Pride Winnipeg’s decision to ban military personnel in uniform from marching in this year’s parade is drawing both disappointment and support from community groups and national organizations.
Pride Winnipeg changed its policy based on community feedback, president Barry Karlenzig said.
“It’s about the fact the queer community is hurting right now” due to ongoing conflicts and wars, Karlenzig told CBC News on Friday.
He says military uniforms are distressing to some people, especially newcomers from countries where police and military are corrupt.
Winnipeg police uniforms haven’t been permitted since 2017, Karlenzig said.
Pride Winnipeg has expanded on that policy following ongoing consultations, he said.
Last year, 17 Wing at the Canadian Forces Base in Winnipeg was asked not to bring branded advertising and military vehicles to the parade, Karlenzig said. This year, they were told about the change related to uniforms, he continued, adding that members of the military were still welcome to come in everyday clothes, including branded T-shirts or golf shirts.
“The uniform doesn’t make the person. The queer individual is a queer individual,” he said.
Barry Karlenzig, president of Pride Winnipeg, says the organization changed its policy on military uniforms after community consultations. (Rosanna Hempel/CBC)
A 17 Wing spokesperson says Pride Winnipeg asked them not to participate this year, and they are honouring that request.
“17 Wing Winnipeg will not be providing a military contingent or presence in the Winnipeg Pride parade this year, and it is per the request from Pride Winnipeg,” a base spokesperson said last week, adding members could still participate in civilian clothes if they wished.
Dozens of members in uniform have participated in previous years, said the spokesperson, including in the band, on a float and as part of a 17 Wing contingent.
‘Puts us back into that closet again’: advocate
Pride Winnipeg’s decision is disappointing to Todd Ross, an advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ veterans.
It has also upset Manitoba survivors of Canada’s LGBT purge, which saw queer workers within the civil service, military and RCMP demoted and fired based on their sexual orientation between the 1950s and 1990s, he said.
Ross is a former member of the Canadian Navy and a purge survivor himself, who was one of the lead plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against the federal government that sought damages for purge victims.
He argues having police and military uniforms in the parade continues to increase police and military accountability to the 2SLGBTQ+ community, who have long pushed for these organizations to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
He says Pride Winnipeg’s policy is not only demoralizing to employees, but it’s also exclusionary.
Todd Ross, co-chair of Rainbow Veterans of Canada and the LGBT Purge Fund, argues Pride Winnipeg’s policy is exclusionary. (Ian McCausland/Submitted by Todd Ross)
“It kind of puts us back into that closet again,” said Ross, who is co-chair of the LGBT Purge Fund and co-chair of Rainbow Veterans of Canada.
“For me personally, I see it as as not being able to fully participate and not being able to reclaim that pride of service as a veteran,” he said.
“I fought for 30 years to have pride in my service, and now I’m being told by an organization that I should not have pride in my service, that I have to be less than in order to participate.”
Ross empathizes with the newcomer perspectives Karlenzig pointed to, but says having police and military in uniform could also be an opportunity to help reduce stigma.
“People in uniform are part of the community, and they’re there to participate in Pride just like everyone else, to be there in a celebratory way and sometimes to protest.”
CMHR cancels formal parade presence
The Public Service Pride Network, a national employee-led network that supports 2SLGBTQ+ employees, has cancelled its formal presence at the parade over Pride Winnipeg’s policy, according to messages, obtained by CBC, from Canadian Museum for Human Rights administration to employees at the museum.
The CMHR told workers it would also be cancelling its official parade presence, as the museum and network had planned to march together and their registrations were linked.
“The CMHR has also expressed its concern about the impact of the uniform decision on purge survivors and rainbow veterans and has encouraged organizers to enter into a dialogue with those members of our 2SLGBTQ+ community,” a museum spokesperson told CBC last week.
They said the CMHR, which has an exhibit on the purge, still encourages its employees to participate in Pride events, adding the museum will be open and welcoming to parade goers.
The Public Service Pride Network could not be reached for comment. It’s scheduled to march in Pride parades in Regina and Toronto this month, according to its website.
‘Pride made the right choice’: group
In 2024, the Pride parade in Winnipeg was briefly halted due to a group of protesters, demanding Pride Winnipeg divest from corporate pinkwashing, end complicity with genocide, and remove police from Pride, the group said in a statement at the time.
The group, Reroot Pride, posted on its website that June, it wanted Pride Winnipeg to “end all contracts and dialogue with police and military.”
It also urged the organization to block the presence of police officers and members of the military at future Pride celebrations.
“Pride made the right choice in not including the military as an institution in the parade this year,” said Inez Hillel, a member of Reroot Pride — an organization formed in 2024 that disagrees with the direction Pride Winnipeg has taken and feels it doesn’t represent members’ values.
The group has brought community concerns forward to Pride Winnipeg, including on corporate sponsorship and the presence of military and police uniforms, which to some symbolize colonial violence, Hillel said.
Inez Hillel with Reroot Pride says Pride Winnipeg made the right choice in not including the military in the parade. (Travis Golby/CBC)
“All of the energy spent fighting for queer inclusion in the military would be better spent fighting against the military, so a world without war will always be safer for queer people than a world with queer people in the military.”
Pride Winnipeg says 137 groups have registered for the parade this year.