Vancouver Pride Parade route change necessary for accessibility, say disability advocates

Organizers and disability advocates say the 2023 Vancouver Pride Parade will be more inclusive than ever after a major change to the parade route that will take it out of the West End.

The Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival, which began in 1978, historically had thousands of people wind through Vancouver's West End neighbourhood and end up at a festival at Sunset Beach.

In May, parade organizers announced that the parade would start in the West End at Davie and Denmanstreets before proceeding down Beach Avenue and Pacific Street.

Disability advocates who have been calling for the parade to be more accessible for years say the change will allow many people to attend for the first time.

"We have a lot of members who have never been to Pride because of the barriers that were there," explained Heather McCain, the grand marshall for this year's parade.

The new route along Beach Avenue and Pacific Street is longer than the old route, but it is also flatter and wider, making it easier to navigate for people with mobility challenges.

It will end at a new festival site at Concord Community Park near Science World, where the paved surface will also be more accessible.

McCain, whose pronouns are they/them, is the executive director of LETS, the Live Educate Transform Society, which conducted accessibility audits for the Vancouver Pride Society.

McCain says the parade had already begun to improve accessibility with the addition of low sensory zones for neurodivergent people.

"For neurodivergent people, these events can be quite overstimulating," they explained.

In addition to quieter spaces, the new route has more space for people to spread out and also provides easy access to parks or to the seawall if people need to escape along the way.

For McCain, the changes are having a personal impact.

"I am a neurodivergent person. I have sensory issues. I get overwhelmed by events like this," they said. "I do think it's funny that I'm the grand marshall, but I will have headphones to wear."

McCain, who uses a walker, says that seeing a grand marshall with a visible disability and who is also neurodivergent will go a long way towards making other disabled and neurodivergent people feel like they belong at Pride.

The Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival, which began in 1978, historically had thousands of people wind through Vancouver's West End neighbourhood and end up at a festival at Sunset Beach.

Michelle Fortin, co-chair of the Vancouver Pride Society, says moving the parade route out of the West End, widely known as Vancouver's gay village, will be a big change for some.

"Change is hard, but change happens when it needs to," she said. "This new parade route reflects the information that we've been gathering since 2019 about accessibility."

Fortin says while the West End remains the neighbourhood where a majority of queer bars, clubs and restaurants are located, it's important to recognize that other neighbourhoods are home to queer communities.

"Our hope over the next number of years is that Vancouver Pride a) represents everybody and b)is not just located downtown."