Small Town, Big Pride

Since a young age I sought to be what I needed. Was it an act of survival? Revival? Or just a spark in me that refused to be extinguished?

I saw what was missing and I found a way to bring it into existence. Sometimes that meant a lot of hard work and responsibility, but, if you can't find a river, then dig the well.

This heavily included Pride. And that's what this is all about.

Pride is an emotion I believe everyone deserves to feel and experience. And no, I don't just mean in regards to the 2SLGBTQIPA+ community, but also just in the general sense of being proud.

Being proud of who you are, what you accomplish, of your existence and identity, is what inspires purpose and a desire to make the world a better place. When we feel proud, and that others are proud of us, we feel a sense of belonging- of community.

Pride is a community that exists to uplift.

Empowering Queer Youth & Building Strong Allies

I've been lucky and honored to have been able to run the GSA club at the school I work at here in the Arctic. A GSA, or for us- Gender Sexuality Alliance, is a club or group that meets to create and facilitate safe and inclusive spaces in school for 2SLGBTQIPA+ students. Our goal is to empower students and student voice, and host events, workshops, and all sorts of activities to foster inclusivity.

In the last two years, GSA has also been my safe space.

Imagine how fulfilling it is to facilitate a space you always hoped for as a child?

Our GSA has done so much in the last two years. We are not only the most active club in the school, we are also the most active GSA in the whole school district. We hold weekly meetings after school, run workshops, NOH8 photoshoots, dances, bake sales, Christmas Feast, and more. And just this week, we ran the FIRST ever Pride Carnival in the territory! Students even got to throw paint balloons at the staff! (Our principal definitely ate a nice paint balloon or two).

This year, my priority was to also get some funding into the group so that we could get snacks for our meetings, and some DOPE swag. One of our own members even designed an amazing logo that we got printed on hoodies and t-shirts for students. How amazing it was to see our students and staff rep the GSA in the school and around town. It's all about positive representation!

There is so much more we did this year, I don't even know how to get it all in order. But the point is, our youth felt seen and empowered.

To have our own GSA students present to the staff about the harms of misgendering, and the importance of using preferred names and pronouns was a huge win. To escort a student to a regional Pride Planning and Leadership workshop was empowering. To see our queer students presenting and running workshops for other youth was inspiring. I am so immensely proud of these kids.

Small Town Pride Is My Favorite

One of the most-awaited events of the year is Inuvik Pride. But let me back up a bit.

Our district school region is made up of 8 different Dene and/or Inuvialuit communities. Some of these Indigenous communities are within the tree line, and some are in the tundra (ours is tundra).

Once a year, the district looks to bring a group of students who are part of their school's GSA to Inuvik (the "city") for a 3-day Pride. Now Inuvik is by no means a city, it's only about 3100 people. But the other Indigenous communities can be anywhere between 100 to 950 habitants. So for us to travel to Inuvik, means a trip to the "big city"! It also means KFC, Pizza Pizza, a swimming pool, and shopping! So it's quite exciting.

Inuvik also holds the most northern Pride parade, possibly in the world (but definitely in Canada).

And while it's no Toronto or NYC Pride, it's just as good and just as exciting. And personally, I think it's better.

This year, my wife and I chaperoned 7 students on this trip for Pride. We were the biggest school group to go (again), and it was quite busy. We had workshops on Gender & Sexuality, traditional arctic sports, arts, drama, and got to go to the pool. We even had a Drag Show featuring the amazing Iceis Rain!

But the Pride Parade Day was by far my favorite.

When you live so far from populated civilization, you are the representation. And being able to walk with my wife, and other Indigenous queer youth and be PROUD is a feeling like no other.

Screaming alongside queer youth "We're here, we're queer, we have no fear!" brings me to tears. Leading Pride chants and laughing, singing and dancing, it's such a huge feeling. To get hugs from youth who feel seen and loved, and share such a positive space is just immensely fulfilling. Even writing this now, I'm getting emotional.

The youth are our future.

They deserve to be loved and know that they are perfect just the way they are.

I will never forget the memories we all made together, and not only how empowering it was for me to march with my wife by my side, but to march along these beautiful inspiring queer youth.

Big Feels

This year the feels were BIG. The past year has been transformative for me personally, and a lot has happened. Sure, constantly supervising 7 teenagers for 3 nights and 4 days is draining, but it also brought out a lot of emotion.

To be honest, I never really felt that my parents were proud of me. And definitely not for my sexuality. Gender wasn't even a conversation I bothered to have with them. Did they support me? Sure. But did they really accept me? I don't know.

Yes, we held my wife and I's wedding at my parents house, and my mother did a phenomenal job getting all that ready for us. But the night before, and even as my father was about to walk me down the aisle/living room, I didn't feel supported by him. A part of me does regret having it done in their house. This is something I have not shared almost with anyone in the last 2 years. And it's hard. It's still really hard. And so I will stop here on that.

Anyways,

Seeing how loved and accepted these wonderful youth felt during this Pride trip filled my cup in an indescribable way. Seeing how they glowed with pride, and how they saw how proud adults, and queer adults, were of them was just surreal. It was something I always longed for when I was a teen. It was and is something I am honored to give to these youth.

And I came home after with a lot of love and heaviness.

Unfortunately, this was my wife and I's last year with the GSA and these youth, as we are moving away from the North. It is a heartbreaking decision, but it is also an exciting one as we have chosen to move forward in our dreams and life goals.

Having to tell this to these incredible youth has caused me a lot of grief and sadness. But to also see their excitement about our future plans brought heaps of comfort and validation. And they know that they can always reach out to us, because we will always be there for them.

I am filled with gratitude.

We're here, we're queer, we have no fear!