Pride is not just a celebration, it’s a time dedicated to advocating for equal rights. It’s a party, and it’s also a protest. It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come, and how far we still have to go. It’s the month of June, but it’s also throughout the year.

Here’s a look at how some of Alberta’s magazines educate, advocate and celebrate with stories about 2SLGBTQIA+ communities:

• “Conversations: 2SLGBTQ+ Youth” by Gene Kosowan for t8N Magazine
  “St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron believes that her city prides itself as a welcoming and inclusive municipality towards its 2SLGBTQ+ contingent, its youth in particular. She’s received an earful from other mayors across Alberta having to deal with their own citizens railing against everything from COVID restrictions to gay and transgender issues, and is relieved that such incidents are rare within her jurisdiction.”
• “Allies” by Ruby Remenda Swanson for Edify
  “I heard how independence had released Ukrainians from communist oppression only to have the Orthodox and Catholic churches step in to control thinking and destroy gay people’s lives. Families in Ukraine, just as in Canada, were being torn apart because of religious convictions.”
• “Two-spirit celebrations align with the balance of Spring Equinox” by Odette Auger for Windspeaker.com
  “Two-spirit is a distinction, said Lane Bonertz [team lead of the Two-Spirit Program at the Community-Based Research Centre]. ‘A way of expressing that, as Indigenous people, we have had our own understandings of gender and sexuality long before any influence or movement.’”
• It’s also a gathering term. It can refer to sexual orientation, gender identity, neither, or both, he explained. ‘It is the recognition of the multitude of identities, teachings, and ways of living that are true to us, our ancestors, and cultures as Indigenous people since time immemorial.’”
• “A Review: ‘Queer Little Nightmares – An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry’” by Calum Robertson for filling Station
  “Throughout the short stories and poems (which often genre-bend), three core feelings emerge: a sense of play, of queer joy, and of queer trauma. Within intense pain, we find reclamation. When the villagers chase us with pitchforks, we find power in roaring at them, drunk off their fright.”
• “Q&A on Alta. Government’s Bill 29: What it’s like to be a trans Albertan in sports” by Amanda Lou for The Griff
  “‘I think it’s important for people to know that there are a lot of queer and trans folks out there and a lot of community to be found. This policy is going to impact a lot of people, and so I think that a really great thing is that… we do have numbers. We do have people who want to engage in allyship and accomplishment alongside us.’”

Alberta’s magazines reflect the lives of all Albertans, including sharing stories of queer joy and of queer trauma; of persecution and of acceptance. Share in the celebration and the resistance with your favourite Alberta magazine.