“Where do we go from here?” is the cover story for the current issue of Extra!, which is a question of growing importance as the Vancouver Pride Parade seems to grow repetitive and predictable. Without trying to sound jaded, if you’ve seen one Pride Parade you’ve seen them all. Though the parade hasn’t lost its importance in terms of celebrating and living openly queer, the question remains – what’s next?

Naturally there is still plenty work to be done within our borders, just like any other issue surrounded by prejudice and persecution. But more and more I’ve seen and heard about activists taking their victories here and using them to encourage gay rights movements around the globe. It reminds me how fortunate we are to live in a country that embraces equal human rights and pluralism, where bigotry isn’t systemic and fear isn’t a daily reality for gays and lesbians.

For three years, just before the death of print, I had the pleasure of shooting the Pride Parade for the WestEnder newspaper and now I have more pictures of gay men than I know what to do with. It was a pleasure to be their straight ally while the entire office partied their butts off. So I present you with a retrospective on my coverage as an homage to the movement.

Happy Pride!