Pride Week 2025 hosted by the Fyrefly Institute

The University of Alberta’s annual Pride Week took place from March 10–18. Yasmine Abdel Razek, communications and events co-ordinator for the Fyrefly Institute for Gender and Sexual Diversity, gave a rundown of the events of Pride Week as well as Fyrefly’s role on-campus and beyond.

Fyrefly is a non-profit organization and research institute based in the faculty of education.  

“A lot of our work is centered on uplifting and supporting the queer and trans community,” Abdel Razek said. 

Approximately 300 people gathered for the first event of the week, the Pride Parade, on Monday, March 10. The parade was a free event open to all members of campus.

“The parade is an act of allyship by attending and of course a celebration of the queer and trans community,” Abdel Razek said. Fyrefly had 15 volunteers and over 300 registered attendees for the Pride Parade this year. 

Following the Pride Parade, there was a drag show and resource fair in the Myer Horowitz Theatre lobby in the Students’ Union Building (SUB). 

“This year we wanted to frame it as emphasizing the power of community, and what we can achieve when we come together as a community,” Abdel Razek said.

The drag show took place in the theatre lobby. Campus and community organizations at the resource fair offered various supports on campus and in Edmonton.

Several workshops took place during Pride Week

On March 11, there was a webinar called “Navigating Canadian Immigration for LGBTQ+ Communities.” The session was led by Ansari Immigration Law, a Calgary-based immigration law firm. Additionally, Ansari offered a free virtual legal clinic on March 18. 

A workshop focusing on exploring strategies to foster decolonized ally-ship was held on March 13. The workshop aimed to allow people to gain an “appreciation of the diverse histories of gender and sexuality on Turtle Island (what is now known as North America) pre-colonization,” according to the workshop’s event posting. Rae Madge, Fyrefly’s Where The Rivers Meet (WTRM) program co-ordinator, facilitated the event.

Following that, Fyrefly hosted two film screenings in partnership with Metro Cinema — What are you having and Summer Qamp. 

“For most of the events this year we tried to make it more open, so it wasn’t restricted to U of A students,” Abdel Razek said. 

Students “can definitely expect some drag” for future events

For future Pride Weeks, Abdel Razek said that students “can definitely expect some drag” as well as the resource fair, which Abdel Razek said were “staples” of Pride Week. 

The Fyrefly Institute offers educational and supportive programming in a variety of ways around the Edmonton community. Fyrefly offers a leadership camp for queer and trans youth aged 14–24. According to Abdel Razek, the camp is “a great space where they do art and educational workshops.”

Abdel Razek said that she feels that everyone at Fyrefly works hard to create safe spaces for members of the community. 

“We work very hard to create spaces and events that make students feel safe, but also allow them to feel that sense of queer joy.”