Publication1

TOGETH­ER WE PRIDE

By Don­na Boguslavsky, KYC Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lab­o­ra­tion Project Associate

The Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lab­o­ra­tion team was proud to rep­re­sent the Ken­neth Young Cen­ter (KYC) LGBTQ+ Cen­ter at the Pin­ta Pride Project’s Buf­fa­lo Grove Pride Dri­ve event on Sun­day, June 7th. Many expressed anx­i­eties about the pro­posed reverse” parade. How would it even work? Would peo­ple show up? Would there be back­lash to the parade’s stance to focus on the Black Lives Mat­ter move­ment? Despite the chal­lenges and con­cerns, the day was a smooth ride for us involved, a gen­uine beau­ti­ful dis­play of sup­port from the com­mu­ni­ty, and an unde­ni­able success.

IMG 0694

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Cazares.

Prepa­ra­tions for the parade began a week ahead as LGBTQ+ Cen­ter staff, interns, and youth vol­un­teers stuffed 500 rain­bow bags with good­ies from the Cen­ter, such as stick­ers that read You Are Beau­ti­ful, and hand­made but­tons say­ing we are a safe space for you.”

IMG 0695

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Cazares.

Good­ie bags weren’t the only fea­ture that set the Ken­neth Young Cen­ter parade stop apart. We were also one of a few places to have live music, star­ring our very own youth out­reach work­ers, Greyson and Luka! The two played through their rehearsed 1‑hour set, but were hap­pi­ly sur­prised when the home­own­er brought out his own amp and gui­tar and they con­tin­ued the impromp­tu set for anoth­er hour.

IMG 1760

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Cazares.

The signs on our lawn fea­tured art by Greyson of LGBTQ+ icons, Sylvia Rivera and Mar­sha P. John­son. Around them were signs that read: where would pride be with­out black, brown, trans, women, dis­abled, poor, immi­grant, & native activists?” and tu lucha es mi lucha” (your strug­gle is my strug­gle). This mes­sage of sol­i­dar­i­ty and resis­tance against anti-black­ness, trans­pho­bia, and anti-queer­ness was echoed by our shirts that read: we’re here, we’re queer, togeth­er we thrive.”

Over­all, the event was impact­ful for both the com­mu­ni­ty, and KYC staff at the Algo­nquin Road office. Com­mu­ni­ty res­i­dents from all over the North­west sub­urbs were in atten­dance. Being part of the BG Pride Dri­ve allowed KYC to show res­i­dents that our LGBTQ+ Cen­ter is here and ready to sup­port youth, young adults, and their fam­i­lies, even dur­ing a pan­dem­ic. Addi­tion­al­ly, par­tic­i­pa­tion in the event helped to affirm KYC’s Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lab­o­ra­tion staff that iden­ti­fy as LGBTQ+ and show that KYC strives to be an orga­ni­za­tion where staff can be proud of who they are in front of their cowork­ers, if they choose. It was also very impor­tant for staff who iden­ti­fy as black, indige­nous, and peo­ple of col­or (BIPOC). To see the team stand­ing up not only as het­ero­sex­u­al allies and LGBTQ+ advo­cates, but also as white and non-black POC allies val­i­dates that black and brown queer peo­ple of col­or belong here, deserve to be here, and need to feel safe. As one cowork­er stat­ed, I’ve nev­er been more proud to work here.”


Previous Article Next Article
You're Not Alone

50%
of cas­es of men­tal ill­ness begin by age 14.

Get Involved

How You Can Help

Keep up to date with KYC!

Get the latest Kenneth Young Center news and insights emailed to you each month. Just complete the form below to subscribe.