Victoria Pride Society (VPS) is a not-for-profit organization of people dedicated to supporting Greater Victoria’s 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
Our mission is to educate, advocate and create visible platforms that elevate the voices of Greater Victoria’s equity deserving Gender, Sexual and Relationship Diverse (GSRD) individuals and communities.
Aiming to be a leader in best practices for equity and social impact, VPS hopes to inspire others to do the same, and supports accountability for all.
Our Vision is a city free of marginalization, discrimination, and oppression, where members of GSRD communities are safe to live and love, openly and authentically.
Passion, Inclusion, Respect, Authenticity, Trust, Safety
The Victoria Pride Society will build on the great work of the past to continue advocating for the celebration and protection of the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
Organize the signature events of the Victoria Pride Festival, including the annual Pride Parade and Festival in the Park
Run year-round programming and events for our queer communities
Provide education for businesses, organizations, and partners
Advocate for our communities locally and nationally
Host a hub for local GSRD community events, services and news
Support local queer communities through our initiatives
Advocate against ongoing discrimination and oppression
Run year-round initiatives aimed at supporting and empowering GSRD community
Pride in Victoria has taken many forms over the years. The first Victoria Gay Pride Week was held June 22-28, 1981. While event organizers petitioned the City of Victoria to recognize Gay Pride Week, the mayor at the time declined, saying that it would be “inappropriate.” While there was no parade, events were planned every night of the week, ending with the “Stonewall Tea Dance.” Pride Week was celebrated again in 1982 before the HIV/AIDS crisis paused Pride events until the early 1990s.
In 1994, the first Pride parade was held in Victoria and hundreds of members of the city’s queer community began coming together again more publicly for annual picnics in Beacon Hill Park. In addition to BBQ food and games, it gave the community a chance to socialize outside of a bar setting which is where much of queer social life had been centered up to that point.
The rumblings of queer liberation grew as the Civil Rights movement gained momentum. These came to a head during the Stonewall Riots on June 28, 1969, in New York City which is now widely considered the birthplace of Pride in North America. In Canada, the first protest for gay and lesbian rights took place in Ottawa and Vancouver in 1971. The first “Pride Week” events in Canada started in 1973 in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg.
One of Victoria Pride’s signature events, the Memorial Drag Ball Game, dates back to 1996. A group of friends, several of them drag performers, were grieving the loss of many in the community from HIV/AIDS. They wanted a day to forget about that reality, about politics, and to play a game. They have returned to that game every year since.
Over time, more people have joined, and the gathering founded on resilience has also become a community celebration. Keeping the name to remain authentic to its roots, the Memorial Drag Ball Game now draws up to 1000 spectators who, every year, let go of differences, embrace fun and absurdity, and just come for the DRAG of it!
The first Victoria Pride Parade was in 1994 when organizer Barb McLauchlin phoned the City of Victoria for a permit. It was approved, but only for marching on the sidewalk. On June 25th, 1994, the first Victoria Pride Parade marched down Government Street to the legislature, where several people spoke. The following year, the parade ended with a Pride Festival in Fisherman’s Wharf. The parade has grown every year and now boasts over 120 entries and 40,000 spectators.
The first Victoria Pride Festival was in 1995 in a park near Fisherman’s Wharf. It has since outgrown that venue and has most recently been located in MacDonald Park in James Bay. Featuring two stages of entertainment, food trucks, vendors, a kids camp and a beer garden, the festival attracts upwards of 10,000 people to be proud and celebrate love, diversity and inclusivity.
Every year, more events and people commemorate Pride in Victoria. While the events and participants continue to grow, the spirit of Pride remains the same—to come together as a community to be our true, authentic selves and to continue advocating for equity for all sexual, gender, and relationship diverse people.
The Victoria Pride Society acknowledges that it organizes and works on the traditional territories of the Lekwungen Peoples and that the land’s relationships with the Songhees, Esquimalt, and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples have existed since time immemorial. Further to this acknowledgement, the Victoria Pride Society affirms that colonialism and the attitudes and practices that have accompanied it contribute to systemic discrimination and violence against Indigenous Peoples and all marginalized and equity-deserving people. Read more.
