April 1, 2023 qathet Pride invited the community to gather for a conversation in the Town Centre Hotel ballroom decorated with pride flags by Powell River Youth Volunteers.
Some 55 good humans gathered to discuss and prioritize, as to what’s needed next for Pride in our region of some 2,000 queer LGBTQIA2S+ folks.
Here’s what we came up with… documented below the images…
Summary Results of the Community Conversation April 1st, 2023
Saturday April 1st, 2pm to 4.30pm ~ Joyous Abundant Pride
Community Conversation for the future of Pride in qathet…
55 people attended including youth, seniors and many in-between, the GSA and Brooks were represented, Inclusion, City Councilors and our diverse queer LGBTQIA2S+ community.
Thank you all for attending. Your sharing and creativity resulted in these
There is pretty clear direction and mandate: off the top the big buckets:
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- A real desire for year round events — swims, dances, book club, music jams, film nights (a lot of which can be met by simply giving support to the community’s self organizing potential, as in what happened on Saturday re Music and Books.)
- Education — many segments from parents to allies to biz owners to the wider community
- Safety — safe places to gather, for it to be safe to be queer here, more visibility, stickers on biz doors etc/
- Destination Pride — regional
We posed 3 question : with these themes and responses…
How is Pride still important?
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- Safe, Visibility, Togetherness, Education, Health, Fun & Celebration
What’s possible here? What would you love to see?
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- A long list, see the raw notes pdf
What next ? What matters most ?
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- Queer Music Safe Spaces ~ venues, ideas, equipment, drum kit
- City Related ~ block party, transit, youth, advisory group, grants, funding, and more,,,
- Possible Regional Event ~ collaborate with neighbouring coastal pride organizations
- Education
- Books & Book Club
Click for the raw notes pdf and “sticker wall pics” (above)
Thanks for helping identify priorities and having your say…
We will create an online survey so those who missed the event can be involved and contribute too…
We’ll share this link soon with a summary of the AGM April 11…
Stay tuned and thank you