More than just a flag
By Lethbridge Herald on June 25, 2025.
Herald photo by Alexandra Noad
Kristen Krein raises the pride flag at City Hall on Monday evening.Alexandra Noad
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The pride flag is officially waving at City Hall to commemorate the city’s 17 year of celebrating pride.
The first Pride parades were organized in several U.S. cities in 1970, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the stonewall riots, protests against the police brutality against 2SLGBTQ+ people.
Fifty-five years later, many 2SLGBTQ+ still feel discrimination in both their personal lives and anti-queer and anti-trans legislation such as the banning of Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA) in schools and Bill 26.
Cassaundra Fayant, chair of the Lethbridge Pride Fest Society, joined the society in 2019 to act after GSA’s were banned in schools.
Fayant says for some, Pride is the only time they are able to be their authentic selves.
“People need to know there’s a safe space for them, because there’s some people that don’t get to be themselves and pride is literally the only time they get to come out and be authentically them around people that love and support them and the rest of the year they have to literally hide in the closet.”
Fayant says she hopes to see the day where everyone has equal rights and can be authentically themselves.
While the Pride Fest Society hosts various events throughout the day, none are quite as large as pride week.
The week started out with the flag-raising ceremony at City Hall on Monday evening, a pop-up yoga happening this evening from 5:30-6:30 at Casa and the Galt Museum is hosting a queer history walking tour this evening beginning at 5:30.
On Friday, the Galt Museum will also host an exhibit about the University of Winnipeg Two-Spirit Archives from 5-7 p.m.
Lane Bonertz, associate director of Two-Spirit Health for Community-Based Research Centre, says it’s important to celebrate Two-Spirit as a way for Indigenous people to reconnect to their culture.
“As Indigenous people we have our own concepts and understandings of what gender identity and sexual orientation was long before the introduction of LGBTQ.”
The big celebration will be held on Saturday, beginning with the parade at 11 a.m. which will start on Stafford Drive South and make their way to Galt Gardens where Pride in the Park will take place from noon until 5.
Pride in the Park will host various 2SLGBTQ+ talent, food trucks and other organizations including Community-Based Research Centre who is putting on a survey named Our Bodies, Our Health for anyone who identifies as 2SLGBTQ and is over the age of 15.
Bonertz says these surveys help create new policies and legislation with an example being Canadian Blood Services modifying their blood donation policy.
“A lot of times our data will be used to inspire or give evidence to the changes that need to happen, so one example of that is Canadian Blood Services changed and modified their blood donation a few years ago and a lot of the reasons behind that was actually because of data we had collected in communities over the years.”
He adds that having queer people leading the work and advocating for their health is important because nobody knows their bodies or experiences like they do.
More information about events the Pride Fest Society is hosting can be found at www.lethbridgepride.com
20-19
crap, we are running out of people to vicitmise