Vancouver’s Pride Society says it is facing significant shortfalls in funding, which jeopardizes the production of this year’s event.
“The ongoing problems that Prides, not just in Vancouver but all over the country, have been facing — I mean, it’s an issue that’s been ongoing for years now and I think we’ve sort of seen the issue incrementally get bigger over the years and so it’s no surprise that this year is no different,” Michael Robach, the interim executive director for QMUNITY told Global News.
“One thing that we’ve really seen over the last five years in particular is a pretty stark increase in transphobic and homophobic rhetorics that are permeating not just in cities like Vancouver and Victoria, but in smaller communities, especially, all across British Columbia and all across Canada and North America.”
Robach said that affects corporate funding as it tends to come from a place of marketing big brands in positive spaces.
On Wednesday, Vancouver city councillor Rebecca Bligh put forward a motion asking the city to give the society a one-time cash injection of $75,000 to help prevent the festival from being scaled back.
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Vancouver’s council voted to approve the grant on Wednesday.
“It’s just so hard to get the same corporate sponsorship that was there just a few years back, so I think the risk here is that it becomes a shorter parade, a shorter festival, less activations, all managing within very constrained budgets,” Bligh said.
Robach said that while this funding is welcomed and needed, it’s not a sustainable long-term plan.
“The operational capacity for organizations to be applying for this grant sometimes is greater than the work of executing the festivals and the work itself,” he said.
“And when an organization is spending more of its capacity seeking, applying, and looking for funding to stay alive, it takes away our ability to better serve the communities whose needs we’re trying to meet.”
Robach said QMUNITY serves just under 20,000 people across B.C. each year.
“I think for people in our community to see Pride getting smaller, I think feels very reflective of being told to be less and to be smaller,” he added.
Vancouver’s council has already approved one-time grants for several other local events this year, including Car Free Day and the Vaisakhi Festival.
It would be a good place to get your coc sucked
I know from working for a large corporation that a couple of years ago Pride Vancouver uninvited them to be part of the event. Even though they had summited a formal application already. I find it rich for Pride Vancouver to blame corporate sponsors, for problems they created themselves, resulting in the lack of funding.
Why are governments giving straight events funding across this country everyday then?
Grow up straight people it’s for LGBTQ events once a year . Get over it.
Because it’s a complete farce.
Nobody cares who you choose to sleep with.
Everybody cares that you’re grooming children.
Companies are slowly distancing themselves from it. Understandably. So is government.
Suck my coc
I’m pan sexual and I don’t think this festival is of any importance at all why give these people money
I have no issue with LGTBQ people whatsoever. But WHY is this something that needs funding for? We have problems facing our country ie. medical clinics, doctors, hospital wait times. Crime, drug use and homeless. We need to allocate our tax payer dollars on these critical things!! Please feel free to be LGBTQ or any other group – and stop trying to be funded for it?!
In my opinion there’s three genders. Male and female, and failing the first two, FREAK. Freaks don’t deserve our tax dollars and need to go back in the closet where they hid from the public eye before all this acceptance of voided morals somehow meant we owed them something.
People used to support Pride Week then it became Pride Month and not only one month but it seems to last all summer. People are tired of listening to accusations of transphobia and homophobia every time they may express an opinion. Personally I don’t care how you live your life, just don’t try and shove it down my throat and tell me I should support and agree with everything you do or say. You want parades and parties then go and. fundraise like other organizations do to get the money. Money is tight everywhere right now people are struggling to live month to month. It nothing to do with a phobia of any sort.
Feel free to display your colours all you want. Just pay for it yourselves and keep your mitts off the public purse.
Sorry, your 15 minutes of fame is over. You want a parade then go out and earn the money. I am tired of my taxes funding fringe groups.
Just scrap the parade. As last few years was a total waste of money and time. Just have a park event as they used to have and bring it back to Sunset beach in the heart of the westend and not in Drug filled east side not even close to the west end.
Gimme, gimme more tax dollars cries yet another special interest group. Just because our own community will not ‘pony’ up the coin is no reason why the taxpayer shouldn’t.
All levels of far-left gov’ts have forgotten what tax dollars are actually for. This isn’t one of them.
Numerous people would accept the pride, although the rainbow paint and flag waving of the eighties to be recognized was awesome then, with the changing of the world what is happening today, they should be extremely happy to have the freedom to publicly be seen as who they choose to be without the stigma of the past.
Personally, I think the issue begins when, for example, Pride Vancouver thinks it’s a great idea to ban the Vancouver Police from participating in their parade. Why?
You rely on public and private money to keep you operating, but you behave in discriminatory ways and ultimately bite the hand that feeds you.
I used to love the Pride parade, but not anymore. It’s become too…something.
Somehow I don’t think the population of the Lower Mainland will forget that there are gay/bisexual/trans etc. people living locally if there’s not a parade.
Tax money should not be spend on degeneracy.
I do not want my hard earned tax money to funding Vaisakhi Festival, or Pride Society Party. They can raise their own darn money there is enough of them. Vaisakhi Festival shouldn’t even be allowed here in Canada. I would like my tax money to fund the lunch program for children, food banks, helping the homeless get off the streets, seniors struggling with the high cost for housing and food costs. Those are great programs to fund.
So the fade is over. Trends come and go.
Get on with your life like the rest of us.
Even my normal gay colleagues and acquaintances have had enough the rest of the alphabet soup.
Good i hope it goes bankrupt.
Taxpayers are getting tired of paying for this stupidity. You’re gay, great, have a happy life but why are you entitled to taxpayer funded parties?
B.C. Review Board grants conditional discharge for child killer Allan Schoenborn
If he does harm of any kind the review board needs to be sued big time
Why don’t these Qmunity members pitch in the donations for their own event.
maybe they can bum some funding from the endless brownie parades in curry oops i mean surrey
See below “ lack of funding has nothing to do with transphobic or homophobic rhetorics and everything to do with a failing economy, can we blame the lack of funding for the Santa Claus parade, St Patrick’s day parade, Honda celebration of light all events that no longer exist“
Nuff said. Why should everyone pay for your party
I don’t see parades of Joe and Jane nobody being finances by the tax payers.
If you want parade and celebration finance it your self please.
All this pride stuff was only a money laundering racket anyways. How many millions of taxpayer dollars are funding the drugs and surgeries, and how many of those dollars get kicked back to the liberals/ndp sponsors?
What we have seen over the past many years is the start increase in the militant alphabet soup gangs. They are holding parades and pushing their confused gender agenda. And they have been doing that with public funds.
It is great to see that funding come to an end. There is no public funding of normal people’s gender affirmation. They have taken over the rainbow, they have taken over the word pride. It is time to return them. Rainbows are to show an end to violence and exclusion. it should never be associated with the gender confused. Same with pride. It is the exact opposite of what the alphabet soup gang should feel.
I do not condone violence to the sick. But neither do I support promoting sickness.
Michael Robach talking nonsense again to play the victim role. lack of funding has nothing to do with transphobic or homophobic rhetorics and everything to do with a failing economy, can we blame the lack of funding for the Santa Claus parade, St Patrick’s day parade, Honda celebration of light all events that no longer exist as a stark increase in family reunification rhetoric?