The week has seen a wide range of PRIDE celebrations solidifying the rainbow colour group’s 10th anniversary here.
The special week kicked off last weekend with a parade and gathering at Serpent River First Nation (SRFN), where its chief, two-spirit leader Brent Bissaillion was named the group’s Empress.
The organization also celebrated one of its major achievements in helping fight discrimination, marking a number of events connected to challenging the LGBT Purge.
The LGBT Purge has been described as the most persistent and damaging workplace discrimination policy in Canadian history, beginning in the 1950s during the Cold War, Canada wrongly suspected people they labelled as “sexual deviants” as being threats to national security.
At one time, the RCMP had 30,000 Canadians under surveillance as suspected homosexuals. The policy resulted in thousands losing their jobs, and having their lives ruined.
The policy was brought to an end by a brave lesbian soldier named Michelle Douglas, who successfully sued the federal government in 1992. In 2018, a class-action settlement valued at $145 million was approved for all victims of the LGBT Purge, spearheaded by local Elliot Lake lawyer Douglas Elliott.
Douglas was present during this week’s celebration and spoke at events at the local library and with classes at Elliot Lake Secondary School. She served as Grand Marshall at Saturday’s parade.
“One of the outcomes of the LGBT Purge class action settlement was the creation of the LGBT Purge Fund. This non-profit organization oversees a fund of about $25 million for memorialization and reconciliation measures,” Elliott said. “We are delighted that the Board of Directors of the LGBT Purge Fund will be meeting in Elliot Lake this weekend, and participating in our tenth-anniversary events.”
PRIDE flag-raising ceremonies were held in Elliot Lake, Blind River, Spanish and SRFN. Acting Elliot Lake Mayor Andrew Wannan proclaimed June as PRIDE month.
On Saturday evening the Moose Lodge hosted a second-chance prom night.
Today, a church service will be held at the Holy Trinity United Church at 10:30 a.m. followed by a close-out brunch at the Fireside Restaurant.