Despite the advances in GLBTQ rights over the last several years, after decades of minimal gains in employment protections and access to public services at the provincial level before the idea of "equality" actually meaning equality took hold in the national consciousness, there are still pockets of resistance to the idea the GLBTQ community deserves exactly the same considerations enjoyed by any other community, be they minority communities or mainstream ones.  The idea a sitting premier of one of Canada’s provinces would attend not one, but two, GLBTQ Pride events is, if not exactly front page news, certainly considered a significant news story.  It really shouldn’t be any more than if she chose to attend Caribfest or a Ukrainian cultural event.

Alberta, despite its attempts at overcoming our image of redneckism, is still in many ways what one might charitably call ‘socially conservative.’  It’s certainly nowhere near what it was like in the 70’s or 80’s - and light years away from what it was like in the 50’s and 60’s - but resistance to advances in queer equality rights are still within living memory.

It was not that long ago that another premier of this province, a certain Ralph Klein, pronounced he’d invoke the Charter’s notwithstanding clause if same-sex marriage were to become law in Canada, thereby allowing his government a five-year ‘opting out’ of compliance.  He didn’t do it, but he sure created a lot of controversy - something he seemed to delight in doing - and managed to pull those of us working on equal marriage "off message" to deal with the possibility of Alberta going rogue and invoking the clause.

So when Alison Redford announced she would be attending Edmonton’s Pride celebrations last June and delivering the opening statements at that event, it was news. That the recent election saw yet more examples of socially conservative Wildrose candidates spewing anti-gay rhetoric highlighted her involvement’s newsworthiness.  She also attended and spoke at Calgary’s Pride celebrations September 2nd as well. It should be noted, however, Premier Redford spoke briefly at a rally in Edmonton’s Churchill Square following the parade but did not participate in the actual parade, despite reports in mainstream media prior to the event that she would; nor did any other PC MLAs, apparently.

Jessica Dollard, Pride Calgary’s spokesperson, has been quoted as saying Redford is showing "amazing leadership" by attending Calgary Pride, while Edmonton Pride’s Colleen Sutherland described the premier’s appearance at the rally as "quite significant".  The significance, of course, is having a sitting premier in attendance at anything to do with Pride, but it also is now comparatively politically safe to do so, especially at a rally following the main parade, given the political and legal recognitions our community finally enjoys.

In 1990, when a handful of activists involved with the Calgary Lesbian and Gay Political Action Guild (CLAGPAG) organized Calgary’s first Gay Pride Rally and March, Don Getty was premier.  We had approximately 145 individuals show up to the rally held in Central Memorial Park in Calgary’s Beltline, many of whom chose to wear masks or paper bags over their heads since to be publicly identified as gay or lesbian at that time - 21 years after the Stonewall Riots launched the modern GLBTQ rights movement in the US - was still professional suicide.  Getty was not what one might call a friend of the GLBTQ community and he was opposed to the inclusion of sexual orientation in Alberta’s then human rights legislation, the Individual Rights Protection Act.  That he, or his successor Ralph Klein, would ever attend a Pride event, or any other event within the GLBTQ community, was not even on the radar.

When Joe Clark, then the leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives and a former Prime Minister of Canada, was Calgary’s Pride Parade Marshal 11 years later, in 2001, that was significant.

Clark had defeated Calgary Centre’s Canadian Alliance candidate Eric Lowther, an early favourite for that riding, by 4000 votes in the 2000 federal election, largely due to support from gays and lesbians who joined a coalition backing Clark in an effort to defeat Lowther.

Keith Purdy, then co-chair for that year’s Pride Week, noted in a June 7, 2001 interview with FFWD Magazine that Clark’s victory in the strongly GLBTQ riding marked the first time a Canadian GLBTQ community had influenced an election result.

"I think this is a huge step for the gay community at large. If they come together on a cause... they can see the results of what the gay community can do," he was quoted as saying at the time. "After this, it’s only going to be heightened."  And it was.  Four years later, largely due to the community again coming together for a cause only on a national level, equal marriage became a reality in Canada.

The reaction to Clark’s involvement with Pride was swift and, in some quarters, vehement.  The Westboro Baptist Church, headed by Fred Phelps and notorious for it’s "God Hates Fags" demonstrations, threatened to send representatives to protest his involvement.  Paul Jackson, an opinion columnist for the Calgary Sun, showed up in a leather blazer and ‘pleather’ pants (not, I hasten to add, chaps or leather jeans...thankfully) and attempted to make bit of a nuisance of himself and get close to Clark’s convertible but didn’t really accomplish much due to the security surrounding Clark and GLBTQ participants ensuring they were as close to Clark’s vehicle as possible.  Jackson soon learned to try and breach a wall of chanting lesbians and excited drag queens was not the greatest idea he’d ever come up with.

Not to minimize Redford’s involvement, I’d far prefer having a sitting premier in attendance than one who sniffed imperiously it would be ‘inappropriate’ to be there, but the reality is attending a GLBTQ event in 2012 just doesn’t carry the same risk of political fallout Clark faced in 2001.  What a difference a decade makes!