This year saw another big turnout for the major public events celebrating Pride on the Sunshine Coast.
The Pride flag was raised in Gibsons on June 16 by Mayor Wayne Rowe and MLA Nicholas Simons.
“I’m glad to be here and be part of this celebration,” Simons told the dozen or so people who were on hand outside Town Hall.
“I wasn’t always interested in talking of myself as a gay politician – I didn’t hear other politicians constantly referring to the fact they may be straight… It’s nice to always maintain a good working relationship with everyone, and we always strive to treat each other with respect. I think this is what the celebration of Pride symbolizes: the respect that we deserve to share with each other.”
A crowd estimated at 200 or more attended Sunday in the Park with Pride and the Little Pride Parade along the Davis Bay seawalk on the 18th.
“I’m thrilled,” said Laurie Lesk, one of the organizers of the event, which is in its second year.
“The whole point of the event is to have a place for the young members of the LGBTQ2 community to come to. It’s an all ages event and it’s made for youth… This year there were a lot of young people there. A lot of under-30 people, and certainly a lot of people closer to 20 or 18 and high school students,” said Lesk, adding a lot of families and children also took in the event.
This year also marked the debut of the Sunshine Coast Pride Guide, which was published in April. Lesk said she was “blown away” with how well it turned out and how well it was received by potential advertisers. “I was so fortunate to be able to work with Andrea Routely, who did so much of the editorial work, and Edmund Arceo [of Zoom magazine] who designed the whole thing… we’ve had nothing but positive feedback.”
Lesk said work on the 2018 edition will begin soon.
Several Pride events were also scheduled for this week, including: a flag raising at Sechelt Municipal Hall, a reception for the exhibit “Connecting the Lines” at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, Queer Projections – a screening of the film “Closet Monster” at the Heritage Playhouse on June 23 at 7:30 p.m., and the Pride Dance, June 24 at 8 p.m. at the Roberts Creek Community Hall.
Find information about tickets at www.sunshinecoastpride.com
