"There are a lot of people who would love to be here today celebrating pride… There’s a lot of people who cannot be here," Asagwara said. Uzoma Asagwara, an MLA for Manitoba’s NDP party and grand marshall of this year’s pride parade, turned attention to those who couldn’t make it to the weekend’s festivities. "As the acronym has grown, equal rights has not," said Barry Karlenzig, Pride Winnipeg’s president. LGBT was once the acronym used to describe groups not identifying as straight. "We know there’s more work ahead to build a community and a city in which we’re all truly proud to call home and we all feel we can be who we really are." "Thirty-five years is a long time, and so much has changed," Bowman told the crowd. Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman and some city councillors, including Brian Mayes and Markus Chambers, were at the rally. "We’re here to celebrate… everyone within the LGBT community," Stefanson said.
Standing near Stefanson were Progressive Conservatives Obby Khan, Rochelle Squires, Shannon Martin, Cliff Cullen, Janice Morley-Lecomte and Sarah Guillemard. The rally was off the main strip of celebrations - it was on the east side of the Manitoba Legislative Building’s grounds, while most attendees (and the trucks and music) were on the north. "It’s like a sea of rainbow out there," Heather Stefanson told the ralliers. The Premier addressed a crowd of over 150 people before the parade. "Everybody’s being represented now, and if you’re feeling down and alone… call one of the hotlines, because you are absolutely not alone." "You have asexual pride, you have bisexual pride, you have gay pride, trans pride," Schreyer said. Sunshine House waved a sign reading "There are no closets in tipis". Drumbeats came from the back of a truck representing Anishinaabe First Nations people. He shook his head while stopped at the intersection of Memorial and York - there was no way he’d find his niece in the crowd. Attendance had likely tripled since then, he said. Schreyer said he was involved in organizing Pride Winnipeg’s parade in the late 90s. "I think it’s important… to show people that might be questioning themselves that they’re not alone." "It’s just so empowering to be here," said Ryan Schreyer, who attended with his husband. And, Winnipeg was hosting the second Fierté Canada Pride Festival - a national recognition.