The LGBTQ plus community in Lloydminster is coming together to make their voices heard.
The LGBTQ plus committee at Lakeland college is putting on their first Pride Awareness Week in Lloydminster. Student at Lakeland College and LGBTQ plus member William Yap says this started last year with the Colonial Days parade, where the presence of LGBTQ society was felt, but there is still a stigma surrounding them that needs to be eliminated.
“If we start the conversation somewhere and starting it in a post secondary establishment, where we can expect to be able to have these conversations without having to worry about prejudices and biases than it’s the perfect platform to begin.”
The LGBTQ plus committee is responsible for advocating for gender issues within the school such as gender neutral washrooms and gender neutral pronouns. Yap says the week is to educate the City on issues LGBTQ people face within the community.
“It is really there because it’s important to have representation, especially for the students mental health for those that are under the LGBT bracket.”
The week will involve various speakers sharing their experiences and stories of coming out and having a transgender identity. Yap adds that the theme for pride week is, in a world of division their committee chooses to be a spark that starts a revolution of change.
Pride Awareness Week will be held the week of April 9 to 13 at the Lakeland Lloydminster campus.