Winkler was the site of one of the “1 Million March 4 Children” marches held across Canada last week.
A few hundred people gathered in Bethel Heritage Park Wednesday morning and then made their way through the streets of Winkler for about an hour, ending up on the steps of City Hall for speeches.
According to the national event’s website, the march was about safeguarding “the well-being and innocence of our children” by “advocating for the elimination of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) curriculum, pronouns, gender ideology and mixed bathrooms in schools.”
In his remarks to the crowd after the walk, Winkler event organizer Rick Wall said they were marching “to protect God’s children” and raise awareness.
“We will no longer be intimidated or suppressed by small minority pushing this evil ideology that our elected officials believe to be okay for our children to have full authority to make life-altering changes without any parental authority or consent,” he said. “Our schools should be teaching our children to add and subtract numbers, not body parts … time is running out if parents won’t take a bold stand against the indoctrination of our children.”
Winkler’s “1 Million March 4 Children” event took place last Wednesday
Other speakers likewise spoke out against what they perceive as the increasing sexualization of children in schools and the pushing of an LGBTQ-inclusive and gender-affirming agenda they believe excludes parental oversight.
March participants were met by counter-protestors at events across the country, though not in Winkler.
Pembina Valley Pride had urged members and supporters of the local LGBTQ+ community to “not engage with this group, or arrange a counter-protest at the same time. Instead, devote your time and energy to supporting your local Pride organizations, libraries, or other groups working to combat hate every day.”
