As the Airdrie Pride Society (APS) gears up for its inaugural Pride event at Nose Creek Park June 22, the organization made a presentation to Airdrie City council at a meeting June 17 to update the municipality on the society’s role within the community and the importance of recognizing Pride.
“Our mission as an organization is really to celebrate and promote diversity, equality and full inclusion of the LGBTQ2S+ population within the city of Airdrie and surrounding areas,” APS president Kiersten Mohr said. “We’re really trying to build our community, in our community.”
When she moved to Airdrie with her spouse and their two children in 2004, Mohr said she spent 10 years feeling “too afraid” to leave her home. Throughout her transition, she said, she started pushing herself to experience the community and learned that Airdrie “was a really beautiful place.”
“All those things I worried about didn’t happen,” Mohr said. “Really, what I think we’re trying to target is that perception, that in small-town Alberta, it’s not safe.”
Often, she said, local members of the LGBTQ2S+ community feel as though they need to leave the city to access supports and services – but as Airdrie continues to grow, so does its LGBTQ2S+ population.
“Airdrie is a big enough place that we can have our own Pride community,” Mohr said.
The society began in 2014, but it wasn’t until 2017 that Mohr said it really gained traction – attracting the members that now make up its board and developing programs to offer the community. A major part of this programming is geared toward empowering youth, according to Mohr.
The PRYSM (Pride Youth Social Movement) program, which has been offered for the past year and a half through a partnership with Community Links, is a community-wide gay-straight alliance group that fills a gap in providing safe spaces to local LGBTQ2S+ youth, said APS vice-president Candice Kutyn.
“If we want to change the future, we need to get the future there,” Mohr said. “We need to get these kids [to the future] supported and safe and confident, so they can be successful.”
The peer-run Parenting With Pride, also in partnership with Community Links, focuses on providing education and support to parents, guardians and caregivers who may be struggling with their child’s coming out.
“Even the most accepting parent may go through a little bit of a grief process,” Kutyn said. “Up until us starting this group, folks had to go into Calgary to get that kind of support.”
Informal programs like Community Coffee and Pride in the Pub provide organized meet-ups at local establishments to help develop further connections within the city. According to Mohr, APS has endeavoured to establish a stronger LGBTQ2S+ presence in Airdrie through events like the upcoming Pride festival, and to create connections with other organizations that can provide additional local supports.
“The connection and the community they get in these groups is changing their lives, and that’s why we go out, night after night, and are passionate to do this,” Mohr said. “[We’re] putting down roots in this community, making it really, really obvious that there is a community here and that others are here for support – so nobody’s sitting in their house for a decade, too afraid to go to Safeway.”
Prior to APS’ presentation, Coun. Tina Petrow presented council with a Notice of Motion directing administration to work with the Airdrie Pride Society to examine the possibility of installing a Pride crosswalk in the city.
“I think it’s important that our city embraces everybody in our community, and highlights what we can do,” she said. “This motion is coming back a little bit close to the pride festival – I’m not sure what we can do for this year, but I’m putting it out there.”
The motion was carried unanimously. Administration will return to council with information regarding potential location, length of installation (either temporary on an annual basis or permanent), design, price and a cost-sharing plan for the project.
“This is a historic day in Airdrie, to hold our first Pride in the city,” Mohr said, thanking the City for its support and inviting council to attend the event. “Never underestimate the value of your face in the crowd at these things. When you’re in the closet or you’re not comfortable being out yet, that little sign can be so incredibly powerful to people who are struggling.”
This article was updated June 21 to reflect the correct name of Airdrie Pride Society's youth group, PRYSM (Pride Youth Social Movement).
