I feel incredibly blessed to experience this after so long,” she said. We missed everybody and I’m so happy to see our 2SLGBTQ+IA community here today and it feels wonderful. Saskatoon Pride co-chair Kasey Atcheynum said the hot weather, the thousands of people and more than 150 floats made this parade feel more real than ever. To Savisky, being able to reassure the young girl is what makes the parade so special. “She was so afraid to tell her parents that she was gay, and then I told her my story, and I think she felt better,” Savisky said. She wanted to be supportive for her son so she went to the parade during a downpour that year and stood next to a young girl who was nervous about coming out to her parents. Savisky never attended a Pride parade until her son came out as gay years ago. “Sorry, I kind of get emotional when I think about because it has been a while,” Savisky said as her voice shook.
Tucked away in some shade near the start of the route on a sweltering day in Saskatoon, Helen Savisky was overjoyed to see so many people return as if the parade never missed a year. Thousands of people lined streets along the parade route downtown for the first in-person parade in three years because of the pandemic. The usual sights of rainbow flags and ear-to-ear smiles returned for the Saskatoon Pride parade on Saturday.
