{"id":828405,"date":"2026-07-27T03:19:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T03:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/828405\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T03:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T03:19:11","slug":"capital-pride-to-review-security-as-2slgbtq-community-grapples-with-berlin-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/828405\/","title":{"rendered":"Capital Pride to review security as 2SLGBTQ+ community grapples with Berlin attack"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\" alt=\"Text to Speech Icon\" width=\"44\" height=\"44\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n<p>The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n<p>After a deadly weekend attack at a Pride event in Germany, Capital Pride says it will review its security measures for Ottawa&#8217;s upcoming parade and street festival.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday night in Berlin, a man allegedly drove a vehicle into a crowd during the city&#8217;s annual celebrations, got out and stabbed people with a machete.<\/p>\n<p>One person died and 29 others were injured, according to German authorities, who are calling it an Islamist extremist terror attack. The suspect, a 21-year-old German citizen, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/world\/berlin-pride-attack-islamic-extremist-terror-9.7284768\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">was killed<\/a> following a nearly 24-hour search. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[Pride is] about celebrating people&#8217;s identities, being able to go be out and proud. And to have that marred with something this horrific is heartbreaking,&#8221; said David Breault, chair of Capital Pride&#8217;s board of directors, on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, Capital Pride has had to boost security, Breault said  \u2014 partially because it&#8217;s grown, but also in response to growing anti-2SLGBTQ+ sentiment. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"A white man smiles at the camera.\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785122350_515_default.jpg\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.7874251497005988\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/>David Breault is the chair of the board of directors for Capital Pride in Ottawa. (Antoine Fontaine\/Radio-Canada)<\/p>\n<p>Breault told Radio-Canada that the organization is going to have more conversations &#8220;in the coming weeks&#8221; to decide if they will strengthen or change their security measures. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, by virtue of it being Pride, we plan for this kind of thing. But of course we hope it doesn&#8217;t happen.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The attack in Berlin came just as a new, independent Pride festival called Chez Nous was kicking off in Ottawa.<\/p>\n<p>The festival \u2014 which organizers say is put on by and for 2SLGBTQ+ Africans and newcomers to Canada \u2014 ran all weekend, with a ball at SAW Gallery on Saturday and an information fair and performances at McNabb Park on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"A drag queen is seen performing in a park.\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785122351_802_default.jpg\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.3333333333333333\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/>A drag queen performs at McNabb Park in Ottawa on July 26, 2026 for Chez Nous. (Gabrielle Huston\/CBC)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t often see folks that look like me in roles of leadership [in 2SLGBTQ+ organizations],&#8221; said Yami Msosa, one of the Chez Nous organizers. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s reflective [of] a Pride movement where often racialized newcomers, Africans, folks from different diasporas often have to fight to be heard.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Msosa said Chez Nous is designed to be a festival where &#8220;Africanness is centred.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>That means people coming together, bringing their kids, and hearing the songs of their ancestors, Msosa said \u2014 but also hearing from the community how 2SLGBTQ+ rights have been deteriorating in some African nations over the last few years. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/africa\/ghana-lawmakers-approve-bill-criminalizing-lgbtq-promotion-official-says-2026-05-29\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ghana<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/health\/hiv-patients-senegal-fear-crackdown-9.7181596\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Senegal<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/jul\/01\/witch-hunt-in-niger-as-military-regime-rounds-up-lgbtq-population\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Niger <\/a>have all enacted new laws this year cracking down on 2SLGBTQ+ people, with measures that include increasing prison time or introducing a &#8220;duty to report&#8221; same-sex sexual activity to police or other authorities. <\/p>\n<p>Msosa added that they&#8217;re praying for everyone affected by the violence in Berlin. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[When] violence ensues, it creates a moment of pause [to think] about what does it mean to truly be safe and what does it truly mean to celebrate who you are,&#8221; they said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"A black woman stands in a park on a sunny day and smiles at the camera.\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785122351_626_default.jpg\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.3333333333333333\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/>Yami Msosa is one of the organizers of Chez Nous, a Pride festival for Africans and newcomers to Canada in Ottawa. (Gabrielle Huston\/CBC)<\/p>\n<p>For Hiliya-Kin Robleh, who attended Chez Nous on Sunday with the AIDS Committee of Ottawa, the attack in Berlin showed her that there&#8217;s still a need for Pride.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[There&#8217;s been] a lot of progress,&#8221; she told Radio-Canada in French. &#8220;But it&#8217;s never enough.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":828406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-828405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}