THUNDER BAY — Love and friendship are at the centre of this year's pride celebrations in the city.
Scotia Kauppi, chair of Thunder Pride, introduced this year’s theme: All in for Love: Global Pride, Infinite Friendship.
“The pride flag holds deep meaning, especially for newcomers, refugees, and immigrants seeking safety and acceptance,” she said at a flag raising event on Monday. “These events show that Thunder Bay and Canada are places where youth can grow, thrive, and discover who they are.”
The start of Pride Month in Thunder Bay was marked with flag-raising ceremonies hosted by the Lakehead Public School Board and Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board. Held in partnership with students, community leaders, and allies, the events celebrated and supported 2SLGBTQ+ individuals.
At the Lakehead Public Schools ceremony, Indigenous student trustee Erin Genno of Westgate Collegiate raised the flag and delivered remarks. “Raising the pride flag is a small act, but a great symbol of our commitment to LGBTQ students, staff, and our environment,” Genno said. “It fosters inclusion, acceptance, and safe spaces.”
Jason Veltri, co-founder of the Rainbow Collective, spoke on the school board’s progress since 2019. “This is a testament to the ongoing commitment that Lakehead Public Schools makes to ensuring that students are visible, that the 2SLGBTQ communities are celebrated,” Veltri said, “and that they have a safe and welcoming space to go to school every day, not just in June, not just because of that flag being flown this month, but 365 days a year and 12 months.”
Lakehead Board Chair Leah Vanderwey emphasized the importance of safe spaces and praised the work of gay-straight alliances in schools. “Across the system, Pride flags are going up at all schools,” she said. “It’s a celebration of LGBTQ+ students and the inclusion of allies.”
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board's event, hosted by Justin Ball, St. Ignatius High School teacher and GSA leader, started with a speech using Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle analogies to speak about community, and role models of the queer community.
Pastors Steven Loweth and Lionel Ketola, who are married, joined members of the Thunder Pride board to speak about faith-based allyship. Victor Clayton of Lakehead University also addressed the crowd, highlighting campus initiatives supporting gender and sexual diversity.
Youth speakers were the emotional centrepiece of the event. Ray from St. Patrick High School started off, followed by Via Kembel of St. Ignatius, who shared her insights from the Ontario Student Trustees' Association meeting and expressed how fortunate she feels to be a student at St. Ignatius. After that, Dawson Jones spoke, followed by Finn Hill.
Finn Hill shared a poignant metaphor about their journey with gender identity: “There was a moment when the TV was unplugged. Thankfully, a close friend, who’s here today, helped me plug it back in.”
The event concluded with a heartfelt performance of “For Good” from Wicked by students Carson and Emily, followed by a pride flag raising by the St. Patrick GSA.
