UBC’s Queer Faculty and Staff Collective is organizing a group of UBC community members to march in this year’s Vancouver Pride Parade happening from August 3—4.
Associate Vice-President, Equity & Inclusion Arig al Shaibah wrote in a statement to The Ubyssey that there are a number of initiatives happening on campus to celebrate pride other than just marching in the parade.
This includes organizing Pride Connect, an annual event for creating 2SLGBTQIA+ networks, and by raising awareness of events happening through their UBC Pride website page.
“Pride provides an intentional opportunity to recognize and celebrate 2SLGBTQIA+ community members and … to advance inclusion, and raise visibility of queer and trans students, faculty and staff at UBC,” al Shaibah wrote.
While UBC also marched in last year’s parade, the university has had controversies concerning attendance in previous years. In 2019, UBC’s invitation to attend was revoked by the Vancouver Pride Society after the university hosted an anti-SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) speaker on campus.
UBC was invited to attend the parade in 2022, but did not. According to a 2022 Ubyssey article, al Shaibah wrote that community members were still welcome to attend the parade and UBC would still be promoting engagement of other Pride events.
Last year, the AMS did not participate in the Vancouver Pride Parade despite previous AMS presidents expressing how they wanted the AMS to be part of the parade.
Then-AMS President Esmé Decker said this happened because they had not submitted an application to be part of the parade. According to a 2023 Ubyssey article, Decker said the decision came down to rushed timing and a lack of communication during the transition to the new executive team.
The AMS has not said whether they will be participating this year.
al Shaibah encouraged community members to learn more about the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, writing “systemic change efforts are everyone’s responsibility.”
“We are committed to continuing our engagement with 2SLGBTQIA+ community groups in order to understand their experiences and needs and opportunities,” al Shaibah wrote.
The AMS did not respond to The Ubyssey’s request for comment by press time.
A previous version of this story misstated that the AMS participated in the 2023 Vancouver Pride Parade, when it did not. This article was updated on July 17, 2024 at 3:59 p.m. to reflect this change.
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