By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

looking for respect

Pride Day planned for June 2 at Lindsay Thurber

May 31, 2021 | 6:01 PM

Students at some Red Deer Public schools will be marking Pride Month in the coming days.

Schools were left to organize their own Pride events should they choose to after Red Deer Public Schools trustees voted down a motion earlier this year for a district-wide Pride Week, instead choosing to approve Diversity Week.

Due to ongoing COVID-19 and “other current operational pressures,” however, district officials say Diversity Week for this year has been cancelled.

Trustees tasked Superintendent Chad Erickson with reviewing the division’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Policy, which work is well underway on, the district says.

At Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School, which started Alberta’s first Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) in 1999, the current Queer-Straight Alliance (QSA) is eagerly anticipating their self-organized Pride Day on June 2.

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It is to be a day of celebration, recognition and learning, says Ava Lelond, a Grade 12 student and QSA member who uses they/them pronouns.

“We as queer people go through so many struggles. It’s not easy, especially being in high school,” says Lelond, who identifies as non-binary. “Being queer or transgender is very nerve-wracking every day. I’m always on guard. So to have this day, it means we are being seen, heard and respected.”

Ava Lelond, a grade 12 student at Lindsay Thurber, recently spoke with rdnewsNOW about an upcoming Pride Day. Behind Lelond are the non-binary and pansexual flags. (Zoom)

Activities will include a flag-raising and educational announcements over the P.A. to start the day, with other learning opportunities planned throughout.

Looking back on the controversy surrounding the board’s decision, Lelond says they are proud to have written a letter in support of Pride Week.

“The night I heard about their decision to reject Pride Week, I sat in my basement and cried because it felt like we again weren’t being heard. We celebrate everybody else throughout the year, and Pride is still a protest for people who aren’t seen as equals. Once we are seen as equals by all, maybe Pride can be part of something that celebrates everybody.”

After being out for four years, Lelond adds, Pride Day will be the first time they’ve been able to experience truly feeling seen.

“I’ve struggled with suicide because of the bullying I’ve experienced related to my gender identity. People are ignorant, and I feel the school board is still very ignorant in that they’ve seen other schools and divisions take action, but they won’t.”

Lelond says when the day is done, people should realize Pride Day – or any other Pride event — is simply about respect.

“A lot of people in schools aren’t out because they aren’t comfortable being out. They don’t have a safe space to be who they authentically are,” they says. “I’m lucky because my parents have been very accepting of who I am and who I identify as, but there are so many people out there who don’t have that, and who’ve been kicked out or beaten.”

On Thurber Pride Day and every other day, says Lelond, “Just respect me for who I am.”

The Hunting Hills High School QSA is also holding a Pride Picnic June 2, with student leadership having created a video about why they feel schools need Pride events.

Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools didn’t say if events were happening at any of its schools, however Superintendent Kathleen Finnigan did offer remarks on Pride Month.

“As many people in our society mark Pride Month, Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools reaffirm that every person is a gift from God and is individually unique. We stand in solidarity with those individuals who may be vulnerable, unwelcome, or excluded in society, including the LGBTQ2+ community. In our school division, all are welcome, all belong, and all receive outstanding Catholic education offered with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.”