Pride Month is officially underway, and local Pride organizations are getting set to host numerous family friendly events.
Minto Pride will be bringing back the popular Pride in the Park event this year at Palmerston Lions Heritage Park on June 8. Event organizer Rosie Krul says the event has expanded hours this year.
"So it starts at 11 a.m. and will wrap up at 4 p.m. So just after the march when we come back, people will be able to pack up from there. So it's five hours this year, and I think it'll still be jam-packed with so much fun stuff. So, we can't wait to have everyone out," Krul said excitedly.
Krul says Pride to her means being able to be your authentic self and live where you want without any fear of persecution or judgement for being who you are.
The Minto Pride event will feature the annual Pride march through the park, and she points out that though many view Pride marches or parades as celebrations nowadays, the first one was anything but.
"It was a riot, it was a protest against gay men and women getting arrested at the Stonewall Riots in 1969, and people stood up against that and said 'No, we are going to be who we are, and you can't stop us,'" Krul pointed out.
During Pride Month, Krul says it's important to remember the societal harms that many 2SLGBTQi+ people dealt with in the past, and continue to deal with in many places around the world today. She adds that sometimes those same attitudes are found today.
"The last few years you can see there is kind of a rising tide of ignorance and trying to fight against that. So even though Pride parades are a celebration, they are also still a protest against people that are trying to take the rights away from those who are just trying to live their lives," noted Krul.
Unlike when she was growing up, Krul says she feels young people today tend to be much more accepting and tolerant, which is a sign of progress. She says it's more often people her age or older that can still hold judgments about the 2SLGBTQi+ community. She says she'd love for anyone curious to come and attend a Pride event in their area.
"I'd love for them to be able to come out if they're curious and see that there's nothing dangerous or bad or scary about Pride. There's no brainwashing or impressionable young minds being targeted the way that people sometimes worry about with Pride events and that it's really just a positive, family-friendly and happy time," Krul concluded.
Additionally this year, the Minto Pride group has established a new scholarship for students at Norwell District Secondary School. Krul shares that the scholarship of $500 will be awarded soon and handed out annually to a student who is pursuing post-secondary education and has shown a commitment and passion for social justice and ally-ship.
More information about Minto Pride can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/mintopride/