Pride being recognized in Sarnia
Tyler Kula
More from Tyler Kula
Published on: May 6, 2019 | Last Updated: May 14, 2019 8:51 PM EDT
From left, Sarnia Pride and Transgender Association members Rose Windover-Druiett, Lila Palychuk, and Kenra Druiett will be part of a delegation going before city hall in two weeks to request the iconic rainbow flag and transgender flag be flown outside the building for the month of June. They want to make the border city a more inviting place for all people, a place everyone can feel welcome. Louis Pin/The Observer / jpg, SO
Natalie Andrews says she's seen her children suffer discrimination and hate because of who they are and who they love.
Sarnia council Monday voted to show them – and other members of the LGBTQ2-plus community – they are welcome here and valued.
In a 6-2 decision, council adopted a motion from Coun. Bill Dennis to recognize June as Pride month in Sarnia and light up city hall in rainbow colours.
Council also agreed to fly the Pride and transgender flags at a yet-undetermined waterfront location, and look into installing a community flagpole at city hall for those, and banners from other groups, to fly in the years to come.
The decisions came after a recent call from the nascent Sarnia Pride and Transgender Association (SPATA).
"We're super thrilled," group member Lila Palychuk said.
She, Andrews, and a half-dozen others – some members of the LGBTQ2-plus community and some allies – spoke in favour of the move Monday, nearly 50 years after the Stonewall riots in New York City that led to June becoming Pride month.
Recognizing the month isn't trailblazing, said Dennis; many cities already fly rainbow flags in June.
"I'm asking us to simply catch up," he said, calling it the right thing to do.
He's asking for corporate donations to cover the cost of installing a community flagpole. A staff report is expected to come back to council before that vote.
Council Monday, meanwhile, heard from numerous presenters, including Lambton public health, that people who identify as LGBTQ2-plus experience discrimination – including online vitriol in the wake of news about SPATA's call to council last month.
Members of the community are also at a dramatically increased risk of suicide.
"Forty-five per cent of transgender people have attempted," support worker Crystal Fach said. "That's an epidemic we need to be talking about."
Several speakers also noted a recent Maclean's article listing Sarnia as one of the worst places in Canada for hate crimes.
Sarnia police said the ranking doesn't accurately reflect Sarnia.
"I wish we weren't having this debate … but what I've seen in the past few weeks here in Sarnia reminds me we must have this conversation," said Coun. Brian White, who supported Dennis's motion.
Youth with Rebound, meanwhile, are also planning to approach council some time soon to ask for a rainbow crosswalk downtown.
"Raising a flag and putting in a rainbow crosswalk are small gestures that signal to this community that it is their city too and that their voice and lives matter," Coun. Nathan Colquhoun said.
Palychuk, in the moments after council's decision, was confronted outside council chambers and told her group was intimidating people with dissenting opinions from speaking out.
Coun. Terry Burrell had just finished making the same point.
"The people who made presentations here today … they are also scaring a lot of other people," he said, noting as evidence that no one from the public stood up in council chambers to oppose Dennis's motion.
Burrell voted to recognize Pride month, to light up city hall, and to fly the flags, but voted against getting a staff report on installing a community flagpole.
Coun. Margaret Bird voted against all of Dennis's motion, saying making the recognition privileges one group over others.
Coun. Dave Boushy was also opposed.
White, meanwhile, also asked that staff look into erecting other flags on city property to fly banners for local First Nations communities, part of Sarnia's work implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
SPATA is readying for the flag raising in June, Palychuk said.
Details are to be determined.
"You can look for us advertising for the ceremony on the date that it happens, and hopefully a little bit of a party."
tkula@postmedia.com
Clarification: An earlier version of this article wasn't clear how Coun. Terry Burrell voted.
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