The Pride festival in Fredericton concluded recently with a parade led by Fredericton Palestine Solidarity and Independent Jewish Voices. It was the end of a festival marked by controversy.
Amid Israel’s ongoing deadly attacks in the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip, marchers from Fredericton Palestine Solidarity received overwhelming support from the crowd, with many joining the chants for a free Palestine. Members of the group carried two large banners demanding an arms embargo on Israel, and an end to the genocide and destruction of Palestine. Their signs were decorated with both rainbow and Palestinian flags, and conveyed messages of unity and solidarity.
In an interview, Cheryl Watts, a director with the Fierté Fredericton Pride interim board, emphasized the importance of the outgoing board’s decision to select Fredericton Palestine Solidarity as grand marshal for this year’s parade. “Pride has always been political and has always been about collective liberation,” they said.
Watts further stressed that Pride is not only a time for celebration but also an opportunity for political action. “How can we rightfully be dancing and partying and celebrating queer liberation during an active genocide? We as Canadian taxpayers and participants in global capitalism, are inherently complicit, whether we like to admit it or not,” they said.
In previous years, Chief Allan “Chicky” Polchies Jr. of Sitansisk (Saint Mary’s First Nation) and Wolastoqey community members have led the Pride parade. However, this year, they extended their full support to Fredericton Palestine Solidarity and Independent Jewish Voices taking the role of grand marshal, Watts said.
“I think it should go without saying that we, as treaty people and uninvited guests on Indigenous land, particularly in times of reconciliation, have not just an obligation, but also a great responsibility to speak out against settler colonialism, apartheid and genocide of any oppressed peoples on any Indigenous lands,” Watts said.
This year, organizations such as TD Bank were excluded from participating in the parade due to their inclusion on the so-called Boycott List of Shame. The boycott, divest, and sanctions movement advocates for Palestinian rights and urges companies, institutions, and governments to boycott and divest from the State of Israel until it complies with international law. The Canadian military and the University of New Brunswick, which is under pressure to disclose and sever ties to Israeli institutions, were also excluded.
Those decisions triggered a backlash, with the vice-president of the local synagogue launching a petition calling for the City of Fredericton and major sponsors to reconsider support. This, in turn, prompted a counter-petition calling for Pride to maintain their pro-Palestine stance.
Watts explained that the board’s priority was to ensure that they did not endorse institutions or organizations that are enabling and funding genocide. “While we did receive funding from the province of New Brunswick and the Canadian government, we as Fierté Fredericton Pride hope to be able to divest fully from those funding agencies as well, and continue to fight for their divestment from Israel,” they said.
Pride parades historically have not welcomed the police due to the LGBTQIA+ community’s history of facing police brutality, harassment, and marginalization. However, to secure a permit from the city, certain security measures had to be in place, including a security and traffic control plan with the Fredericton police.
During the parade, a police officer, who organizers expected to be in plainclothes but showed up in full uniform, tried to prevent members of Fredericton Palestine Solidarity from chanting: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The officer ran across the street and attempted to grab the megaphone from one of the activists. Members of both Fredericton Palestine Solidarity and Independent Jewish Voices stepped in to de-escalate the situation. The officer argued that the chant had “genocidal intent” but ultimately backed down, allowing the parade to continue.
Watts confirmed that the Fierté Fredericton Pride board had discussed this chant with the city in their planning meetings. “We explained that the phrase is a call for Indigenous sovereignty, much like the use of ‘land back’ and ‘decolonize’ here on Turtle Island does not imply an intent to do to settlers what the colonial settler state has done to them,” Watts said.
In response to a query from the NB Media Co-op, the Fredericton Police Force sent an emailed statement.
“Fredericton Police Force was on site at the parade to maintain peace and order,” the statement said. “An officer spoke with the individuals responsible for the chant and advised them to avoid using inflammatory language and noted that after that interaction the event had no additional issues.”
Watts noted that full divestment from the police is something that the board would like to look into for the future.
At the parade, after explaining the meaning of the phrase to the police officer, marchers continued to chant: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The Demand the Stars Collective, a local anti-fascist group, also helped with security and de-escalation during the parade.
Parade comes together after cancellation
Despite the festival’s initial cancellation, the parade was a success, made possible by the dedicated efforts of community members who rallied together to make it a reality. A week before the parade, the Fierté Fredericton Pride board made a public announcement on social media about their decision to cancel the 2024 festival.
This decision was prompted by the harassment of board members, which they felt posed a serious risk to their wellbeing. The harassment was unrelated to any disputes over Fredericton Palestine Solidarity’s role as grand marshal or their strong pro-Palestine stance, the board of Fierté Fredericton Pride confirmed.
Following the announcement of the cancellation, Monarch Nightclub, the NB Coalition for Transgender Rights, and many community members quickly took over organizing, ensuring the continuation of many planned events.
Arthur Taylor, director of the NB Coalition for Transgender Rights spearheaded the effort, offering the resources and support of the group to ensure that the Pride Festival and parade could go on.
Taylor stressed the importance of ensuring the parade would proceed as planned. “I thought that it was really important for me to help,” Taylor said. “Especially given the political climate, and the threats that are increasing towards the community, not having pride and not having that kind of visibility and solidarity would be really harmful and detrimental to all of us,” they said.
Pinkwashing exposed
During the parade, Fredericton Palestine Solidarity handed out flyers that exposed the propaganda tactic of “pinkwashing”.
Pinkwashing aims to portray Israel as a safe place for queer people, in order to justify its occupation of Palestinian territory. This tactic tries to ignore the presence of strong, vibrant queer resistance and liberation movements in the region.
The flyers emphasized the need for solidarity with queer Palestinians, stressing that they cannot fight for liberation as queer people without first achieving liberation as Palestinians.
Dora Szemok is an undergraduate student at the University of New Brunswick, studying International Development Studies and Political Science. She is a research assistant for the Promise of Home project. She is also a member of the Fredericton Young Communist League.
