Pride parade awards

This year’s Pride parade drew not only a record turnout of spectators, but an unprecedented 140 entries. A panel of four judges —designer Rick Gaspard, artist Corrine Hunt, event producer Ross Atley and WE’s Gail Nuggent —picked their favourite parade entries in eight categories. And the winners are:

Outstanding Individual: Fag Bug, the VW bug defaced by homophobic slurs, and its owner, Erin Davies, who is on a cross-country trip to raise awareness.

Best Marching Unit: Theatre Under The Stars for its well choreographed street productions of Grease and Oklahoma.

Best Interpretation of Pride Theme: Bunch of Proud Young Gays for getting together in the name and spirit of this year’s theme, Pride in the City.

Best Standard Vehicle: Co-op Radio for its unflagging celebration of diversity.

Best Crowd Response: Cutting Edges Hockey Team for their high-energy rollerblading and public displays of smooching.

Best Community Group: West End Business Improvement Association for its tribute to Cinderella.

Best Float (National Business): CTV Channel 9 for its beautifully decorated mock studio set.

Best Float (Local Business): The Fountainhead Pub for its foamy beer mug of Pride.

Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

Keep Reading

‘Monster’ butchers queer history to tell a tale of lesbian revenge

In rewriting Lizzie Borden’s story, Ryan Murphy’s show sensationalizes women’s violence
Josh Silver

‘Fruit Fly’ author Josh Silver has a sweet tooth—and the summer’s buzziest book

The English writer talks the duality of social media, how nursing helped his draft—and the cost of massive success

How ‘North of North’ is introducing Indigenous queer dramedy to a global stage

Actors Anna Lambe and Zorga Qaunaq on learning about forgiveness and queerness through their award-winning show
Barbara Hammer

Barbara Hammer’s endless influence

The lesbian filmmaker made a radical difference by making work that reflected her real life. A new documentary is cementing her legacy
Advertisement