Today, we march.
Not in anger, nor protest, not in mourning, nor remembrance.
Today, we march in pride.
Today, we are proud that Prince George is a city where difference is not merely tolerated but encouraged, where diversity is not merely accepted but celebrated.
Today, we are proud that Prince George is a city where we can march safely.
We are horrified by Thursday's tragedy in Dallas, where a peaceful protest turned into the slaughter of police officers.
There is a long history of police misconduct in the United States, particularly against visible minorities, but that does not mean it should be open season on all police officers everywhere. The vast majority of the men and women in uniform keep our streets safe and apprehend those who would cause harm. Like all police forces everywhere, they must deal with the rot within their ranks with the same lack of tolerance they address wrongful behaviour in the communities they serve. The civilian population should help police forces in that effort, not shoot them while they're doing their jobs.
Mixed in with our sadness for what happened in Dallas, we can still feel grateful that Prince George is not Dallas. We can march on our streets without fear someone will pull out a gun and start shooting.
Mixed in with our grief for what happened in Orlando, we can still feel grateful that Prince George is not Orlando. We can gather in clubs, regardless of our gender, our race or our sexuality, without fear someone will pull out a gun and start shooting.
We have not arrived at this place of peace and pride in our city quickly, nor smoothly. It took far too long for Prince George to realize that diversity makes the community stronger, brings residents closer together in solidarity. The struggle continues. Hate, prejudice and discrimination remain. We must not just accept transgender children, we must be proud of them. We must not just tolerate gay or questioning teenagers, we must be proud of them. We must make them feel safe and welcome.
We can be different from one another in so many different ways but we are all of this one place, at this one time, and our similarities vastly outnumber those differences.
Regardless of our religion, our age or our heritage, we want to be safe, to live meaningful lives, to love and to be loved and to help others have those things, too. That means respecting the paths others may take on that journey, particularly if that path is not our own. The route may be different sometimes but the desired destination is the same.
Today, we march on the same route, towards the same destination, regardless of our size, our shape, the colour of our hair or the look of our clothes.
On Friday morning, former U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney tweeted "may we stop seeing people as black, white, brown or wearing blue & see them instead as husbands, wives, sons, daughters & children of God."
That sentiment is as wonderful as it is shallow.
Today in Prince George, we march not only as husbands, wives, sons, daughters and children of one god, many or none at all but we also march as black, white, brown or wearing blue. We are all of those things and so much more and we are proud of it.
Today, we march with Tess Healy and Wendy Young, two Prince George women who were part of the landmark court case that paved the way for same-sex marriages in Canada.
Today, Citizen staff will carry the newspaper's flag in the Pride Parade because we are proud to work at the oldest locally-founded business in Prince George, a business celebrating its 100th anniversary, a newspaper that encourages a diversity of views and voices on its pages. That colorful zero at the end of our Citizen 100 masthead on our front page means more than just the transition from black and white to colour printing. It is also the newspaper's way of proclaiming that we are proud of who we are today and we're proud of what Prince George has become, too.
Today, we march as distinct individuals forming a unified community far greater and more powerful than its separate parts.
Nothing should make us more proud.
