Today marks the start of the Halifax Pride Festival, a time to celebrate 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and to reflect on the ongoing struggle for equality and justice that members of these communities have and continue to face.
As workers in post-secondary institutions, we are in positions to work towards equality and inclusion in our workplaces, and to implement lessons from 2SLGBTQIA+ activists and organizers into our pedagogical approaches and practices. Last fall, with South House, gender and sexual resource centre, CUPE 3912 organized a workshop on 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion in the classroom, and how to incorporate tangible allyship in our work. But there is always more to learn! Resources are available at SMU, MSVU, and Dalhousie.
While celebrating Pride, we should also take time to learn about the origins of Pride in Halifax and, more broadly, the intersection of the Stonewall Riots, Pride, and the Civil Rights Movement. Racism, transphobia, and homophobia operate together, and activists have led intersectional resistance against all of them. Two racialized trans women, Marsha Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, led the Stonewall Riots 51 years ago – and Black, Indigenous and racialized LGBTQ2+ activists have spearheaded the most radical cross-movement struggles since that time around the globe.
Given the ongoing pandemic, Halifax’s Pride Festival will be virtual this year. A schedule of online events can be found here: https://www.halifaxpride.com/calendar
There are also live streams of events that can be seen here: https://www.halifaxpride.com/stream
We will miss marching with fellow CUPE members in the Pride parade, but online access provides members across the province opportunities to remotely engage with workshops and events.
We wish all members a happy Pride!