Sault Ste. Marie is showing its Pride this month
SAULT STE. MARIE — The local LGBT+ organization MI Sault Pride is partnering up with several local organizations to celebrate Pride Month in the Soo.
The month of June is Pride Month, celebrating LGBT+ community members all across the country. To show support for local LGBT+ members of the Sault community, MI Sault Pride is hosting five different events in Sault Ste. Marie.
The events start at the Bayliss Public Library, with a Pride story time for kids and an open community discussion at 6:30 p.m. on June 7.
The Pride story time for kids is a family friendly event. Bayliss Library frequently hosts story times for kids with different themes. The theme for this month is love and acceptance. While the books that will be presented have nothing to do with sexuality, they carry messages of acceptance of diversity.
"It isn't about bringing into question gender or sexual identity," said children's librarian Sabrina Neveu. "I just want to help normalize the idea of a family with two moms or two dads."
The library's community discussion at 6:30 p.m. on June 14 will feature members of LGBT+ communities gathering to discuss how the community can better support LGBT+ youths.
EUPISD's LGBTQ+ Student Support Network and the SAGE group at LSSU are sponsoring the community discussion with the goal of identifying ways for local parents to best support their LGBT+ children.
There will also be a question and answer section of the discussion for any community member who wishes to learn more about LGBT+ groups in the area.
The next pride event is Tie-Dye for Pride on June 15 in Sherman Park. This is the second annual tie-dye event for Pride in the Sault.
Sponsored by the Diane Peppler Resource Center, the tie-dye in the park event is a small and local event starting at 4 p.m. in Sherman Park. The event is a way to support LGBT+ pride while also getting the chance to make your own new tie-dye gear.
"We had over 100 people last year and it was amazing. It was much more than we thought we would have," said Katie Barkley, an employee at the Diane Peppler Resource Center. "This year we're looking into to kind of double that."
Two days later, the Anishinaabe group Bi-Giwen and members of the Chippewa Tribe of Sault Indians is hosting a two-spirit movie night on June 17.
At 7 p.m. at the Niigaanagiizhik Building there will be a showing of "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything," a movie that celebrates LGBT+ pride in Native Americans.
The Pride events are notably important for many Native American groups as they celebrate two-spirit people, which traditionally refers to a person who identifies as having both a masculine and a feminine spirit.
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The last event happening this year is the Pride drag show on June 25 at Three One Three. The drag show begins at 10 p.m. and will feature some well-known drag queens, including Pyra Addiction and Daya Molayne.
The drag show is also a fundraiser event to support Pride groups in the Soo and other local groups.
All of these Pride events are open to the public and free to attend. Contact MI Sault Pride on Facebook for questions or more information.
Contact reporter Brendan Wiesner at BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Sault News: The Soo is celebrating Pride month with a series of different events
