'It was just time to bring Pride here,' says Flin Flon festival organizer

The northern Manitoba city of Flin Flon will hold its first-ever Pride festival this August.

The festivities will include a flag-raising ceremony at city hall and a community barbecue on August 18, followed by the city's inaugural Pride parade and a community fair the following day.

Jordana Oulette, chair of the Flin Flon Pride Committee, has been leading the charge to bring Pride to her hometown of 5,200, located more than 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg on the border between Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

"We just want people to come out," Oulette told CBC Manitoba's Radio Noon on Tuesday. "Whether they're against it or if they're afraid, just come out and just see what it's about. Everyone is welcome."

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The event has been a year in the making, said Oulette, who first got the idea of bringing Pride to Flin Flon after attending related festivities in Saskatoon.

"I just thought, 'Well, why can't this be at home?'" she said. "It's showing that it's coming a long way and that acceptance is growing."

Celebrating Pride in small communities

Larger cities worldwide have been celebrating Pride for decades. Earlier this summer, thousands took part in Winnipeg's 30th annual Pride parade, waving rainbow flags as they marched through the city's downtown.

But Oulette said she's proud to see smaller communities across Manitoba now also celebrating the LGBT community.

"It's very important, just because people feel secluded out in these areas," she said. "We're so far away from those events and from any major city. It's very important to just make people see that it's acceptable everywhere."

Flin Flon joins several other communities in Manitoba that have organized their first-ever Pride parades in recent years. They include Thompson in 2014, Brandon in 2015, and both Portage la Prairie and Steinbach in 2016.

But as attitudes change, residents in more traditionally conservative communities have sometimes voiced their disapproval, refusing to support Pride events.

Pride organizers faced several challenges last year in Steinbach, a small city with a large Mennonite community, located about 60 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg. Several prominent politicians refused to attend the event, and Manitoba Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen has said he will not attend this year's celebrations in his constituency.

Oulette said she doesn't expect similar pushback in Flin Flon, adding that she has not received any negative comments so far. Still, she said RCMP officers will be present at the parade to offer assistance if needed.

Changing attitudes

Recalling her own high school years in Flin Flon, Oulette said she hoped the festival will send a signal to youth in her community, helping to ensure they feel included.

It was just time to bring Pride here.- Jordana Oulette, chair of the Flin Flon Pride Committee

"It would have meant a world of difference for me," Oulette said, remembering the struggles she faced growing up, trying to hide who she was until she came out in her early 20s.

"I got singled out a lot, and people would kinda bully me … and call me gay or whatever," she said. "I felt really alone."

But things have changed, Oulette said, and the city's upcoming Pride festival will provide an opportunity to celebrate a more welcoming community.

"People are just more accepting and nobody really looks twice," she said. "It's come a long way on its own, so it was just time to bring Pride here."