UPDATE: Tickets are no longer available at Asia’s Finest, and can be found by contacting William Yap or The Canadian Brewhouse.
Lakeland College’s LGBTQ+ Support Group is bringing a chance to catch a new nightlife experience to the Border City. Shantay, We Stay! is creating a fun space for everyone at The Canadian Brewhouse on Saturday, June 29.
For the evening, the bar will turn into a “loud, flashy, mind-blowing, heel breaking, wig snatching gay bar” complete with a DJ and dancefloor. The event promises a dinner at 6 p.m. and a complimentary drink called a Rainbow Dangle. Diverse dance music outside of top 40 picks and country songs, will be in store for the party.
According to the LGBTQ+ Support Group, the aim of the event is to fundraise while providing a safe night out for gender and sexual minorities. Patrons can expect to see a few drag queens and diverse expressions of gender. William Yap, president of the support group, thinks that Lloydminster is in need of an event like this.
“I think Lloydminster needs to have this because Lloydminster has already begun talking about sexual orientation, and about gender expression,” says Yap. “I think it’s time for us to slowly show Lloydminster a little bit more of what it means to be an ally, a little bit more of what it means to have a gay community. Lloydminster has time and time again shown that it’s ready to experience this with an open mind, and embrace allyship.”
In his opinion, Lloydminster has proven itself to be a very supportive community that’s open to gender and sexual diversity. Yap believes that over the past few years there have been numerous occasions where the Border City has shown tolerance and acceptance. On top of this, he thinks there may be a real need for local LGBTQ+ individuals to experience this.
“Really, what I think everyone should feel when they walk into the Brewhouse [sic] is just this immense wave of acceptance from people who strongly feel that love is love. I think that a lot of people in this town could benefit from being able to enter spaces with this feeling.”
Tickets for the event are $25 and partial proceeds go towards the LGBTQ+ Support Group of Lakeland College. They’re available at The Canadian Brewhouse or at Asia’s Finest.
