ATHABASCA – Historically, Pride has been a loud affair and considering its origins, that probably shouldn’t be a surprise.
Recently, Athabasca Outreach and the Athabasca United Church have been practicing a quieter approach to the celebration, with a backyard barbeque, a fundraising concert, and a silent auction to raise funds for related programs.
The celebrations, held over four days, drew roughly 60-70 people this year and nearly double the number of teenagers that it had in prior years.
“Being able to express to people that the church is doing this, and that they’re involved is always a good thing,” said Eryn Straube, who helped co-found Athabasca Outreach. “Youth engagement is a big deal, because there are so few services available to them. We really just want to show that we will build whatever they ask for.”
Athabasca Outreach has been continuing its momentum with initiatives, including the Pride stickers on business doors, and a youth group. This year’s celebrations started with a silent auction June 1, then “Painting our Pride” June 2, where people decorated the front steps and wall of the Athabasca United Church. The Pride Family Picnic was June 3, which drew 40 people of all ages, and then local band Ramshackle Fancy played a fundraising concert the same night. All the events took place at the United Church, who have been playing a supporting role for Athabasca Outreach every step of the way.
“Somebody had to do it,” said Straube, who says that she doesn’t enjoy the leadership role herself. “It’s really just baby steps and doing our best to build a safe space for the kids to be able to be themselves.”
“Having other people that we can relate to is big. When you’re in a small town, there’s a lot of homophobia, so you don’t have a lot of supportive people,” added Ash White, a student at Edwin Parr Composite School (EPC). “It’s really cool how many people come, since a lot of people didn’t show up to the painting yesterday. We weren’t sure how many people we were going to have here.”
Other kids echoed White’s ideas, saying that the most important part was that they had a space where they were just able to be themselves, without fear of judgement.
Caydence Belland, another EPC student, said that she appreciated how laid back the event was.
“It’s just so calm, which is nice. It’s not this big thing which you expect a Pride event to be, it isn’t this big overwhelming thing.”
