Progressive Pride flag signifies era of diversity

By Herald on June 14, 2021.

Lane Sterr, Samantha Lenci and Joanne Kariuki raise the Pride flag Monday morning at Lethbridge College. Herald photo by Al Beeber

Al Beeber – Lethbridge Herald

The raising of a new Pride flag at Lethbridge College Monday morning may have signified the start of a new era in diversity.

LC provost and vice-president academic Samantha Lenci spoke briefly in person to a small group at the college on a sweltering morning in a ceremony that was also being conducted via Facebook.

“This is our sixth annual Pride flag raising and it’s incredible to see how our own community has embraced this event this month and the other 364 days a year. We work hard to remove barriers to education, she said.

The new Progressive Pride Flag represents marginalized people of colour, the trans community and those who have HIV/AIDS, she said.

“It also represents people who have been forgotten and overlooked,” Lenci said.

The flag has a chevron on the left side in stripes coloured black, brown, light blue, pink and white.

“That feeling of visibility and belonging is so important here and we’re proud to fly this flag as a visual reminder of the inclusive and supportive campus we are. As well, it’s a reminder that the work is not done. We must continue to learn to listen and to change. We must ensure education remains accessible for all,” Lenci said.

“Raising the pride flag is a sign to our community that we are allies,” she said, adding it’s a way to show the campus is welcoming to all students to be themselves, “to receive education without fear or prejudice.

Lethbridge College, she said, is one of 12 post-secondary educations across Canada to receive a two-year, $400,000 grant in the areas of equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging.

“We are going to take this grant and further identify and hopefully overcome systemic barriers” to career advancement, recruitment and retention of under represented and disadvantaged groups, Lenci added.

“This is our opportunity to actively look at how we do things and make changes.”

“Ultimately we want everyone to be themselves on campus and be accepted for who they are.”

She was joined in the flag raising by Lane Sterr, president of Lethbridge PrideFest and Joanne Kariuke, vice president of the LC student union.

Sterr said after the ceremony “I think that this new flag shows so much diversity in our community that we already have but it just finally is shedding light onto the beautiful communities of colour that we have here in Lethbridge and all over Canada and southern Alberta. And also the gender and sexual diversity and also the ones we’ve lost through either HIV/AIDS or violence or faith or race.”

Sterr said the flag is a long time coming.

“The last year the world has kind of been on fire with the Black Lives matter movement, the Stop Asian Hate movement and support for our Indigenous communities and other minorities.

“I really want this to be a symbol of active change in our community; I want it to stand for something, making sure that everyone is welcome at our table, not just Pride.

City Pride events have been affected for two years by COVID.

“We’re kind of in a weird place in that we’re on the cusp of summer reopening but we’re still in the pandemic but we’re one foot out,” he said.

“We do have one other in-person event but for the most part I think this year we just want to get through this season” and prevent case numbers from rising, he said.

Sterr said momentum won’t be hard resuming in 2022.

“Come next year, its going to be bigger, better and just an incredible time to celebrate after two years not being able to.”