Students gather for the annual celebration of northern LGBTQ pride
Amy Szybalski
News Writer
“The goal of Pride in the North is to celebrate queer pride,” said Dexter Darrah, Director of Pride Central.
Pride in the North is a week of events that take place from February 22nd to the 26th. The weeklong celebration acts as a statement of pride in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered and queer community.
“Thunder Bay doesn’t yet have a queer pride festival in the summer like other, bigger cities, and since Pride Central only operates September through April, this is the next best thing.”
“Pride Central has been running Pride in the North for as long as I can remember. I started volunteering at Pride in September 2004, so this will be its sixth year at least, but it’s probably quite a few years older than that.”
“Pride in the North is important to the community of Lakehead University because we strive for safe space across the entire campus,” commented Darrah.
LUSU has created several of what Darrah calls “safe places” across campus, including the Gender Issues Centre, The Multicultural Centre, and Pride Central.
When asked what value Pride in the North holds, Darrah said, “This annual celebration of queer people reminds all of us that we live, work, and study at a university where a variety of sexualities and genders are part of our community.”
The theme of Pride in the North 2010 is “pride in your body,” so this year’s goal in particular is to reinforce pride in sexual and gender diversity, but also to contribute to the self-esteem of people with diverse body types.
Monday, beginning at 11am, an open house will be taking place in Pride Central –UC 0019– where people will be able to drop by find out about Pride in the North and chat with Canadian University Queer Services Conference delegates.
At 5pm, following the open house, a march around campus will beginning at the bus stop in the Agora.
Tuesday, Queer Valentines will be taking place in the study from 11am to 4pm for those who missed Valentines Day in Thunder Bay because of reading week. Also on Tuesday Pride Central will be hosting a special edition of their weekly Gayme Night in Pride Central 5pm to 8pm.
Wednesday events include two workshops, both beginning at 7pm. David Ivany from the Gender Issues Centre will deliver a workshop about the impact media has on how we see our bodies in AT 1010, while David Belrose from Rainbow Health Ontario will deliver a workshop on how to can improve your health care provision to queer clients in AT 2015.
On Thursday, the Thunder Bay Restaurant will play host to Pride Bingo, which also includes board games and food.
Closing off the week on Friday, a potluck brunch will take place in Pride Central from 11am to 1pm to give students the opportunity talk about having pride in their bodies. In the evening, The Gaiety, a social including a drag contest where the King and Queen of the North will be crowned, will take place at the Finlandia Club at 8:30pm. Advanced tickets are on sale now at Pride Central for $3, or you can pay $5 the night of.