Pembina Valley Pride posted a post on social media on Friday, encouraging people from the 2SLGBTQ community to take care of themselves, ignore the protesters and “celebrate” before Altona’s first Pride Parade on Saturday. This was followed by a blog post by Church Pastor Grace Covenant Riley Toews, supporting views that condemn the celebration. “It’s incendiary,” Pembina Valley Pride president Peter Wohlgemut told the blog. “It’s frustrating to hear that again.” Toews, 30, who lives in Gretna, plans to hand out leaflets at the Altona parade, as he did in Morden at the community’s first Pride in 2019. He suggested that the core of his message be consistent with that of Christianity. “The whole Pride issue in general is a celebration of what the Bible would say is a sin,” Toews told CBC News on Friday. Riley Toews distributes leaflets about God and homosexuality at the first Morden Pride Parade in 2019. (CBC) “The main message of the gospel is that Jesus came to die for our sins, to reconcile us to God, and so the way we receive what Christ has done is by turning from our sin and turning to God. his part. So something like Pride is celebrating what really separates people from God. “ Wohlgemut told many in the area that Toews’s blog reinforces stereotypes about the area and local attitudes towards the queer community. At the same time, Wohlgemut says they know that the parade and the protesters have the full support of the town of Altona, the mayor, the leaders of other local churches and many local allies. That includes Tamara Franz, 56, who has lived in Altona for 23 years. He posted a response shouting to the Toews blog. Her father was a Mennonite pastor in the community who led with the feeling that “everyone is welcome at the table”. Franz said Toews’s views seem to come from a place of fear and justify “shame and social stigma” as a way to prevent people from being who they are. “I grew up with a very strong sense of social justice, so it is up to me to rush to defend people when I feel they are being attacked,” he said. “Using scriptures as a basis for condemning Pride, expressing concern that it would lead the community to sin … I just felt there was a level of condemnation that was extremely harmful.” Tamara Franz says that despite the stated intention of the pastor, his message has the effect of embarrassing 2SLGBTQ people. (Submitted by Tamara Franz) Another Altona ally, Leandra Martin, 24, also responded to the blog with a post of her own. He says that the pastor’s comments are critical, whether he believes it or not “come from a place of love”. “I was upset by that,” she said. “I just felt like he was giving a lot of negative feedback to people in the LGBTQ community and I just don’t want people to feel guilty and ashamed of what they are.” Martin has lived most of her life in Gretna and Altona. Toews and those who sympathize with his views want to look at the impact they have on 2SLGBTQ people, including young people. “I have friends and relatives who have gone out and I have seen the consequences when they feel intimidated or ashamed … It can really, really, really affect people’s mental health and that is one reason why its post has caused outrage. ,” he said. “It can be dangerous to spread a message like the one he is spreading.” Greg Klassen was a proud member of his church in Altona when he came out almost four decades ago, but not everyone was comfortable with his identity. Feeling he did not belong, Klassen left the church and the choir. “Growing up as a Mennonite child … you feel like you are the only gay,” he said. “Unfortunately I do not think they have changed as much as we would like to believe they have changed.” In light of his experience and the pastor’s blog, Klassen was invited to speak at the parade on Saturday. Information Radio – MB7: 52 He left his church choir and left the song because of his sexual identity. Decades later, he does not want others to make that mistake Host Marcy Markusa speaks to Greg Klassen, speaking at the first Pride Parade in Altona. “I’m very happy to be back in Altona as a proud gay man,” he said. “I think it is wonderful that they are doing this … very important, especially for the representation of queer youth and for them to know that the community is interested in creating safe spaces for them and a place where they can flourish.” Wohlgemut says the parade had a lot of work to do, but seeing it all would be worth it. “We are in it together, there is a lot of support. These stereotypes that many people carry about our area here are collapsing … This whole Pembina Valley is becoming more and more different and it is a wonderful thing.” The Altona parade starts at 13:00 Up To Speed6: 36Working posts in the wake of the Pembina Valley Pride parade. People in the Pembina Valley prepare for the first Pride parade in Altona, but it was not all sun and rainbows until the event. Faith Fundal checked in with the president of Pembina Valley Pride ahead of this weekend’s celebrations.
