Flag raising marks 30 years of Pride in Nanaimo
The Pride proclamation and flag raising marks the start of Pride Month in Nanaimo. (Jesse Woodward/CHLY 101.7FM)
Community members of all ages held hands, danced in celebration, and roared with applause at this year’s Pride flag raising.
Pride Month in Nanaimo is officially here, with the Progressive Pride flag and the Transgender Pride flag soaring high downtown alongside the nation’s flag at city hall. Elders, teens and toddlers with their families were in attendance, enjoying the festivities. Local service and advocacy organisations hosted booths, DJ dance music played, and children enjoyed face painting, and drag story time.
NPS President Lauren Semple recounts what the queer community can be proud of over the last 30 years. (Jesse Woodward/CHLY 101.7FM)
Earlier, as the event set up for its 5 p.m. start, Lauren Semple, President of the Nanaimo Pride Society, shared what she is most proud of during these 30 years of Pride in Nanaimo.
“There's a lot to be proud of in 30 years. We've come a long way since the very first Pride march, unsanctioned on the seawall in 1997. I myself joined the Pride Society and became more involved in the community 10 years ago and so just being able to see the work that the activists and everyone did leading up to that point, being able to see what we've accomplished in the last 10 years alone, crosswalks, parade, and festival.”
The Nanaimo Pride Society (NPS), officially formed in 2016, is not only celebrating its 10 year anniversary this year, but 30 years since the first unsanctioned Pride march was held in 1997 in Nanaimo.
Rick Meyers, reads his speech at the Pride flag raising. (Jesse Woodward/CHLY 101.7FM)
Pride was contentious in its early days from 1997 to 2008 during then mayor Gary Korpan’s tenure. Not sanctioned until 2000 by the City of Nanaimo, from 2000 onward, Korpan refused to sign Pride proclamations, which were instead signed in those years by councillors in the role of acting mayor. The first Pride proclamation to be signed by an elected mayor came in May 2009 with mayor John Ruttan, who also officiated the first flag raising ceremony.
Former NPS president Rick Meyers, known also by their drag name Vicky Smudge, remembers the early days of Pride. They also see the need for further progress.
“I'm so blessed to be at this time in my life where I get to watch all that and I get to see them be free, but I also can see reality, and they still have a huge fight ahead, ahead of them, especially with our trans brothers and sisters,” said Meyers.
Poet Rupert Raj highlighted this need for 2SLGBTQIA+ visibility beyond Pride Month in their poem which they recited, repeating “We’ve been here, we’ve been queer”.
Before the flags were raised, Snuneymuxw Elder Dave Spirit Wolf Bodaly opened with a drum ceremony and speech.
Lauren Semple thanked everyone who made the event possible and attendees for their ongoing support while acknowledging the start of Nanaimo Pride from the 1997 seawall protest.
“They did not have a permit, they did not have city approval, but they had courage and a demand to be seen. Because of them, we stand here today celebrating 10 years of the parade, the festival, and the crosswalks,” said Semple.
Meyers highlighted his personal experience with Pride since the early days of the Vancouver Island Rainbow Association expressing gratitude to their late president John Lee. Sharing fond memories of Lee and his guidance to Meyers to step up to make change in the Nanaimo 2SLGBTQIA+ community himself.
“We wanted to build exactly what John had always worked for, a Nanaimo where we didn't have to hide in rented rooms anymore, a place where our community could be seen, valued, respected, and celebrated openly,” said Meyers.
City of Nanaimo Mayor Krog spoke on the importance of Pride before reading the city’s Pride Month proclamation.
“Who you love and how you love them and where you love them is your business. It is your private affair. And everybody deserves respect and love in our community.”
Singer Raymond Salgado perfoms Oh Canada at the Pride flag raising. (Jesse Woodward/CHLY 101.7FM)
Two special guests for raising the two Pride flags were singer Raymond Salgado, known for going viral for his Viva La Vida flash-mob cover on TikTok, and Ellis McNewshiro, a transgender woman and facilitator at Nanaimo Family Life Association. McNewshiro’s child joined her in the raising.
Drag performer PJ Smudge sang as the flags were lifted into the sky.
Prior to the flag raising, PJ Smudge told CHLY that they’re happy with the differences in queer culture from 90’s 2SLGBTQIA+ representation to today.
Drag Queen PJ Smudge sings their heart out at the Pride flag raising. She’s largely happy today with changes in queer culture. (Jesse Woodward/CHLY 101.7FM)
“We're actually kind of missing that scene that we used to have where we had the bars and the dances and everything else. People are just sort of out, well, just living their lives normally, and I on one hand, I really miss what we had in the '90s. On the other hand, I'm really happy that people can just be free to be themselves and out in public and just, you know, love who they love. Love is love,” said PJ Smudge.
This is just the start of Pride Month in Nanaimo. The Nanaimo Pride Society's parade and festival is this Sunday, marshalling in the Old City Quarter at 11 a.m. before marching to Maffeo Sutton park for the festival, which runs until 5 p.m.. More information for this month’s pride events is available at nanaimopride.ca, alongside accessible pdf pPride guides.
“Let's keep this energy going year-round. I love you all. Happy Pride,” Semple says in their closing speech.
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