This year, Pride week activities in Sudbury will be filled with activities, events and dances.
But it will also feature a march instead of a parade.
At a launch held at Sudbury Indie Cinema in downtown Sudbury, Fierté Sudbury Pride and partnering organization Réseau Access Network., it’s clear there will be joyful and celebratory events during the week of July 9 to 16, but also, a focus on continuing the fight that Pride was born from.
“Activism is a crucial part of what Pride does, because at the end of the day, not all gender identities and sexualities are accepted,” said Kyelle Byne, sponsorship lead and board member of Fierté Sudbury Pride.
“We have come a long way since that first Sudbury Pride march in 1997. We've started to see strides in acceptance of sexual orientation, but gender identity, people are saying, well, this is okay, but this identity now isn't; they want to Other and they want to create this distinction.”
That’s why this year’s Pride is based around three words, said Byne: Community, connection and solidarity.
Pride Week will begin with Greater Sudbury’s first ever Two-Spirit Pow Wow Social, featuring Indigenous drummers, dancers, artisans and vendors in Science North’s Vale Cavern. Throughout the week, Fierté Sudbury Pride will host educational events and panels, a youth hangout at the Compass Youth Wellness Hub, Pride at the Farmer's Market, and of course Pride Day in the Park, with mainstage performances by Tessa Balaz, Tafari Anthony, Restored, and Grey Gritt.
The evenings are for excitement and fun, beginning with the ‘Science is a Drag’ show hosted by Science North at the Alibi Room, and a queer double-bill film feature at the Sudbury Indie Cinema.
The rest of the week will find a speed-friending event (similar to speed dating) at Place des Arts, queer trivia hosted by Réseau Access Network, a queer and body-inclusive swim hosted by Réseau Access Network and YMCA, nightly events at Zig’s, and more.
The Big Nickel will show Greater Sudbury’s Pride at night when it will be lit up in rainbow colours, 2S-LGBTQIA+ youth can take part in a youth Pride Prom and adults may choose to attend the 2S-LGBTQ+ Community Awards Pride Brunch hosted with Réseau Access Network. Finally, head out to Greater Sudbury’s beaches and ‘Queer the Beaches’ on Sunday, July 16 to close out the week.
You can find the full calendar of events here.
Byne told Sudbury.com she is hoping this Pride week celebration will be bigger than ever.
“We went from 300 people in 1997, to 1,500 people marching last year, and that's just the people who were marching, there were crowds of people lining the streets,” she said.
To her, that many people easily drowned out any hate that may have been there.
“At the end of the day, what I would love to see is people in the community just coming together and just being loud and excited and just proud to be part of a community where yes, we still face challenges, but let's celebrate where we are and continue to push for change in the future.”
Jenny Lamothe is a reporter with Sudbury.com
