Laura Budd is a rural LGBTQ+ pioneer.
Born Brice Budd on a farm near Kelliher, SK, where she still lives, Laura spent four decades denying her true self.
As impossible as it seemed at the time, at the age of 45, she came out as transgender to Pat, her wife of 20 years, and their two children.
Acceptance came hard for Pat and for Laura’s father. She almost lost those relationships, but eventually, with perseverance and love, they came around. Not everybody did, she lost some friends, but she says the community responded in ways she never thought were possible.
“It was very public to be LGBTQ plus in Kelliher, but it’s also very rewarding because the path I’ve walked has helped others to connect with their families, to bring them home again if they’ve left because they were not accepted, reconnect them with their parents, grandparents and extended families,” she said. “Through me being visible, they now see that the community is inclusive and they’re coming home and reconnecting with families where they were unsure or whether or not that support would be there.”
Now, as education coordinator for Moose Jaw Pride’s “Saskatchewan Pride Network” project, Budd is on a mission to bring support and acceptance to LGBTQ+ people in all of Saskatchewan’s small cities. In September, she convinced City Council to declare October 17 Yorkton Pride Day and to fly the rainbow flag at City Hall.
“We’re trying to network the small urban centres of Yorkton, Weyburn, Estevan, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Humboldt and Prince Albert so that each of these smaller urban centres have some pride support and so they get to know each other and build that sense of community where they live as opposed to having to go to those larger centres to find that support or find others like them,” she said.
Having only been appointed to her position in July of this year, Budd did not waste any time becoming visible in Yorkton. She quickly found a home base in St. Andrew’s United Church.
“When I contacted Jen Dresser the reverend here, she was very supportive, very interested,” Budd said. “She wanted to go to her congregation and ask them if she could be openly supportive and offer space to us to congregate for social activities and to have things like the rainbow cake cutting and things after the flag raising and they were very open to it. They wanted to show that they are a congregation that welcomes all people.”
Dresser has been very please with her congregation’s reaction.
“It is new for a lot of people and there are a number of people I have noticed in the last couple of months who surprised me, people who I didn’t think would be supportive have actually been very supportive and so I think that is definitely about who we are as a church.”
In fact, nationally, the United Church has been at the forefront of accepting the LGBTQ+ community for nearly three decades.
Nevertheless, Dresser points out, local congregations maintain control over policies such as blessing same-sex marriage, for example.
“Within local congregations, of course, there is a lot of diversity, there are some people within every congregation who are fabulous and supportive and welcoming and then there are others that still continue to struggle with what it looks like to be inclusive and welcoming,” she explained.
Yorkton’s congregation has been
“Surprisingly, I haven’t received, directly, any specific negative feedback from anybody in the congregation,” she said. “I am aware that there are some folks out there who continue to struggle, but they haven’t been particularly vocal in naming that.”
To help those people, Dresser said she often preaches about inclusivity and welcoming. She also is available for individual discussion with parishioners.
As a whole, Budd says, Yorkton has been quite welcoming.
“I think there’s a broad spectrum in Yorkton of people that are very supportive, are very understanding and know LGBTQ people, know of our lives, know of our stories and are supportive-inclusive and then there are those that have had very little to do with LGBTQ-plus persons and are still learning and though not unsupportive just don’t quite know what to say, how to say, or how to get involved so they are seen as inclusive,” she said.
“Actually in Yorkton I’ve had none, no negative comments, and I’ve been in touch with schools, most if not all faiths in the community, many businesses and organizations and community groups and everyone I talk to either has questions or is openly supportive.”
Despite that, local LGBTQ people have been a bit shy about being visible.
“It’s been a slow growth where it’s taken a while to get connected with people, but it’s very exciting to see people finding support, finding each other, getting together for social activities and then to get a sense of where the communities are at with respect to LGBTQ-plus inclusion,” she said. “It’s there, it’s just very subtle, not as open as it is in our larger urban centres in Saskatchewan or across Canada.”
Last Thursday, St. Andrews hosted a social event dubbed “Sharing Our Story” in honour of Transgender Day of Remembrance, which is actually November 20.
“Because this time of year and transgender day of remembrance can be quite difficult for many people in the gender diverse or LGBTQ-plus community just because the season is changing, depression and anxiety tends to be very prominent in our community, we wanted to get together to celebrate those that we have lost, either by their own hand or someone else’s hand, to celebrate that we knew them and that we knew of their true path and who they truly were and then just to get together and support each other,” she said.
The statistics are quite alarming showing nearly half, 43 per cent, of transgender people have actually attempted suicide.
Budd said suicide rates and attempts are generally going down and for people who have the acceptance and support of family, friends and local community and faith communities, it is getting very good indeed.
“Through support, we find anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation actually goes to the general public’s numbers or actually below,” Budd said.
In addition to occasional events at St. Andrews there is an LGBT Social Group that meets the second and fourth Tuesdays at the Yorkton Mental Health Drop-In Centre on North Street.
