Halifax - "There's always people who speak against it. But there seems to be so much love for Pride here in Halifax," says Paul Forrest, Pride Parade Coordinator. "It's amazing to see how colourful and excited people get because they're coming to the Pride parade. They know they have expectations, that it can't be boring. It has to be creative. It has to be vibrant. It has to be colourful."

Thousands of spectators lined the streets of downtown Halifax yesterday to take in the annual Pride Parade. This year, there were also over 1,000 participants. While some criticized the corporate nature of the parade (indeed all major political parties participated in the parade, as well as many large-scale banks), perhaps the positivity of the atmosphere can best be captured in the thoughts of a group of Colombians spectators visiting Halifax. We found each other smiling together as a Halifax police officer was repeatedly kissed, hugged, and given beaded necklaces to wear.

"In Latin America, police are not really friendly with gay people. And in fact the actual parades in Latin America are not like this, like friendly parades. It's more like a protest, like 'We want our rights.'" says Sergio from Colombia. "Any type of church in Colombia is (also) against gay people, like not acceptance. That was (also) shocking for me (when several religious denominations were represented). We don't have that in Latin America. I think it's really, really nice."