Vancouver Pride is here, and, if you're anything like me, you're probably sad you can't be there in- person. However, you don't have to miss all the fun. This year's hybrid festival includes over 60 events, including many of them being held online.

About the pandemic and upcoming event, The SGN spoke with Kaschelle Thiessen of the Vancouver Pride Society, the festival's organizers of Vancouver Pride, about the pandemic and upcoming festival. said,

"We haven't had an in-person event since the pandemic was declared in March 2020. We were all set for our annual Unicorn Ball on the second Saturday in March, and we had to cancel it two days before," she said. "...

"Last year, the only in-person 'event' we had was our Pride Art Walk. It was a self-guided tour through our app to view art installations and murals through the downtown core and west West endEnd."

"We have many virtual events happening this week and weekend," she added. "We have a wide array of programming available, like workshops, a Queer History history Panelpanel, Symphonic Pride, the VanVogueJam Posh Ball, and more."

"We know that for our community, isolation during the pandemic has been very difficult. Our theme this year is #ChooseYourPride.," she added. "We wanted to provide a number of different virtual and smaller in-person events so that folks could choose an event that was meaningful or felt safe to attend.

"We encourage everyone to connect with their friends and community members this Pride season, because that's what it's all about."

While Stanley Park and the drag brunch might be off the table, it's still important we show up online for our neighbors to the north of the US and Canadian border. On July 1st, a rainbow crosswalk at the intersection of Davie and Bute was vandalized... proving more work to combat hate needs to be done in both our countries.

"There have actually been several rainbow crosswalks in British Columbia that have been vandalized over the past year. It is always shocking and dismaying when this happens," said Thiessen. "Rainbow crosswalks are a visible sign of our Queer community. When it happens in a small town, it really affects our LGBTQAI2S+ community members. We were lucky here in Vancouver. The paint was removed swiftly."

According to Thiessen, the Vancouver Pride Society is eager to welcome back Seattleites to its events, online or in- person as a participant in the festivities.

"We always welcome out out-of of-town visitors at our pride Pride celebrations, especially from our 'sister city,' Seattle. It will be great to welcome US visitors again in 2022," she said.

"We know that for our community, isolation during the pandemic has been very difficult. Our theme this year is #ChooseYourPride. We wanted to provide a number of different virtual and smaller in-person events so that folks could choose an event that was meaningful or felt safe to attend.

"We encourage everyone to connect with their friends and community members this Pride season, because that's what it's all about."

While Stanley Park and the drag brunch might be off the table, it's still important to show up online for our neighbors to the north. On July 1, a rainbow crosswalk at the intersection of Davie and Bute was vandalized, proving that more work needs to be done to combat hate in both our countries.

"There have actually been several rainbow crosswalks in British Columbia that have been vandalized over the past year. It is always shocking and dismaying when this happens," said Thiessen. "Rainbow crosswalks are a visible sign of our Queer community. When it happens in a small town, it really affects our LGBTQAI2S+ community members. We were lucky here in Vancouver. The paint was removed swiftly."

Visit Vancouver Pride Society's website, VancouverPride.ca, for a full list of activities. Live streaminged content will be available for viewing at : https://vancouverpride.ca/live-stream/.