A collection of Pride groups in Alberta have blocked the United Conservative Party from attending celebrations in 2024. Queer Citizens United (QCU) said this “is a direct response to Premier Danielle Smith’s stated intention to infringe on the rights, freedoms, and healthcare of the transgender community in Alberta.” “Her policies, which do not reflect the desires of the Gender and Sexually Diverse community, contradict established medical practices governing transgender healthcare and represent a clear threat to the safety and well-being of our community,” said QCU in a Friday statement. “Given that no UCP MLAs have expressed their disagreement with these proposed policies, we must extend our decision to the entire UCP caucus.” .Fourteen Pride groups signed off on the statement. Some of the signatories include Calgary Pride, Pride Corner in Edmonton, and Lethbridge Pride. Since the Alberta UCP does not want to go back on its gender identity policies, QCU said it “may not join our celebrations in June when you plan to attack us in September.” It concluded by saying queer rights should not be a political decision. It said transgender rights are human rights. “We invite Premier Smith to consider her harmful and damaging policies and engage in meaningful discussions with the Two Spirit, Trans, Non-Binary, and Queer community,” it said. Calgary Pride prohibited provincial and federal political parties and politicians in March from marching in its parade in September to better disperse resources. READ MORE: Calgary Pride bans political parties from parade“You might notice applications are a little different this year,” said Calgary Pride. “Calgary Pride is working to better balance the interests of our community and has improved our applications to capture applicants active, meaningful, and sustained [sexual minority] allyship and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) journeys.”
A collection of Pride groups in Alberta have blocked the United Conservative Party from attending celebrations in 2024. Queer Citizens United (QCU) said this “is a direct response to Premier Danielle Smith’s stated intention to infringe on the rights, freedoms, and healthcare of the transgender community in Alberta.” “Her policies, which do not reflect the desires of the Gender and Sexually Diverse community, contradict established medical practices governing transgender healthcare and represent a clear threat to the safety and well-being of our community,” said QCU in a Friday statement. “Given that no UCP MLAs have expressed their disagreement with these proposed policies, we must extend our decision to the entire UCP caucus.” .Fourteen Pride groups signed off on the statement. Some of the signatories include Calgary Pride, Pride Corner in Edmonton, and Lethbridge Pride. Since the Alberta UCP does not want to go back on its gender identity policies, QCU said it “may not join our celebrations in June when you plan to attack us in September.” It concluded by saying queer rights should not be a political decision. It said transgender rights are human rights. “We invite Premier Smith to consider her harmful and damaging policies and engage in meaningful discussions with the Two Spirit, Trans, Non-Binary, and Queer community,” it said. Calgary Pride prohibited provincial and federal political parties and politicians in March from marching in its parade in September to better disperse resources. READ MORE: Calgary Pride bans political parties from parade“You might notice applications are a little different this year,” said Calgary Pride. “Calgary Pride is working to better balance the interests of our community and has improved our applications to capture applicants active, meaningful, and sustained [sexual minority] allyship and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) journeys.”
