Iqaluit to celebrate Pride with barbecue, picnic in park
Organizer hopes to revive early 2000s annual celebrations that sometimes drew hundreds of people
Del Drachenberg, left, speaks into a megaphone beside their mother Catherine Lightfoot during a rally in Iqaluit in May. Drachenberg is inviting Iqaluit residents to celebrate at the Pride and Friends of Pride Picnic and BBQ on Saturday at Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park. (File photo by Jeff Pelletier)
Organizers of a 2SLGBTQ+ Pride event in Iqaluit this weekend hope to offer a free meal to community members and revive a summer tradition from the early 2000s.
The Pride and Friends of Pride Picnic and BBQ is set for Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. at the pavilion at Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park.
Organizer Del Drachenberg said they are looking forward to a “welcoming” and “chill” afternoon event where people can talk about Pride and enjoy some burgers and hot dogs.
In Iqaluit, there wasn’t a parade this past June when Pride Month is celebrated across much of the world. So for Saturday’s picnic, Drachenberg took inspiration from an event that used to take place annually in the community.
“This Pride picnic is actually kind of like a rerun of Pride picnics that happened in the early 2000s here,” Drachenberg said in an interview.
Those events, which happened before Drachenberg lived in Iqaluit, were major draws for many of the years that they were held.
The first Pride picnic in 2000 drew about a dozen people, according to a 2003 Nunatsiaq News article. In 2004, though, approximately 300 people including several politicians attended the Pride picnic.
“They wanted to create an event that could be for the community, but a big part of that was they wanted to make it a safe space where people could come but not be necessarily identified as queer or trans,” Drachenberg said of those past events.
“So that’s where the title ‘Pride and Friends of Pride’ came from, this idea that you can come to the event as just a friend. And that creates a safe space both for allies and for people who are a part of the community but don’t feel safe to come out yet.”
This weekend’s event will also focus on the issue of food security.
Drachenberg said anyone is welcome to attend, even if they just want a free meal. Volunteers will be grilling up lots of food, and leftovers will be donated to the local food bank.
After organizing a Rainbow Rally event in Iqaluit which 30 people attended this past May, Drachenberg said younger people who attended expressed the need for more events and spaces in the community for people who are lesbian, gay, transgender, queer or two-spirit.
“Anyone is welcome, so long as you can be respectful and kind and caring towards everyone else at the event,” Drachenberg said.
Pride month ended not even 6 weeks ago.
Thankfully 2SLGBTQ+ are allowed to get together during the rest of the year too. People aren’t only queer or trans during the month of June. The good news is that you can just stay home if you don’t like this. The rest of us can enjoy our free BBQ, beautiful park, and loving community without you 🙂
Be nice if people marched for healthcare and the education system sometime – oth are in shambles.
My 15 year old considers themselves a part of this community. But at $15 a pop for taxi from Road to Nowhere, that’d be $60 for us to attend.
It’d be nice if the City could introduce a bus to the Park.
Have fun for those that can attend. Sylvia Grinnell is a beautiful place to go to.
What , no Uber in Iqaluit ?
what! no Uber in Iqaluit? Pity.
Okay, but seriously, is there any reason why we can’t have Uber? Has anyone tried here? I would if I could, but my vehicle is too old. I’d love nothing more than a shake up of Caribou Cab’s monopoly, and the rating system could help improve safety for both drivers and passengers.
Hopefully next year there could be a bus to shuttle people to and from the event! In the meantime though, there have been some people offering to help with rides to the event on the Iqaluit Pride Facebook group. I am sure one of those people would be more than happy to drive you and your kid.
Thank you for organizing the event, we had the most lovely time and the burgers were good! We did end up taking a taxi but I was thrilled that the taxi company clarified that it was still a regular fare to the park, and we were able to walk back on a lovely day. I’m so glad for your volunteerism, qujannamiik!
Thank you for attending. Being the first year we organized something like this, transportation and funding for it is something we will definitely look at for future events. The feedback from all who did attend was positive. The main purposes for the event was to ensure a safe place for those in the 2SLGBTQ+ community to gather and open the doors allies , those wanting to learn more and simply anyone wanting a day out , and some good food😀. I think all of this was accomplished!
Looks like I missed it.
Leviticus 18:22
If you’re a Christian, why not quote from the New Testament rather than the outdated Law of Moses to prove your point?
Galatians 3:24-25 (NIV):
“So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.”
1 Corinthians 6:9