As we head into Pride 2022, let us reflect on the celebratory overtures of Pride Month in addition to the deeply political history that continues to inform how it is experienced today. Pride’s history is grounded in the riots and demonstrations from 1969. During that time, racialized Trans women led the fight against police brutality and racial, gender, and sexual orientation discrimination.
The events of 1969 gave birth to Pride as a social and political movement. They are widely considered as pivotal historical moments grounding the gay liberation movement and the ongoing fight for equal rights.
In recognition of the vastly disparate ways in which the TLGBTIAPQQ2+ communities continue to emerge from the pandemic – let us take into account how we can tangibly address the particularly harmful outcomes that COVID enacted within our racialized communities. Our movement building must remain grounded in the ebbs and flows of how the pandemic continues to permeate our lives in both structurally privileged and uneven ways.
Now, with lockdowns and restrictions lifted, we look forward to reconnecting with loved ones and allies. Let us approach our Pride celebrations with a sustained awareness of the transformative gains that have been made along with an ongoing recommitment to the political resistance that will carry us forward.
Celebrate and show your solidarity by attending an OPSEU/SEFPO sponsored event:
Napanee Pride June 4
Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge Pride June 4
Bay of Quinte Pride June 4 – June 12
Brockville Pride June 6 – June 12
North Grenville Pride June 11 & 12
Cornwall Pride July 9
Sudbury Pride July 11 – 17
North Bay Pride September 14 – 18
For more Pride events in your area, contact the Rainbow Alliance arc-en-ciel by email: pride@opseu.org
In Solidarity,
JP Hornick, OPSEU/SEFPO President
Laurie Nancekivell, OPSEU/SEFPO First Vice-President/Treasurer
Morgen Veres, OPSEU/SEFPO Rainbow Alliance arc-en-ciel, Co-Chair
