Send this page to someone via email Tens of thousands came out to watch the rainbow unfold in downtown Calgary on Sunday morning for the 28th annual Pride Parade. The family-friendly event celebrating the LGBTQ community kicked off at 11 a.m. as drag queens, business people, politicians and church representatives stopped traffic while walking down 6 Avenue S.W. Premier Rachel Notley — sporting an “I support Trans Mountain” pin on her “Love Wins” shirt — said she loves being a part of Pride every year. “It’s one of the best celebrations that we can do anywhere in the province,” she said. Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's one of the best celebrations that we can do anywhere in the province," she said. Members of ​gay-straight alliances (GSAs) led the parade through downtown. “We quite literally moved not just our schools but our the entire society into a more safe and caring environment as a result of this pioneering work through GSAs,” said Alberta Education Minister David Eggen. Story continues below advertisement WATCH: Past and present Global Calgary staff marched in the 28th annual Pride Parade on Sunday. 0:27 Timelapse: Global News Calgary marches in 2018 Pride Parade Timelapse: Global News Calgary marches in 2018 Pride Parade – Sep 2, 2018 David Khan, leader of the Alberta Liberal party, said he was proud to participate in the parade. “It means so much to me being the first openly gay leader of a political party in western Canada,” he said. “This is a milestone for all of us. It’s so important for the community… to see that their politicians reflect the diversity of the province.” Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This is a milestone for all of us. It's so important for the community… to see that their politicians reflect the diversity of the province." Pride holds a special place in Khan’s heart. “It just means being proud of who we are and inclusiveness, human rights and equal rights, equal opportunity,” he said. “These are all phrases that are indelibly bound for Pride and that’s why it’s so important. It’s important for everyone because everyone in our society is a minority in some way or another.” Story continues below advertisement<doc-sep>Share this Story: 'Out and proud and loud and happy': Youth lead the way at the 2018 Pride Parade 'Out and proud and loud and happy': Youth lead the way at the 2018 Pride Parade Photo by Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia Article content Thousands of people, young and old, loud and proud, lined the streets of downtown Calgary, turning it into a sea of rainbows on Sunday for the 2018 Pride Parade. This year, the parade marshals were members of gay-straight alliances — safe places where student allies and those who identify as part of the LGBTQ community can come together, hang out and be themselves at their schools. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or 'Out and proud and loud and happy': Youth lead the way at the 2018 Pride Parade Back to video For Madison Jones and Clayton Poirier, who were at the very front of the parade and both part of a GSA at their school in Forest Lawn, being able to lead the parade felt “great.” They both believe it’s important for schools to support students through GSAs. “You feel like that’s your spot where you can be yourself in,” said Jones. “It’s like your own little safe spot and I’ve been at schools where you didn’t have it before, and it felt like you were singled out and it feels like you’re together when you have a GSA at your school.” Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Having a GSA shows that you’re also not the only one, added Poirier. “The GSA has helped me be a part of my community,” he said. “It’s super fun, everyone should jointheir GSA no matter what.” If just having their GSA being a fun space isn’t enticing, Poirier added they also get to eat a lot of snacks. Photo by Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia Syd Kwan and Sean Ruhland, who are both 17 years old and dating, wore T-shirts saying ‘He’s Mine’ and ‘I’m his’ while waving around the pink, blue and white transgender flag. The couple said they were “out and proud” while leading the parade Sunday afternoon. “It’s honestly amazing that I can be a representative for my community and be out and proud and loud and happy. We’re extremely grateful to be like that,” said Kwan. “To be able to freely and proudly walk the streets of Calgary, holding my boyfriend’s hand and not wearing a mask. Just to be able to be out and proud in this kind of way is absolutely amazing,” added Ruhland. Both are part of a GSA at their school and think it’s a good thing to have. “It’s awesome. I’m much older than everybody else, I can be out and I can be a dad figure to these people,” said Kwan. For Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan, who is the first openly gay political leader in the province, the theme of having students lead the parade is a great one. “When I grew up, the environment wasn’t like this,” said Khan. “I’m so happy to see so many younger people that have this kind of inclusive environment and celebration of who they are, and I wish I had that when I grew up. But things get better every year and this is why we do it.” Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Premier Rachel Notley and Education Minister David Eggen were both marching at the Pride parade and voiced their support for having the students with GSAs lead the festivities. “We’ve worked very hard over the last three years to gain acceptance in the school community but in the larger Alberta community as well,” said Eggen. “We quite literally moved not just our schools but our entire society into a more safe and caring environment as a result of this pioneering work through GSAs. It’s a big deal.” Photo by Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia The only provincial party not allowed to march in this year’s parade was the United Conservative Party, after its application was denied for a second year in a row. Reasons for the rejection were that the UCP did not fulfil Calgary Pride’s application criteria. Last year, the UCP opposed Bill 24, an Act to Support Gay-Straight Alliances. The legislation made it illegal for teachers to inform parents if their child had joined a GSA, unless the child has consented. At the parade, Notley said it is clear that the conservative party has not supported the LGBTQ community in the past year. “They wanted to out students who were part of GSAs, who were not ready yet to share their story with everybody as defined as someone else. And they supported the candidacy for nomination of someone that is very clearly making public homophobic statements,” said Notley. “If they want to start being part of it instead of being off somewhere else in their own little private party, they should be here watching the parade and taking those steps to get in line with what I think are the dominant values of this province.” When their application to march this year was denied, the UCP said they would instead hold a separate Pride event in Calgary in which uniformed members of the military and police would be welcome. 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Instead of a single grand marshal at the 2018 Pride Parade, dozens of gay-straight alliance and queer-straight alliance members ushered in the downtown Calgary celebration on Sunday. Fourteen-year-old Brooke-Lynn Lambourn said having young people lead the parade is "a great idea." Lambourn, who identifies as pansexual — which means someone who is attracted to people regardless of their sex or gender identity — said while most people understand and are supportive, some people still don't get it. "I think it's really good that we get to be here and do this," Lambourn said. ​Gay-straight alliances are peer support organizations meant to provide supportive environments and safe spaces for LGBTQ students, and tackle issues like homophobic and transphobic bullying. Having students and teachers from GSAs lead the parade was a symbolic decision, as the organizations have been under threat by some parents' rights groups and faith-based schools that have requested a review of the constitutionality of an Alberta law that blocks schools from informing parents if their children have joined such a group. An estimated 80,000 Calgarians turned out to watch the parade on Sixth Avenue. There were 190 entries this year. Marchers included Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and last year's parade marshal Lois Szabo, who opened one of Western Canada's first gay bars in Calgary back in the 1960s. One group notably absent from this year's parade was the United Conservative Party, as the political party's application to march was denied by parade organizers for the second year in a row. Instead, Jason Kenney and other UCP members and supporters held their own Pride breakfast at the Garage Sports Bar in Eau Claire Market. Thanks to everyone that came out to celebrate #yycpride with us this morning. Happy Pride, Calgary! pic.twitter.com/Y4s6OHpdHv —@Alberta_UCP Pam Ruhland marched with Skipping Stone Foundation — a group that works to empower transgender and gender diverse youth — in support of her two youngest children. "It's awesome that this kind of support is there. At first, when your child says they're transgender, it's like whoa, wait a second, this is a big shift," Ruhland said. Sean Ruhland, and his mother Pam, marched with Skipping Stone Foundation, which supports and empowers trans and queer youth. (Terri Trembath/CBC) "But the fact that there's so much familial support, so much community support and there's something like Skipping Stone, made it a lot easier." She said she was excited to see such a focus on supporting LGBTQ2S youth in this year's parade. "I think it means that there will be equal opportunities," she said. "Because it wasn't that long ago … at the first Pride rally in Calgary in 1990, young people were wearing masks, because they were afraid of being outed. I think of how we've shifted in that time period, that's less than 30 years." "I think it's really important that young people know you are allowed to be different, you are allowed to be this way, it's not shameful," said her son, Sean Ruhland. Ruhland plans on becoming a teacher to support other kids in the queer community. "Making sure that kids know it's OK is so incredibly important." With files from Terri Trembath