YEG Pride 2025

Blair-Marie Coles
Aug 24
6 min read

For the first time in 7 years, Edmonton Pride Festival is back. My husband and I spent the day in Fan Park listening to your stories, cheering you on, laughing with you, venting with you, and trading pins and bracelets with you. Here are some of the things we heard.

Provincial vs. Federal issues

There are a lot of folks who are tired, and frankly scared, of the current UCP provincial government. As the picture below eloquently points out, from banning books, to destroying healthcare, to attacking trans-youth, and everything in between, Danielle Smith's government is proving again and again and again where they stand on 2SLGBTQIA+ issues. I had a few folks ask me what the federal government is doing to protect us. Honestly, this is a question I have been wrestling with for a while too. What is the role of the federal government when the provincial government is causing so much harm?

As I think about this question, I keep coming back to the same question, what if the roles were reversed? What if we had a progressive provincial government and a far right federal government? Certainly the folks who are asking for help and intervention from the feds now would do everything they could to keep the feds from interfering if the roles were reversed. The truth is, we can't ask for intervention when it benefits us and ask them to "stay in their lane" when it doesn't. The provincial UCP government was fairly, democratically elected by the people of Alberta. The actions they are taking represent the desires of the people who voted them in. Federal intervention on areas such as education and healthcare would not only be inappropriate, but would also likely add fuel to the "blame Ottawa" narrative. So what do we do? Sitting in the Fan Park yesterday, we had a really great conversation with someone who I think really hit the nail on the head, we fight the fight where it has the biggest impact. We have to keep working to educate Albertans on the levels of government. When we hear people complaining about hospital or ambulatory wait times, or the looming teachers strike, we must do what we can to direct that frustration to the appropriate place - the provincial government. If we hear people complaining about reductions to AISH payments, failing to support parents by signing an agreement for $10-a-day daycare, charging for COVID immunizations, and fighting against dentacare - we must ensure that anger is correctly placed on the provincial government. If we want to see a more progressive Alberta that supports the rights, health and prosperity of ALL Albertans, then we are going to have to fight for it. As the saying goes, the best time to start preparing for the next election was the day after the last election, the second best time to start preparing is now.

The Economy

While we were in the Fan Park, we also had the opportunity to talk to a local small business owner, who runs an online eCommerce adult toy shop from right here in Edmonton. He shared the tariffs have hit his local business really hard. While he is doing everything he can to hold onto the business in the face of the trade war, he is growing increasing concerned about a new problem, one he feels not enough people are talking about - credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard starting to block purchases of adult content. Given the nature of his business, not being able to accept Visa or Mastercard payments would be the end of his business. To his point of not enough people talking about this issue, I have to admit this was the first I had heard of it so when I got home I started digging.

Sure enough, I found numerous headlines of credit card companies censoring adult content, highlighted by a number of games recently being pulled off STEAM. The reason? STEAM indicated these games violated the rules and standards set forth by their payment processors (i.e. Mastercard, Visa and PayPal). On August 1, Mastercard took to Twitter indicating they have not, "required restrictions on any activity or game creator sites and platforms, contrary to media reports and allegations." Similar statements have also been issued by Visa and PayPal. Attempting to get to the root of this, many reporters are turning to Collective Shout, a non-profit that launched in 2010 with the goal to fight against, "the objectification of women and the sexualisation of girls in media, advertising and popular culture." Shortly before the games were delisted, Collective Shout published an open letter to the payment processors supporting Steam and called out video games like No Mercy, pressuring the companies to stop supporting the platform until the games come-down. Soon after, steam pulled the games. Critics say Steam took it too far. As outlined in this CBC article, "this situation highlights the power held by international financial institutions in determining what kinds of art is deemed acceptable for others to consume, and frequently forces 2SLGBTQ+ content and narrative into the darkness".

So what are we to make of it all? After an initial sweep, Steam has starting to re-list numerous games that they have determined to be lawful and credit card companies say they have no ill-will towards adult content as long as it doesn't break the law but local adult business owners are understandably worried. For Canadians, this conversation is timely given that many are anticipating the Liberal government will re-introduce a fresh version of the Online Harms Act as early as this fall. While part of Carney's platform included promises to "aggressively pursue action to protect children from online crimes." and "take specific measures to crack down on sexual violence" we will have to wait and see how the bill will unfold and how will it address previous criticism. What we do know is the government has been conducting significant public engagement on the topic trying to find the right balance. This means, if this is a topic close to your heart, its likely a good time to reach out to your MP to share your thoughts ahead of the House resuming on September 15.

Love & Celebration And to end on a happy note, we had many many conversations about the joy of Pride, the beauty of expression and the connection in community. We ran into old friends we haven't seen in years and friends we haven't seen since they knocked doors with me on the campaign trail. Whether we were trading bracelets or pins, handing out stickers or celebrating some beautiful plays in an intense match of cornhole, seeing the side of Alberta that embraces and loves folks for being exactly who they are made me proud. I am so grateful for the people I met and the conversations I had, this is the Alberta I love.