Pride 2026: Your questions, answered
Hi y’all,
We’ve seen a LOT of really positive feedback about bringing Pride to Winkler which has been absolutely wonderful. We’ve also seen and received a few less than positive reactions. This isn’t the first time we’ve been to a new community and received backlash for it, and we anticipated the response we’ve received—both positive and less so. We are also hearing from some community members who already have safety concerns.
First and foremost, we completely understand the concerns that people have with us hosting Pride in Winkler. It’s scary to bring an event like this to somewhere that doesn’t scream “inclusive.” It’s scary when there are people who are trying to dictate what a community looks like, and making it abundantly clear that, in their view, that doesn’t include you.
Our purpose is and has always been to serve the queer communities within the communities of the Pembina Valley. Something that won’t be surprising to followers of our page, but might be surprising to some people who are speaking about us, is yes, that includes Winkler. Winkler is the largest city in the Pembina Valley and queer people there deserve to celebrate Pride in their hometown, too.
We won’t be spending our resources trying to change the minds of people who are trying to convince us that we shouldn’t have our event in Winkler, but if that’s you and you are reading this, we hope you can understand a couple things.
We are not having Pride in Winkler because we want to upset people, we “think it’s funny” or because we want to undermine the values families share with their children or grandchildren.
We are having Pride in Winkler to show queer people that they, too, deserve to exist and be loved in our community. If you don’t share that belief, we kindly ask that you skip out on our Pride celebrations. They aren’t mandatory. There are many other places you can spend your Saturday and we hope you make it a positive, uplifting experience, just like we plan to.
To answer some questions you may have about Pride:
We have planned to at least double our normal security detail and are working closely with our security company to ensure the utmost safety standards are kept in place. The company we work with has a lot of experience with queer events specifically, including Pride Winnipeg.
The plan for the day is still underway, but we already know we are NOT having a march on the street this year. We recognize that this might be disappointing to some of you, but both safety-wise and logistically, it doesn’t make sense to do.
We plan to have our speeches and performances as we usually do. There will be a Rainbow Market with vendors, community resources, and a whole lot of love to go around. We're also hoping to have another Rainbow church service if we're able to find a suitable space to host it.
As we get closer to the date, we will be releasing more detailed information so people are able to feel as comfortable and confident as possible with our event. One thing we never want to do is put our community members at risk. We have been and will be continuing to monitor social media for threats, documenting what we find, and involving the authorities when appropriate, as we always do.
If you do see something threatening online, please send us a screenshot. One of my favourite things about our queer communities is how we take care of each other. I have no doubt in my mind that this will be an event full of love, joy, kindness, and pride.
See you in June!
Pembina Valley Pride Co-Chairs
Kat & Cosmo 💜