College flag raising marks the start of Pride Month and return of annual SA event.
The Progress Pride flag was raised at the St. James Campus’s 200 King St. E. building on June 1, marking the start of Pride Month 2023.
A group of students, staff, and faculty gathered at Waterfront campus to view a pre-recorded video of the raising of the flag. The Progress Pride flag was designed in 2018 to include additional coloured stripes that represent black, indigenous, and people of colour communities, and the colours from the trans-pride flag.
Pride month is observed in June every year to celebrate the 2SLGBTQI+ community and their resilience, talents, and contributions. Canada has a long history with many milestones in the pride journey. It was not until the early 2000’s that same-sex marriage was made legal in Canada, and it wasn’t until 1991 that ‘Lesbian and Gay pride day’ was officially endorsed in Toronto.
However, laws and policies have come a way since then, and today almost all provinces in the country prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in their human rights legislation.
Today, Toronto hosts one of the largest pride festivals in the world on Pride Month.
At GBC, pride month was kicked off with the flag-raising event which was organized by the Office of anti-racism, equity and human rights services (OAREHRS). The event also featured a live DJ, food, a photo booth, button-making station, and information tables.
Joe Cressy, senior vice-president, external relations, communications and real estate development addressed the gathering, “The act of raising the flag is more than a symbolic gesture. This is not something that is done because it’s Pride Month.”
“This is an act and a statement of political aspiration. Let us reaffirm our commitment to fostering an inclusive and equitable George Brown College community. And let’s let this flag serve as a reminder of what we seek to aspire to build, and how we celebrate love and honor each other.”
The SA’s Community Care Centre (CCC) tabled at the event alongside other services at GBC and some external community organizations.
“We must remember pride started with protests. Remembering this and that continued struggles and realities haven’t disappeared. It’s nice to see rainbows all over the place, but I think students and our community remain cognizant of corporate pinkwashing and what corporations and other institutions are doing beyond ally-ship,” said Charlene Holmes, CCC coordinator. “Pride should be honored and celebrated all year round because human rights should be celebrated and honored that includes Trans Day of Remembrance, that includes international non-binary person day. It’s beyond just June. And it’s great to see George Brown and the SA come together on this.”
Students and attendees were able to avail themselves of resources from such organizations and learn more about support available at GBC.
“This is an opportunity to let our LGBTQ+ people know that we’re here to support them. We want to actively make space for them and support greater inclusivity and actual policy and advocacy changes for first LGBT+ people and other people who are affected by homophobia and transphobia,” said Wren Alden, awareness and education program coordinator at the OAREHRS.
They also shared that for them, personally, the pride month is a way of celebrating life and togetherness in the community.
Later in the day, the OAREHRS also hosted a panel discussion on “Being Seen: The importance of 2SLGBTQ+ visibility in the workplace” with 2SLGBTQ+ panelists from within the college.
Michael Herrera, senior vice president of institutional planning and chief financial officer; Ana Rita Morais, chair of the school of design; Trent Scherer, chair of media and performing arts; and Alden made up the panel.
Students can look forward to more events this pride month such as craft tea, cookie decorating, and a 2SLGBTQ+ fundamentals to action workshop.
The CCC is organizing a pride picnic at all three campuses. Details will be shared soon.
