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Take community pride in Pride Week

Pride Week has just been held in the city, and while it was a week dedicated to raising and awareness of the sexual diversity within the city.
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Pride Week has just been held in the city, and while it was a week dedicated to raising and awareness of the sexual diversity within the city.

But the week should also be one where our community takes a certain level of pride in being supportive of the initiative.

That support started with Yorkton Council being unanimous in proclaiming the week at a meeting earlier this year.

That might not seem like a major thing, but not every community has municipal leadership willing to be accepting of the diversity Pride Week is designed to support.

But, Yorkton has grown as a community in many ways through the years, a situation noted in the presentation requested the proclamation from Council.

“As new life comes to our community with the first days of spring, we need to celebrate just how far we have come in the last few years with regards to pride,” noted a letter requesting the week from Laura Budd with Moose Jaw and Saskatchewan Pride organizations.

“To celebrate the members of our families, community, workplaces, that are gender and sexually diverse. To create space for those that have often not had a place or voice to bring their whole selves to the table. We live in a hopeful forward thinking city that believes in being a safe, secure place in the world.”

Budd also noted other local efforts that have progressed the position of sexual diversity locally. She noted some local schools have started GSA’s (Gay Straight Alliance’s), and we are seeing more families, homes and workplaces having discussion and taking training to be more inclusive of the LGBT members of our community. While there are still hurdles to overcome for the LGBT community in terms of acceptance, progress is being made.

For example drivers on Gladstone Ave. have been seeing something a bit brighter at one of the crosswalks. A rainbow stretches across the street, painted to commemorate the start of Pride Week in Yorkton.

While there were burnout tire marks left by someone suggests there are still a few Neanderthal minds out there, the crosswalk is still a valuable sign of a broader growth in awareness.

The same can be said for the raising of the Pride flag at Yorkton Regional High School last week, and the Pride Week parade held Sunday with many in attendance.

That is why the week is important, offered Budd in the letter to Council writing “It is through this celebration and visibility that we with privilege to be ourselves, be free and openly whole, and create this space for those struggling to understand, those who worry about the loss of their shelter, food or support for sharing their truth, their uniqueness.”

In that, Yorkton can take pride in generally being supportive of the efforts of Pride Week.