During the mid-1990s, local activist group Just People Equal Rights Society of Red Deer was instrumental in fighting for the rights of gay and lesbian people in Alberta. Organized by Anne Clarke in 1993, the group presented to the Alberta Human Rights Commission about the importance of including rights for homosexual people in the Alberta Human Rights Charter—a campaign that had been advocated for since the inception of the Alberta Human Rights Commission in 1972. These rights included the right to adopt and access to fertility treatments, among others. Just People disbanded in 1998 after the Supreme Court ruling in Vriend v. Alberta which ruled that provincial governments could not exclude protection of individuals from human rights legislation based on sexual orientation, and subsequently forced an update to the Alberta Human Rights Code to include sexual orientation as a protected ground.

Alberta’s first GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) for students was formed at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School in 2000. The group, which was a sub-committee of the school’s well-established antiracism group STOP (Students and Teachers Opposing Prejudice), was started by students and overseen by teacher sponsor Darren Lund. Within the broader community, a Red Deer chapter of PFLAG Canada (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) held their first meeting in February 2016.

Diversity Day was first proclaimed in Red Deer by Mayor Gail Surkan in 2003 as an alternative to the Gay Pride Day initially proposed by the Pride on Campus group at Red Deer College. This name was chosen to broaden the scope of the celebration in response to some negative community perception to a dedicated day to celebrate the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Pride Week in Red Deer has since become a regularly proclaimed annual event.

It is unclear when the first Pride Parade occurred in Red Deer, but some sources state that the most recent happened in 2016. More recent efforts by the Red Deer Queer Association have been made to host an annual Car Pride Parade—the first taking place in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

Central Alberta Pride Week continues to be hosted in Red Deer annually during the middle of August, featuring a festival, drag shows, and many other community events. Community groups such as Pride on Campus, the Red Deer Queer Community Association, the Central Alberta Pride Society, the Trans and Non-binary Aid Society, and HOME – A Place for Youth to Live and Gather continue to build and support the community in Red Deer and more broadly in Central Alberta.

Timeline

1969 - June 28-July 3 Stonewall Riots occur in New York City
1969 - Bill C-150 decriminalizes homosexual acts in Canada
1979 - GARD (Gay Association of Red Deer) formed
1979 - Alberta Lesbian and Gay Rights Association established
1988 - Central Alberta AIDS Network established (later known as Turning Point)                                      1993 - Just People Equal Rights Society of Alberta formed in Red Deer
1998 - Sexual Orientation included in the Alberta Human Rights Act as a protected ground
1999 - Pride on Campus formed at Red Deer College
2000 - STOP (Students and Teachers Opposing Prejudice) forms Alberta’s first Gay-Straight
Alliance for students at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School
2003 - Diversity Days proclaimed in Red Deer
2005 - Same-sex marriage legalized in Canada
2012 - Central Alberta Pride Society formed
2015 - Gender identity and gender expression included in the Alberta Human Rights Act as a protected ground
2016 - First rainbow crosswalks painted in Red Deer at Ross Street and Gaetz Avenue,
leading up to Central Alberta Pride Week
2016 - Trans and Non-binary Aid Society (TANAS) formed
2016 - PFLAG Canada holds first meeting of Red Deer Chapter
2017 - Pride Flag first raised at Red Deer College
2018 - Maskwacis paints first rainbow crosswalk on a First Nations reserve in Canada, in
front of Samson Cree Nation Administration Building
2019 - First Transgender ID clinic held in Red Deer, hosted by Skipping Stone Foundation
(Calgary)
2019 - Transgender Day of Remembrance recognized for the first time at City Hall
2020 - Red Deer Queer Community Association formed
2020 - First Car Pride Parade held in Red Deer
2022 - Conversion therapy is banned in Canada
2024 - First Two-Spirit Powwow in Red Deer held at Fort Normandeau

Access the research guide to learn more about the 2SLGBTQ+ community.