The Estevan council was host to a number of proclamations earlier this week, one of which was the Estevan LGBTQ+ and Allies Social Gathering. They sought the council's proclamation for Pride Month, taking place this June.
Stryx Dubowski, the co-founder of the group, says they were inspired to do more with the group following some activities put on by their sister group in a nearby city.
"The main reason it does exist is in part because last year, Weyburn Pride actually ran a few events in our city, which maybe a little bit irked, maybe a little bit of a sisterly rivalry with that city as well. Why not do it within our community, from people within the community? That inspired the Esteban LGBTQ+ and Allies Social Gathering, which has seen tremendous attendance every single month that we run it."
Dubowski says that while the group was initially founded to help others, the founders ended up being helped out just as much.
"When the other co-founder and I had created this group, we were running it under the guise that it would help others. What I hadn't really considered is how much it would help me as well."
"We have been able to encourage each other to be more authentic, be more ourselves, and I've been able to do so as well and discover many things about myself that I hadn't previously known. And that is as a direct result of not just Weyburn taking the initiative to ensure that Estevan had events like what happened last year, but also small symbolic gestures like flag raising in front of the city hall."
Dubowski says the group would like to see that happen again, but this time the proclamation is being made by them to represent that they're in the community.
Councillor Kirsten Walliser says that it's great to see a group stepping up in the community.
"I think this is one of those topics that feels like it has the potential to be polarizing, and yet we all live in Canada, where this is a federally recognized event. Not only does Canada nationally celebrate Pride Month, but they've now gone a step further and declared Pride season extending from June through the end of September, specifically to address stigma, violence, inequity when it comes to economic opportunities and healthcare access, and being able to have those conversations in Estevan for the month of June is incredibly important."
The Progress Pride flag will be raised at Estevan City Hall on June 16th and remain raised until June 23rd.