The Pender Island Pride is hosted by the Pender Island Pride Society (PIPS), a grassroots, volunteer-driven, community organization.
The Pride Festival team are local volunteers who plan, organize, and host the annual Pride events.
This is accomplished with the help of a larger pool of volunteers who get involved to help with specific tasks as needed.
In April 2020, Pender Island Pride Society was incorporated as a BC non-profit society in order to empower the Pride Committee by providing a base of administrative and communications support, as well as accountability to our community, and credentials for partnerships and interactions with other organizations, etc.
The society is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors who are elected by the Society’s membership at the Pender Island Pride Society’s Annual General Meeting held each year in the autumn.
The inaugural Pender Island Pride (2019) was first conceived by an island mom as a way to show her daughter and other local LGBTQ2S+ and questioning youth that they live in a welcoming and supportive community in which they can feel safe to live their truth authentically and safely.
The overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from across the islands’ community made it a great success. It forged new connections, friendships, and opportunities for collaboration with other community groups and initiatives and has paved the way for the future.
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PRIDE IS MORE THAN JUST A PARTY
Pride celebrations may seem like a lot of fun and frivolity, but they are so much more. Pride marches began as protests, demanding an end to systemic discrimination, violence, and hatred towards LGBTQ2S+ people.
After decades of struggle, we celebrate progress towards equality and human rights protections. Pride events are an important part of remaining vigilant that hard-won rights are not stolen away.
Despite the advances in our society, there is still far to go before all people are free to live authentic lives, safe from stigma, bigotry, out-dated social values, and harmful ideologies. Pride events are crucial to projecting a message of support and inclusivity in our community and continuing to bring awareness of those injustices that remain.
Without positive role models and public expressions of Pride, LGBTQ2S+ people, especially youth, can feel oppressed, fearful, or isolated. This can result in people making unhealthy choices as coping mechanisms, and not living up to their true potential. Small and remote communities without direct access to the services and resources available in urban centres can be especially susceptible to these circumstances.
OUR MISSION is to support the Pender Island LGBTQ2S+ population by:
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Organizing and hosting Pride events on Pender Island.
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Supporting social justice and equality initiatives locally and beyond.
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Building social and support networks within the LGBTQ2S+ community and fostering positive connections and relationships with the broader population.
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Helping LGBTQ2S+ youth to achieve their full and authentic potential by supporting community- and school-based initiatives and programs that create a safe environment for them to flourish in.