A Marshall of Public Opinion

Evan Wiens, Honored for Social Activism

Evan Wiens, of Steinbach, named 2013 PRIDE Parade Honorary Youth Marshall

21 May, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba

  Steinbach's seventeen-year-old Evan Wiens has been honored by Manitoba in being named honorary youth marshal of the 2013 PRIDE parade through downtown Winnipeg.

  Wiens is being honored for standing up to a legacy and faith Mennonite community in Manitoba that too often resists seeing, let alone acknowledging or protecting its own LGBTQ population.  While Steinbach, Wiens' hometown, is increasingly multicultural and multi-faith, it remains a Mennonite heritage center and has often had difficulty in relating to its own LGBTQ minority.

 “Evan set an amazing precedent for LGBTTQ youth in Manitoba and Canada,” said Jonathan Niemczak, president of Pride Winnipeg. “We’re honoured to have him lead this year’s parade. He is an excellent example of what equal rights can look like in our community.”

  Wiens made national headlines in Canada when he petitioned his public school administration to establish a Gay Straight Alliance club on the school campus.  He had earlier been denied permission to advertise or promote such a club.

  Wiens' case was made more difficult by City of Steinbach's public resistance to implementation of Bill 18, an anti-bullying legislation for Manitoba that includes specific mention of the needs of bullied teens amongst the LGBTQ community.

  Wiens took his case to the community and turned out to be quite capable of interacting with the media to promote his cause, even managing to keep his cool while being verbally harassed during a CBC interview just off school grounds.




  In April, the Hanover School Division agreed to meet with Wiens and overturned an earlier decision, agreeing to allow the GSA the same rights of promotion and access to school facilities as other student clubs.

  Most recently, Evans and the Steinbach Schools GSA brought smiles to an international community of gay and gay-supportive Mennonites when they attended a public rally in front of the Manitoba Legislature in Winnipeg.

  This is an occasion for all Mennonites to take PRIDE in one of our own.

  While Wiens has disclosed a desire to follow in the footsteps of other gay Mennonites such as Chicago's Benjamin Sprunger and Hollywood darling Jonathan Groff, and move to New York City to explore an acting career, a few of us can hold out hopes that he will be persuaded to first attend Winnipeg's Canadian Mennonite University or perhaps Indiana's Goshen College and continue to be a leader and spokesperson for further re-integration of the Mennonite LGBTQ community into the larger culture.

    This is also the kind of leadership that Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) desperately needs to cultivate and encourage -- are they listening?

  In the meantime, Wiens will be leading the 2013 PRIDE Parade through downtown Winnipeg on 02 June.  The parade begins at 11:30 am with a rally at the Legislature and a walking parade that loops through the city beginning at 12 noon.

  The Winnipeg parade is somewhat unique in that all persons are welcomed and encouraged to not only view the festivities but to actually walk with and behind their friends and neighbors as part of the parade.

  Congratulations Wiens!  You are a credit to Manitoba and an inspiration to us all.