NANAIMO — The mid-Island is all rainbows for June, as Pride Month takes over.
Locally, the events started with a street party in Ladysmith on Sunday, June 1, put on by their Pride Festival, the first gathering as part of a month-long celebration of pride, love, and inclusiveness across the region.
President of the Nanaimo Pride Society Lauren Semple, said this week in the Harbour City is packed with fun events while paying tribute to those who helped their community get to this point.
“Pride is about celebrating how far we’ve come, standing on the shoulders of our elders and the activists who came before us, but also reaching forward and continuing to fight for our rights to safety and respect and representation.”
The Ladysmith Pride Society walked in the Nanaimo Pride Parade in 2024, hosting their own Pride celebration in downtown Ladysmith this year. (Town of Ladysmith/Facebook)The Pride flag will be raised at Nanaimo City Hall on Tuesday, June 3, at 5 p.m., followed by an extended family-friendly celebration on Dunsmuir St. afterwards with musical acts, face painting, and a drag story hour.
The Pride Parade and Festival is on Sunday, June 8, with a new route planned.
Starting in the Old City Quarter on Selby St. at 11 a.m., then moving down Fitzwilliam St., across the Bastion St. bridge onto Front St., then down to Maffeo Sutton Park.
Road closures for the parade start at 10 a.m.
“We encourage all of those who are watching and attending to follow the final float, and the music, and the party down into the park,” Semple said. “Our festival officially kicks off with a welcome at noon, and it runs until five.”
Full details on all events happening for Nanaimo Pride Week can be found at their website, NanaimoPride.ca.
Semple said while it’s a celebration of love and acceptance, Pride is rooted in protest, coinciding with the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall protests, a series of gay liberation protests in New York City.
She said despite how much progress their community has made since that time, there is still a lot of work needed to be done to better represent marginalized members of the LGBTQ2S+ community.
“Especially south of the border, we’re seeing…it’s something that very much can happen and is happening. We already have three provinces in Canada that have passed explicit anti-trans legislation, with Alberta’s being particularly egregious. It’s very real, and it’s something that’s happening here in Canada.”
The Transgender flag (left) and the New Progress Pride flag were raised at Nanaimo City Hall in 2024 to start the Pride festivities last year. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)Oceanside Pride
The Oceanside area will also be hosting some Pride events, which started with a Pride flag raising at Parksville City Hall on Monday, June 2.
Around 50 people were in attendance for the flag raising ceremony in front of the Cenotaph, including mayor Doug O’Brien, a number of Parksville councillors, and MLA for Ladysmith-Oceanside Stephanie Higginson.
Organizer Shaun Baty decided to spearhead Pride events for the area, and said community members have “come out of the woodwork” to support their efforts in organizing local Pride events.
“It’s just been so empowering and humbling at the same time…it’s not the place people think it is, at all, and I’m living proof of it. We’re raising pride flags around town, and we’re going to continue doing that. But I’m here for Pride 365, I’m not here for June. This is lifelong, this is ongoing, this is never-ending.”
Partial proceeds from a Drag Bingo event on Tuesday, June 17 at the Mount Arrowsmith Brewing Company will be donated to the non-profit Vancouver Island Queers and Allies Who Care.
A free, all-day and night Pride beach party is happening on Saturday, June 21, at the French Creek Pub, north of Parksville.
Baty said, for many in their community, Pride is a symbol of who they are, their diverse community, and standing up to those who “try and segregate us and put us into boxes that we don’t belong in.”
“Our community is getting stronger out of need, out of necessity, out of desire, and Oceanside has been a very quiet, very conservative area on the Island. I moved here last year, and my goal is to spread love and rainbows, and that’s what I’m doing.”
More details on the Oceanside Pride events taking place in June can be found on their Facebook page.
Shaun Baty speaking at the Pride flag raising event in Parksville on Monday, June 6. (Submitted/Shaun Baty)Subscribe to our daily news wrap. Local news delivered to your email inbox every evening. Stay up to date on everything Nanaimo and Oceanside.
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