Residents are invited to celebrate the beginning of Pride Month by attending Innisfil Pride's fifth annual flag-raising ceremony at town hall on Friday, June 2 at 1 p.m.
A second ceremony will occur the following week, as the Pride flag will be raised at Innisfil Beach Park on June 7 at 9:30 a.m. It will fly year-round and replace the intersex-inclusive Pride crosswalk at Innisfil Beach Park, which was installed at the front gates in August 2021.
“Innisfil is a welcoming community for all, and we celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion with events such as flag-raising ceremonies,” said Mayor Lynn Dollin. “Every member of our community is valued and respected, regardless of race, religion, country of origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”
An initiative by Innisfil Pride and UPlift Black, Innisfil Pride president Jake Tucker explained that the flag provided for the ceremonies is the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag, which was adopted in 2021 after it was designed by Valentino Vecchietti, who altered the previous Progress Pride flag to include the purple ring atop the golden triangle to represent intersex individuals.
Tucker said each colour on the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag represents individuals in the 2SLGBTQ community. The black stripe has two meanings as it honours those who died during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s, and it also represents people of colour, as does the neighbouring brown stripe. The light blue, pink and white stripes symbolize the trans community, all of which are connected by the rainbow flag adopted in the 1970s.
"Innisfil Pride is a unique gem within the community — our light continues to shine bright,” said Carol Griffith, the treasurer of Innisfil Pride. “Innisfil Pride and our community differs from the more common Pride organizations and neighbouring cities and we will continue to cater to our valued community members. We stand in solidarity with Uplift Black, BIPOC and our Indigenous community. We are grateful to be welcomed here."
“Innisfil Pride pledges to meet the needs and wants of the Innisfil community, ensuring our morals and values align with the majority of community members and, although Innisfil Pride is inclusive, we ensure our events are appropriate for all ages and geared towards family units,” Tucker said. “It’s not just a matter of freedom of expression, it’s about tailoring events to the audience and what our community members are comfortable with.
"The entire board at Innisfil Pride adjust the approach towards presentations and activities to ensure we're not overstepping boundaries while still fostering the values of the 2SLGBTQ and BIPOC community," Tucker added.
For those unfamiliar, Tucker explained that BIPOC is an acronym that stands for Black, Indigenous, People of Colour.
"UPlift Black’s mission is true equity through a conscious and uplifted community," said Shelly-Ann Skinner, president and founder of UPlift Black. "Supporting, organizing and collaborating to create visibility of our local 2SLGBTQI+ community is how we can see that mission become reality. Representation like Pride celebrations and flag raising across the region is not only a promotion of inclusion and belonging, it’s life-saving work,"
"Thank you to Innisfil Pride for your consistent advocacy and support of our local 2SLGBTQI+ community and to the Town of Innisfil for once again, taking this step in the right direction, to encourage systemic change and improve the safety and well-being of those who too often faced with discrimination, harassment and violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We’re better together," Skinner added.
Though everyone is welcome to join members of Innisfil Pride and UPlift Black on June 2 and June 7, Tucker told InnisfilToday that “Innisfil Pride has, and will, continue to support our local South Simcoe police — and neighbouring Barrie police — as well as all first-responders. We invite them to join us in full uniform, or not, during our public events, and have had amazing feedback and participation from many.”
To learn more about Innisfil Pride and UPlift Black, follow their Facebook pages.
