Pride vs. Prejudice

Pride vs. Prejudice is a cross-platform editorial package that tells the story of the historic Supreme Court ruling on Vriend v. Alberta. In 1998, this court case enshrined sexual orientation as a protected ground in the Canadian Charter of Rights and freedoms and forced the Alberta government to add sexual orientation as a protected ground to the province’s human rights legislation. It is credited as the case that paved the way for many subsequent advances in human rights in Canada including marriage equality. It has also been used to help overturn discriminatory legislation in several countries around the world.

This project has been nearly three years in the making and consists of Legacy in Action’s Summer 2023 cover story, a 10-part longform podcast series that was nominated for a Canadian Online Publishing Award and a feature length (80-minute) documentary film which is currently being submitted to film festivals. This is by far the most ambitious editorial project that Edmonton Community Foundation (the publisher of Legacy in Action) has taken on. It required multiple film, audio and print production teams to produce and features more than a dozen in-depth interviews from the people directly involved and impacted by the case.

The production teams also consist of a majority of 2SLGBTQI+ community members and we are particularly proud that our film crew was also predominantly comprised of women.

This project has supported Legacy in Action and Edmonton Community Foundations in many ways, particularly in raising its profile and audience reach. It was a key driver of the highest listenership of ECF’s The Well-Endowed Podcast in 2023 which was downloaded more than 21,000 times. The podcast also won Best Podcast B2B at the 2023 Canadian Online Publishing Awards.

Since the film has not been officially released we are still waiting to see what the ultimate impact this project will have especially given the current political climate around Trans rights in Alberta.