Manitoba premier will walk in 2023 Winnipeg Pride parade after skipping last year's

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson plans to walk in this year's Pride parade in Winnipeg after being banned from speaking at Pride Winnipeg events for not walking in last year's parade. 

Stefanson confirmed she will walk in the Pride Winnipeg parade during a news conference Tuesday to announce the creation of a Gender Equity Manitoba secretariat and funding for activities that support the LGBTQ community. 

The parade is scheduled for June 4. 

Families Minister Rochelle Squires, who is also the minister responsible for the newly created gender equity office, will speak at the rally beforehand. 

Stefanson was banned from speaking at Pride events after she gave a speech at a rally before last year's Winnipeg Pride parade, then didn't walk in it — despite telling organizers she would.

At the time, Stefanson blamed scheduling conflicts and apologized for the mix-up. 

"It was wrong and and we recognized that," Stefanson said Tuesday. 

"I've been working very closely with the community since then to make sure that we get things back on track here in Manitoba."

Pride president Barry Karlenzig said his organizations has met with Stefanson and her caucus over the last year. Stefanson was not invited to speak at this year's rally but was invited to walk, he said. 

"She and her caucus have accepted that and are working with us," he said. 

"That sign of walking and showing solidarity is a step forward." 

Recent vandalism

During the news conference, Stefanson also condemned recent vandalism at Riverbend Community School in Winnipeg, where a Pride flag was was stolen just days after several books that covered LGBTQ and Indigenous themes were taken from a teacher's classroom.

"Everyone should be entitled to the same freedom, human rights and dignity, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression," she said.

"Politicians from all sides should be able to come together and stand against hate."

She also repeated her stance on a delegation's call to remove LGBTQ sexual education resources and other books from Brandon school libraries, saying "we're past that as a society." 

The new Gender Equity Manitoba secretariat expands the mandate of Manitoba's status of women secretariat to also address issues that impact LGBTQ and gender-diverse people in the province. 

The province is also providing more funding to help Manitobans access gender-affirming care. That includes close to $490,000 over two years to reduce wait lists for gender-affirming care and more than $700,000 for the Gender Diversity and Affirming Action for Youth program, which helps to deliver that care and offer support. 

Ashley Smith, director of advocacy at Rainbow Resource Centre, said the financial support is needed urgently since people seeking gender-affirming care in Manitoba can wait up to five years for care, whether they're seeking hormone treatments or even just to have a conversation.

"And then there's the wait time for the surgeries," he said.

The provincial funding will also bolster the care team and double clinic services from 2.5 to five days a week.

As well, the government is creating a new grant program, with the first grant of $250,000 going to Pride Winnipeg to enable it to hire permanent staff. 

That will help the organization develop year-round programming and create a Manitoba Pride Collective of over 20 Prides across the province, Karlenzig said.