The City of Yellowknife saw its first pride parade on June 18th, 2023. The celebration saw hundreds of Yellowknifers gathered downtown from Somba K’e Park near City Hall to Franklin Avenue to observe the festivities.
Yellowknife couple, Brittany Herriot and Victoria ‘Viva’ Savage say pride in Yellowknife is an integral part of the sense of community in the city.
“You feel a moment of inclusivity, and the hope is that the feeling will spread throughout the city,” Savage tells MyTrueNorthNow. “If there’s one thing that Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories is spectacular at it’s community, there’s an opportunity for connection that is unsurpassable,” they add.
The parade marks the first of several events Yellowknife Pride has set up through the summer and Northern Mosaic Network Executive Director Chelsea Thacker says the day exceeded their expectations.
“I think it’s fantastic to see all the people here watching and celebrating,” Thacker tells MyTrueNorthNow. “It was magical,” they add.
“It’s so nice to see all this representation, all the people celebrating because it can be isolating when you aren’t out, we need pride parades and pride in general,” Thacker says.
Several City Councillors made an appearance at the parade as well. Councillor Garrett Cochrane marched alongside his partner, holding hands and celebrating the Councillor’s pride as the City’s first openly gay council member.
“We’ve had something like this before but it was far smaller, and to see all of these people come out and support our 2SLGBTQ community is amazing especially as the first elected out-gay Councillor here in the city, this is just so heartening,” Cochrane tells MyTrueNorthNow.
