Story of Pride Parade

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Today Vancouver residents witnessed a great sample of peacekeeping.

It is essential to acknowledge the Pride Parade as a public symphony of peace.

We had a carnival of colors, a public display of open-mindedness, and a forum for group cohesiveness. This gathering was recognition of tolerance, acceptance, and respect for different styles of life than the mainstream.


We had Pride Parade, a celebration that is known originating from the Gay Community, a recognized group of people who choose to have various type of style of life and sexual orientation. Yet, the main point is the choice these people make and the level of freedom this society has for its citizens!


Pride Parade is an international event happening in most western countries. Here in Vancouver a crowd of people attend this rainbow of colors and this multifaceted festival to share the joy that these proud people have.


This is just another reason for being happy and being proud. I use the term “another” since we residents of Vancouver observe numerous occasions being celebrated in this outgoing city.


This event has become a public celebration of differences, people with different races, colors, religion, and status, who all came out to say; we are proud of who we are!


In our Iranian culture we have never ever have had any celebration of our differences. This event in Vancouver should be a sing to us. We can always be proud of who we are despite of all our different belief systems, religions, status, and cultural belongingness.


Standing there and watching all these happy people who were dancing and laughing on the streets, I was thinking, could we ever be able to have this type of attitude in Middle East?


Interestingly, this event is supported by all kind of government offices to small businesses and charity organization. We could watch Vancouver’s mayor on his wheelchair who was in the parade, we could see members of various churches, and we could see people from the Jewish Community.

On one placard we could read:

“In every religion there is homosexuality and homophobia”


I could not read the next placard after this one, yet, I can assume it would ask people in every religion for tolerance.


This was when I started to think:

  • it is up to us how we want to live our lives; with peace or without
  • it is our responsibility to keep the peace, with those unlike us and alike
  • it is our choice to accept people and ourselves as who we are



What is your choice like?

August 5, 2007

www.middlepeace.com


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About the
My name is Poran Poregbal. I am a licenced - registered clinical counsellor and registered social worker. My practice of counselling psychology is based on a culturally and trauma-informed basis. I am offering individual and couple counselling sessions. I am offering treatment for symptoms of Emotional Disorders such as Anxiety, Depression, Obsession, Phobia, Trauma, and Post Trauma Stress. In my practice of Counselling Psychology, I do pay attention to my client's history, sense of self, level of motivation for change, resiliency level and the existence of past traumas in life. At times, a couple of sessions of clinical counselling helps individuals to appreciate their patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. We can learn to understand the meaning of our emotions and to develop kindness to ourselves. Change of habits and mindset requires hard work; Still possible.