Swift Current hosts successful week long Pride celebration
Southwest Saskatchewan
Pride was on display this past week during a full slate of activities during Pride Week in Swift
Current.
Pride Week was celebrated from July 8 to 14, with an eventa-day roster of celebration events.
During a kick off flag raising ceremony back on July 8,
Southwest Saskatchewan Pride
Board Chair Cam Ellis said the significance of the week was important for a variety of reasons. He noted that Pride Week is not only a celebration of the
LGBTQ2+ community.
“The reason that we have
Pride Week is to bring people to gather, regardless of gender, sexuality, religious views, skin colour or the country where you come from. Pride Week is also about our straight allies.
Without having straight allies we would never move forward.
It would be a battle against each other all the time, and that’s not what we are going for by having a Pride Week here. This week is to celebrate how far we have come, and to acknowledge that there is still tremendous work to be done. This is meant to bring us closer as a community.
To make everyone to feel welcome, so that everyone knows that they have a place here.”
Ellis said the week celebrates a series of partnerships in ensuring Swift Current is an inclusive community, but more needs to be done to reach this goal.
“As we continue to see many positive changes in different areas of our community, and notably in the
LGBTQ2+ community and people like yourselves our allies, we know that there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done.”
He noted his own personal journey was not always a smooth one.
“I for one, was someone who, growing up here and growing up here and figuring out who I was as a person and as a member of the gay community, felt frustrated and to a degree scared to be who I was and thought what I could be. It look moving away to a couple of different cities before I realized it was not Swift Current it was just generally the world that we live in and an unwillingness to learn and grow and think outside the box from a unique perspective.”
“When I came back to Swift
Current I still wasn’t sure what to think, but totally I felt more comfortable and had less care for people who are going to be toxic.”
“In a way this is not a good way of thinking. By not challenging those negative people it gives that person the opportunity to feel like they’ve won - like it’s ok to treat somebody else that way. This moves us in the wrong direction. It divides us further as a community and as humans we lose traction in what everyone before us has done to make this country a better place for us all.”
“I ask that we all stand up for each other.
When you hear someone being racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, you don’t need to argue and put yourself into a dangerous situation. Remember that actions can speak louder than words.”
The week was also marked by the reinstallation of a rainbow crosswalk along Central Avenue in the downtown core.
“This year rather than using typical paint, which you might see in a lot of other places, we used a permanent coloured aggregate which we hope will last around five years which can withstand our harsh weather conditions throughout the year,” Ellis explained.
Swift Current Mayor Denis
Perrault also spoke at last Monday’s raising of the Rainbow
Flag, commending that this observation is an important time in the community.
“This week is not just a celebration for the LGBTQ2+ community. It’s a celebration for us all. It’s an opportunity to shine a light on Swift Current’s diversity, which I believe truly is one of our real strengths,” Mayor
Perrault said.
“And while the official pride celebrations in Swift Current are limited to one week, your pride isn’t something you’ll turn off after a week of festivities. Pride is something that you’ll carry with you every day and everywhere that you go.”