Dozens turn out for Pride march

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This article was published 18/05/2023 (1267 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the Brandon School Division grapples with a proposal to review, and possibly ban, books that discuss gender identity, one of the province’s biggest unions held a rally Wednesday in support of the local LGBTQ+ community.

Dozens of CUPE Manitoba members and local LGBTQ+ allies marched along 18th Street in Brandon to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia late Wednesday afternoon.

In Brandon for the union’s annual convention at the Keystone Centre, CUPE Manitoba president Gina McKay told those assembled that preparations for the rally started after news spread about a presentation to the Brandon School Division’s board of trustees last week.

At that meeting, former trustee Lorraine Hackenschmidt called for the division to form a committee with the intent of reviewing and potentially banning books that discuss gender identity and sexual health subjects.

McKay told the Sun that CUPE reached out to local groups like Brandon Pride and the Sexuality Education Resource Centre with the help of Kirk Carr from the Brandon and District Labour Council to learn how the union could support the local LGBTQ+ community while in town.

“The International Day Against Transphobia and Homophobia is a day of global awareness, and so it’s fitting it’s happening today that we’re celebrating with our community in Brandon,” McKay said.

She said she was hoping the march would send a message that human rights are not to be picked apart and regressed.

“We’re here to say that we’ve got the back of the Brandon workers, of the school board and of the community and we’re here to make a difference.”

As the crowd walked from Keystone Centre south toward Richmond Avenue and then back to the arena, approximately 80 participants waved union and Pride flags, repeated chants and held up signs denouncing book bans.

Most motorists reacting to the march honked their horns and waved in support, though at least a couple rolled down their windows to shout obscenities at the crowd.

One of the CUPE members visiting from outside the city was Evan Proulx, representing workers for the City of Winnipeg. He said he was at the rally to protest not just against last week’s presentation, but also school board members who praised it.

Two trustees, Calistus Ekenna and Breeanna Sieklicki, applauded the presentation last week, with Sieklicki calling Hackenschmidt courageous.

“It’s something we can’t allow to take any foothold in Manitoba,” Proulx said at the rally. “Right now, the American Civil Liberties Union in the United States is tracking 474 anti-LGBTQ bills working their way through legislatures in that country.”

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community in Winnipeg, he said he wanted to show solidarity with those in Brandon.

Carr said the event was a good opportunity to show the labour movement stands with the pride community in Brandon.

“It’s amazing,” Carr said of the response to the event. “It shows that love does rise above the hate … it is very easy to wallow into that dark tunnel, and this shows the community is in full support and we’re not OK with books being banned.”

The turnout to Wednesday’s event is just a “small sample” of the response the community has had to the presentation over the last week, Brandon Pride chair Alyssa Wowchuk said.

“It’s in the darkest moment that you can see community like this pull together,” Wowchuk said. “It’s been so heartwarming to see individuals, groups, businesses and organizations reaching out with their letters of support, making rallies to show their support, writing letters to the trustees and to The Brandon Sun. This is the discussion that we have to have.”

Brandon Pride’s annual pride week is scheduled for June 11 to 17 and will include its annual pride march from Brandon City Hall to Rideau Park.

The school board is scheduled to discuss Hackenschmidt’s presentation at its next regularly scheduled meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

In anticipation of a larger crowd, the meeting has been moved from the division’s administration building on Sixth Street to the gymnasium of Vincent Massey High School, located at 715 McDiarmid Dr.

Last week, the division issued a statement saying any resident elector of the division has the right to speak at the meeting, but must first register in advance and provide their name, address and the name of the group to which they belong.

To register, residents are encouraged to reach out to the office of the division’s secretary-treasurer by calling 204-729-3115 or emailing info@bsd.ca no later than noon on May 16.

Residents can also submit written correspondence to be read at the meeting by emailing that same address.

For those who can’t attend the meeting in person, it will be live streamed on the division’s website.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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