Rainbow Rally planned for Thursday in Iqaluit
Gathering at Four Corners calls on politicians to denounce transphobia, homophobia and support 2SLGBTQ+ people
Catherine Lightfoot and Del Drachenberg are organizing Iqaluit’s Rainbow Rally for Equality, which is scheduled to take place Thursday at the Four Corners. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier)
A rally planned for Thursday in Iqaluit will call on politicians to denounce what organizers describe as rising hate toward the 2SLGBTQ+ community. The 2S stands for “two-spirit,” a term that’s specific to queer Indigenous identities.
The Rainbow Rally for Equality is set to take place at the Four Corners intersection at 5 p.m.
The Iqaluit rally is one of several to be held across Canada over the coming days as part of the Society of Queer Momentum’s National Rainbow Week of Action.
In addition to public demonstrations, national organizers want elected officials to condemn the rise in hate against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirit community, and to implement inclusion plans in workplaces and education.
Del Drachenberg is organizing the Iqaluit rally with their mother, Catherine Lightfoot.
“We want to keep our communities a safe place for people to come out in and to grow and be a part of the community,” Drachenberg said.
“I think it’s so important that we send a message that our communities are a safe space for queer and trans people.”
Drachenberg said Nunavut, especially Iqaluit, is a mostly safe place for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
However, Drachenberg said that in other parts of Canada and in the United States there has been an increase in attacks on queer people and more transphobic legislation has been passed.
For example, some provincial governments, such as those in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, have implemented policies targeting students’ use of preferred gender pronouns in schools.
At municipal councils and school boards across Canada and the U.S., there have been heated debates over 2SLGBTQ+ issues, including the public display of pride flags.
According to Statistics Canada, police-reported hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation and sex and gender increased significantly between 2018 and 2022.
Drachenberg said it has been encouraging to see Nunavut’s politicians show their support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
For example, MP Lori Idlout issued a pledge of support for the Rainbow Rally for Equality earlier this week.
Drachenberg hopes politicians will participate by speaking and attending Thursday’s rally, and continuing their support afterward.
“We want you to fight for our rights, we want you to speak up, we want you to stand by our sides as we fight for our rights,” Drachenberg said.
Both Lightfoot and Drachenberg said they don’t know how many people will attend Thursday’s event, but they plan to keep it off the road so traffic isn’t disrupted.
Despite a few negative comments on their social media posts promoting the event, both say they received dozens of messages of support from people hoping to speak and bring their pride flags.
“I want to assure all the young people in the community, especially those who haven’t come out yet, that you have not met all the people that will love you,” Drachenberg said as a message of hope.
“There will be people who will open their arms to you, and you need to hold on to that hope.”
Another “Week of Action”, along with the numerous weeks, days, and months. I am all for celebrating diversity, and inclusion but I think the constant “celebration” is starting to wear on some people. And cherry-picking misleading headlines only adds to the confusion. Sask and NB are not “targeting students’ use of preferred gender pronouns”, they are simply saying that students under the age of 16 need to have their parents involved and these discussions of using alternative pronouns.
Agreed 100% on what is happening in Saskatchewan, leave it Nunatsiaq to fabricate drama when and where it can. Clicks and views hey? Lying idiots.
Feb 18-25 = Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week
March 1 = Zero Discrimination Day
March 31 = International Trans Day of Visibility
April 6 = International Asexuality Day
April 10 = International Day of Pink
April 26 = Lesbian Visibility Day
May 11-17 = National Rainbow Week of Action
May 17 = International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
May 19 = Agender Pride Day
May 24 = Pansexual & Panromantic Awareness Day
May 24 – June 2 = Winnipeg Pride
June (all of it) = Pride Month
June 5 = Aromantic Visibility Day
June 27 – 30 = Toronto Pride
July 8-14 = Non-Binary Awareness Week
July 14 = International Non-Binary People’s Day
July 16 = Drag Day
July 26 – Aug 4 = Gay Pride Vancouver
Aug 1 – 11 = Montreal Pride
Aug 19 – 23 = Public Service Pride Week
Aug 31 – Sept 1 = Calgary Pride
Sept 16-22 = Bisexual Awareness Week
Sept 23 = Celebrate Bisexuality Day
October (all of it) = LGBT History Month
Oct 8 = Lesbian Day
Oct 11 = National Coming Out Day
Oct 16 = Pronouns Day
Oct 17-24 = Genderfluid Visibility Week
Oct 22 – 28 = Asexual Awareness Week
Oct 26 = Intersex Awareness Day
November (all of it) = Trans Awareness Month
Nov 3 = Trans Parent Day
Nov 8 = Intersex Day of Remembrance
Nov 13 – 19 = Trans Awareness Week
Nov 20 = Transgender Day of Remembrance
0,0 Are these days real? Are there that many?
Get over yourself. You could google any good and just cause and there will be lots of celebrations all throughout the year for people for whom that is important. It doesn’t mean you need to celebrate. I would list out a comparable list of Christian celebrations or Indigenous people celebrations but I don’t think I can print that many characters. Unless you are travelling the country for all these Pride celebrations, it doesn’t really affect you.
HEAR ! HEAR !!!!
Yes, the use of emotionally loaded language in NN is quite common, isn’t it?
Well, that leaves December and January open for parades!!
This aggressive push for rainbows everywhere does nothing but infuriate people. Most of us have always stood with the LGBT but this bombardment of rainbows everywhere is starting to get annoying.
Read the Cass report!
Yes the government is taking away youth rights to privacy, in their decisions and in education. People have no clue what goes on behind the doors of a family. Take away the safe place of schools and for many youth they have nothing. Youth have the right to autonomy. Youth and children are not their parents’ belongings. They are completely capable of making that decision for themselves without parental input.
ITs sad so many people down voted this – if your child cannot talk to you that’s your fault as a parent. Shame on you. before you know it they will be adults and never call or care for you. or they will do worse and end their own because you are not available as a human being but a self centered creature. You didn’t have babies, you bore humans into the world. Thinking, feeling humans. respect them as they are not as you want them to be.
I would go with “ward” rather than “belonging”. Children are wards of their families; you would have them be wards of the state?
How far would you take this youth autonomy? Anorexia, cutting? I can think of even more troubling things that kids might get up to. Hey, as long as no one is coercing them, it’s all just self expression – they’re autonomous!
If youth want privacy can’t they can keep their issues private? Demanding people address you in counter intuitive ways seems the opposite of being private to me.
Someone with way too much time … 😀😀🌈🏳️🌈🤣🤣😀🌈
Hope they get 100 people this time
Happy national barbecue day everyone!
March 8: International Women’s Day
March 21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
June 26: International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
November 20: World Child Day / National Child Day
November 25: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
December 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
December 10: Human Rights Day
February 6: International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
March 21: World Down Syndrome Day
June 12: World Day Against Child Labour
June 20: World Refugee Day
August 9: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
August 12: International Youth Day
October 1-31: Women’s History Month
October 11: International Day of the Girl
October 18: Persons Day
December 6: National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
So how many attended the “parade”??
Ask the cab drivers in Iqaluit and former Storehouse staff in Iqaluit