L-R: Central Alberta Pride Society vice-president Bobbi-Jo L'Hirondelle, vice-president of Academic and Student Experience Lindsay Engel, and Student's Association of Red Deer Polytechnic president Devyn Shannon. (rdnewsNOW/Ashley Lavallee-Koenig)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

"A FORCEFUL NO"

RDP kicks off Pride Month with annual flag raising

Jun 3, 2024 | 1:18 PM

Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) raised its progressive pride flag on June 3 to recognize the beginning of Pride Month.

“Diversity and inclusion are not only values we uphold, but they are strengths and they enhance the experiences of our students, our faculties, and our staff. They make the polytechnic richer and more vibrant and enhance our community,” said Lindsay Engel, vice president of academic and student experience.

The flag raising was hosted in partnership with the Student’s Association of RDP (SARDP). RDP has also increased its collaborations with the Central Alberta Pride Society in recent years.

“It’s super important to see allies in all shapes and forms, and especially ones where we educate our future generations. It’s an important spot for everybody to come down and just take a look and know that they are safe and included and thought of,” said Bobbi-Jo L’Hirondelle, vice president of the Central Alberta Pride Society.

For Devyn Shannon, president of the SARDP and a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, Pride Month is “a forceful no; no more, not today, never again.”

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Before arriving at RDP, Shannon lacked the support he needed to embrace his identity, but has since learned to embrace and celebrate pride for every version of himself.

“To him, and to me now, pride is an irreplaceable ideal. It is love, it is kindness, compassion, care and respect. It is equality, belonging, empathy, and a foundation for more.”

In his speech, Shannon addressed that in a political environment wherein transgender youth are being targeted and discrimination is surging, the fight for Pride is not over.

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“It was discouraging at the time to realize there were still people that believed that trans kids aren’t just regular kids that need gender affirming care — that trans kids were likened to feces. That was a hard lesson to learn, coming into a scene like this and realizing that not all people are being given the ability to just be. It was disconcerting but it gives us a reason to move forward, a reason to continue advocating for equality,” he said.

Moving forward, in addition to the flag raising, students can expect to see signs of Pride moving farther into campus.

“From the Pride working group we have gathered a list of things that students would like to see happen around campus, which mostly revolves around having more inside instead of just having the pride walk on the outside,” Shannon said. “There are projects underway that we’re going to be looking forward to collaborating with RDP on.”

Pride Month is an international recognition of the historical and ongoing fight for the rights of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. It began in 1970, on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City, wherein police were met with protest after raiding a known gathering place of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

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