompson says. "There’s a lot of trust issues, and a lot of people who really didn’t want the dyke and trans communities to come together for this march last year. They got a lot of pushback. It makes sense why there is resistance, but we’re hoping that by continuing to stand together... we’ll gain some more traction and some healing in the community"

Fundamentally, that healing has to come from honouring one another’s experiences, Thompson says. "I can speak for myself as a queer woman that’s feminine: there’s a lot of assumptions that are made about myself and my sexuality, and everything in my life really, based on my physical presentation... [We need to] recognize that within queer communities different people will have different privilege, and [think about] how can we come together and use our privilege for those who are oppressed, in a positive way."

For anyone who understands the value of recognizing and empathizing with the experiences of those different from themselves, the Calgary Dyke and Trans* March can be the first stage in that process of healing. The march welcomes trans women and trans men, genderqueer and nonbinary individuals, bi women, lesbian women, femme, butch, and queer folks to this space to celebrate our shared diversity and vibrancy. The march begins at William Aberhart park and will travel to Roulleaville Square where attendees will be greeted with entertainment and interaction.