The government there has said it would enforce new laws against gay and pro-gay activity, and said arrests were possible even for foreign nationals and Olympic athletes ahead of the 2014 Sochi games. Pride Week has taken on an international bent this year, with the spotlight on a crackdown in Russia over equality rights. Latin American culture can still be so closed-minded," Gomez said. Gomez, 30, said she would have liked to see more representation of Latin communities, and similarly that Pride would reach smaller cities like the one she's from in Central Mexico, where conservative sentiments can still run deep.Īttending the parade with her girlfriend is "a step forward for me. It's the first (one) but I want to keep going," she said. "It's definitely exciting, and I want to be more involved in the community here. She's been living in Vancouver for years but only came out recently to certain family members. Her girlfriend of nearly a year, Maria Gomez, took in her first Pride parade. And there is support from the city and the community."ĭoiron said she thought this year's floats were more inventive than previous years, and the crowd seemed more energetic. "This morning, I couldn't help feel it was a special day when I woke up," said Ashley Doiron, 29, of Vancouver, who was profiled last summer in a Vancouver Sun story on how lesbians find love in the city. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Vancouver Sun Run: Sign up & event info.Next year, Lerner says he wants to plan further in advance and have an even bigger Jewish community contingent, with the goal of increasing advocacy for Israel within the LGBTQ community. “A couple of people said ‘thank you for being here,’ and there were some people with Israeli flags watching along the route. “Most of the people were very, very friendly,” says Lerner. The group carried Jewish and Israeli-themed signs along the route, including some that said “The World Needs More Shalom.” Response from the crowd continued to be supportive throughout the day. “Before we got through even a quarter of the parade we were out.” Our community’s organized participation in the Pride Parade was started by Hillel in 2010 partly as a community support and outreach initiative, partly in response to some anti-Israel sentiment that had been growing at the parade, and partly because there was a general feeling that there wasn’t a strong Jewish presence at the parade. They used the theme, "From Tel Aviv to Vancouver, With Pride," to celebrate the diversity of our community and our pride in Israel’s open and democratic society.Ĭommittee chair, Jonathan Lerner of the Jewish Family Service Agency, said “response was fantastic.” Much to the delight of the crowd of 600,000, they handed out pride-themed material along the parade route, including Israeli calendars, key chains, and promotional postcards produced by Hillel with facts about gay rights in Israel. On Sunday, Augclose to 40 community members took part in the Vancouver Pride Parade.