Alison Redford says she is looking forward to being the first Alberta premier to attend the Gay Pride festival in Edmonton.
    
She says she doesn't know why it has taken so long for a premier to participate.
    
She says she has always been a supporter of diversity and equal rights and believes Albertans feel the same way.
    
Redford is to offer greetings in downtown Edmonton after the Pride parade on Saturday.
    
Wildrose Opposition Leader Danielle Smith is also to make an appearance at the week-long festival, which runs Friday through June 17.

Smith's party struggled with accusations of homophobia in the recent provincial election campaign, when an online video surfaced of a candidate saying homosexuals would burn in a lake of fire. (The Canadian Press, twd)