The Fraser Valley Pride Celebration is happening Saturday in Mission, with drag performances and live music.
Despite this being the 12th annual celebration, a coordinator says the event has recieved hateful and offensive comments online.
Douglas Hughes with the Fraser Valley Youth Society, which runs the event, says one of their Facebook posts attracted the comments. He says it was a “save the date” post uploaded in June.
“Checking my phone, I think, every 10 minutes, to make sure I could hide some of these comments, because we’re a youth organization, and they follow our Facebook pages and Instagram, and I don’t want them to have to see that or deal with that,” Hughes said.
Hughes says queer people see these comments quite often, especially during Pride month.
But, it’s not dampening his mood, and he has a message for anyone thinking of leaving a negative comment.
“We all have choices, and I think if you disagree with a post, scroll on by or maybe like, you know, go do some education, or come to our events and see what it’s about,” he said.
Hughes says this his favorite time of the year and Saturday’s event at Fraser River Heritage Park will have entertainment and activities for everyone.