PHOTO ESSAY: St. John’s Pride Parade 2013

People turned out in record numbers to march in Sunday’s Pride Parade in St. John’s and celebrate the end of Pride Week 2013.

By Justin Brake

●

●

July 22, 2013

Photo by Genevieve Brouillette.

On Sunday hundreds of people marched in the streets of St. John’s to mark the end of the city’s 2013 Pride Week celebrations. Organizers say this year’s parade drew the largest crowd yet in St. John’s 13-year Pride parade history. Click on the images below for a slideshow and comments from some of the paraders.

St. John’s 2013 Pride Week Parade

Photos by Genevieve Brouillette and Justin Brake

: Hundreds of people marched in the 2013 Pride parade on Sunday. Photo by Justin Brake.

: Paraders march down Water Street. Photo by Justin Brake.

: “Everybody deserves to love who they love. It’s pretty simple,” said Jessica Quinton. “I think everybody’s kind of getting a better handle on it; we have a lot less discrimination than we used to and basically this parade just shows it. Look how many people are in this parade today. We have a lot of people out here supporting, even if they’re not gay. It’s getting a lot better.”

: The parade heads down Prescott St. toward Duckworth St. Photo by Genevieve Brouillette.

: Photo by Justin Brake.

: Photo by Justin Brake.

: Paraders arrive at Bannerman Park following a half-hour march through St. John’s downtown core. Photo by Genevieve Brouillette.

: St. John’s Pride Inc. Chair, Noah Davis-Power, addresses the crowd of Pride parade marchers at Bannerman Park in St. John’s. “(This week) we’ve had the biggest crowds that we’ve ever seen in Newfoundland and Labrador … We’ve had a great week where we’ve seen our community come out in our best colours yet. We hope that this Pride Week – we’re gonna keep going through the whole year, that we remember where we’ve come as a community, where we are as a community, and where we have yet to go.” Photo by Justin Brake.

: Sunday marked Amanda White of St. John’s and Julia Bouzan of Grand Falls-Windsor’s first Pride parade as a couple. “It just shows that we can be ourselves and we’re accepted here in St. John’s, and everywhere else where they have Pride,” White said. Photo by Justin Brake.

: Photo by Justin Brake.

: “I’m here to share the Pride, share the love,” said Sarah Kirby of St. John’s. “Pride Week, to me, means everyone can come together for one purpose, of love, and to share it around.”

: The Pride Week parade marches down Prescott Street toward Duckworth Street. Photo by Genevieve Brouillette.

: Photo by Genevieve Brouillette.

: Sarah Kirby of St. John’s: on why she was marching in the Pride parade: “I’m here to share the Pride, share the love. Pride Week, to me, means everyone can come together for one purpose, of love, and to share it around.”

: The parade marches along Rennie’s Mill Road. Photo by Genevieve Brouillette.

: Sunday marked Amanda White of St. John’s and Julia Bouzan of Grand Falls-Windsor’s first Pride parade as a couple. “It just shows that we can be ourselves and we’re accepted here in St. John’s, and everywhere else where they have Pride,” White said. Photo by Justin Brake.

: “I’m here today to march in the Trans contingent of the Pride Parade. It’s the first Trans march in St. John’s,” said James Moriarty of Harbour Grace. “I think it was a fantastic gesture of inclusion that (St. John’s Pride Inc.) decided to fly the Trans flag this year. I know it was a hard fought battle and I’m glad we got to fly the flag this year, and I think we were the first city in all of Canada to fly the Trans flag during Pride Week, which is also exciting. But at the same time there were no speakers at the event who were trans-identified, so I think that shows there is still a long ways to go in terms of inclusion, because you can fly a flag all you want but you still have to give trans people a voice and a space to be included.” Photo by Justin Brake.

: Photo by Justin Brake.

: Photo by Justin Brake.

: Pride Week volunteer Adrian House serves up hamburgers and hotdogs at Bannerman Park Sunday afternoon. Photo by Justin Brake.

: The parade heads down Prescott St. toward Duckworth St. Photo by Genevieve Brouillette.

Author

Justin Brake (settler, he/him) is a reporter and editor at The Independent, a role in which he previously served from 2012 to 2017. In recent years, he has worked as a contributing editor at The Breach and as a reporter and executive producer with APTN News. Justin was born in Gander and raised in Saskatchewan and Ontario. He returned home in 2007 to study at Memorial University and now lives with his partner and children in Benoit’s Cove, Bay of Islands. In addition to the channels below, you can also follow Justin on BlueSky.