Recent Pride News

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

VANCOUVER PRIDE IS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE PRIDE PARADE & FESTIVALS FOR THE 2012 PRIDE SEASON!

Pride Season 2012: Saturday June 30th - August 5th
Deadline for applications: Friday May 1st 2012

The Vancouver Pride Society is seeking submissions from the community to enter the 34th annual Pride Parade on August 5th, 2012 or exhibit in the Pride Markets at East Side Pride (June 30th) and the Sunset Beach Pride Festival (August 5th). Whether you're a non-profit, community group, artisan or business, we want to hear from you!

Pride in Vancouver is the event to attend in the summer. We flood Vancouver's West End with over 600,000 people at the Pride Parade celebrating and engaging with Vancouver's LGBTTQ community. Down on the shores of Sunset Beach, 125,000 people enjoy the sunshine, live music, beer garden and the Pride Market at the Sunset Beach Pride Festival. East Side Pride is our grassroots, community-focused event, located in the heart of East Van - just off of Commercial Drive and celebrates our community and our Pride history.

Vancouver Pride is produced by the Vancouver Pride Society, a not-for-profit, community organization. The Pride Parade, East Side Pride and the Sunset Beach Pride Festival are free events which are supported and made possible through the dedications of our volunteers, pride partners, our Board of Directors, our members and the countless individuals who support Pride through donations and other initiatives throughout the year. Pride Week doesn't stop here! We have 8 other official Pride events throughout the week including partnered events such as the Dyke March, the Davie Street Dance Party, and the Youth Dance. Pride in Vancouver happens all year round and features additional arts & cultural programming including a monthly movie night at the Denman Cinemas, a winter holiday event in December and our annual fundraiser for our Legacy Fund - Taste of Pride.

Last Season we had an enormous amount of applications and sold out! Each event has a limited number of spaces so interested applicants are encouraged to apply early (plus, you may qualify for an early bird discount!). If you would like to be part of the event of the summer, go to to the links below to fill in an online application form!

The deadline for submissions is May 1st, 2012, so don't wait!

ONLINE APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE AT THE FOLLOWING LINKS:

Pride Parade
East Side Pride
Sunset Beach Pride Festival

A letter to our Community from Vancouver Pride Board

January 25, 2012

We wanted to take this opportunity to reach out to the members of our organization and community in our role as the Board of Directors for the Vancouver Pride Society. A quick check of the facts of the past few years demonstrates clearly, a continuous pattern of growth. We are financially stable, our membership numbers have been consistent, and our Board has successfully transitioned from a working board model to a governance one. We now have four fulltime staff dedicated to implementing the goals and priorities set forth by the Board on behalf of the community throughout the year.

A number of 2011 Board members who chose not to sit on the 2012 Board are still working on various committees and contributing their voices, perspectives, and legacies to the ongoing successes of this organization. This gives tremendous stability and continuity to our organization, because at the end of the day, this work is about Pride and building community, not about any one person or group of individuals. It saddens us that a very vocal few within this community and some within our own organization have attempted to tarnish the reputation of this Society and those of our community partners, by attacking the president.

In truth, the Vancouver Pride Society is standing strong. We are and have been accountable for our actions. If members have any questions or concerns about the transparency of our processes, please put them in writing and be specific, so that they can be addressed formally. We will always defend this organization against unfounded accusations. We will continue to engage our members through conversation and openness, but will not engage in any mudslinging in the media. To that end, we want to apologize to our community partners such as WinterPRIDE and QMUNITY. These organizations and their representatives have acted with integrity and openness and have borne the brunt of unfair and unfounded comments in the media.

To our members and to our community, we will continue our work to become a more transparent and accountable organization. We have already come so far. While we have certainly fallen a few times, we will continue the work to engage our members and community to ensure the Vancouver Pride is among the best in the World. Rather than judging us by the words of a disgruntled few, judge us by our actions and results. See you at the next Pride event!

Respectfully,

Vancouver Pride Society Board of Directors

2012 Board of Directors

The Vancouver Pride Society Board of Directors would like to introduce the 2012 Board of Directors elected at the Annual General Meeting.

• Ken Coolen - President (re-elcted - three year term)
• Rick Leonovich - Secretary (appointed AGM floor) (one-year remaining term)
• Trevor Ashcroft - Director at Large (elected - two year term)
• Raigen D'Angelo - Director at Larger (re-elected - two year term)
• Monika Whitney - Director at Large (appointed to next AGM)

The Board of Directors and Staff of the VPS would also like to take this opportunity to thank and recognize the efforts and contrbiutions of the 2011 Board.

• Bernard LeClair - Treasurer (term completed)
• Tim Richards - Secretary (appointed to AGM)
• Shawn Ewing - Director at Large (resigned)
• Monika Whitney - Director at Large (term completed)
• Ray Lam - Director at Large (term completed)
• Chrissy Taylor - Director at Large (appointed to AGM)

January Movie Night Fundraiser - Were the World Were Mine

If you had a love-potion, who would you make fall madly in love with you?

Join us at the January Pride Movie Night Fundraiser to find how Timothy escapes his reality through musical daydreams... in If the World Were Mine. Don't foget to invite your friends!

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Have you Liked Us on Facebook Yet?

The Vancouver Pride Society Facebook fan page has a number of issues, articles, events posted daily about all things LGBTTQ. Check us out and don't forget to like us!

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Submit your Event to our Community Event Calendar

If you have an event that you would like to list on our Community Event Calendar, follow the 'Read more" link to submit your event information.

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Gay-Friendly Vancouver: Davie St Village and Commercial Drive

by Inside Vancouver

Looking for some adventure? You’ve come to the right city. No matter what time of year, when you start your day in Vancouver, it can take you anywhere.

This summer, Steve and I joined the Vancouver Pride Society during Vancouver Pride Week to help connect LGBT visitors to our city’s two queerest neighbourhoods: Davie Street Village and Commercial Drive.

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