Queen City Pride hoists the pride flag at Regina City Hall

Cheers were heard from dozens as the pride flag was raised at Regina City Hall.

Riviera Bonneau, co-chair of Queen City Pride, said this years upcoming parade will be the biggest yet.

“Seeing it grow every year just makes me more proud of this community every time,” she said.

This years Queen City Pride Parade will begin June 15, at 12 p.m., with 130 entrants.

Mirtha Rivera, co-chair with Queen City Pride, said it was heartwarming to see how many people attended the flag raising, and celebrate pride month.

“It means that it’s one more day that I don’t have to be afraid,” she said. “It’s one more day that I feel free to be with my chosen family.”

In May, Queen City Pride barred Saskatchewan Party members from participating in pride month celebrations. The decision came after members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community expressed concerns to the organization after the provincial government implemented the Parents’ Bill of Rights. It requires students under 16 to change to have parental consent before changing their pronouns at school.

Queen City Pride concerned about Christian event at Mosaic Stadium

On Thursday, Queen City Pride sent out a statement asking the Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. to cancel the ‘Come Together’ Christian music festival event set for Friday and Saturday night at Mosaic Stadium.

Bonneau said she was a concern the event was being promoted as a country music festival event. The event, put on by non-profit group Gospel Fire for All Nations, promises a mix of country music and Christian togetherness.

In a statement, Queen City Pride called sections of Gospel Fire for All Nations statement of faith “deeply troubling.”

Sections of the statement of faith said it opposes homosexual sex and marriage. It can be seen on its website here.

“We are upset because it is an evangelist event that talks specifically about anti-LGBTQ events in a publicly funded space on the first day of pride week,” Bonneau said.

Bonneau said there are so many welcoming faiths that people should happily celebrate, it just shouldn’t come at the cost of 2SLGBTQIA+ hate speech.

“It just seems a little uncomfortable for us, and we were really disheartened that REAL would allow something like that to happen,” she said.

980 CJME has reached out to Gospel Fire for comment.

In an emailed statement from the REAL District, it said the Come Together event at Mosaic Stadium was booked as a rental.

“The event owner, Gospel Fire, is paying for all expenses associated with that rental and is planning all programming elements. All facilities on the REAL District are public facilities available for rent by registered organizations. REAL is not able to share other contractual information.”