Pride Month Kicks Off with Flag Raising Ceremony at City Hall

Pride Month has officially launched in Thunder Bay with the raising of the Pride flag at city hall.

This symbolic start marks the beginning of 30 days of celebration for the LGBTQIA2S+ community. A wide variety of events are planned, including drag shows and the return of the Pride parade on June 15 after a five-year absence.

However, it’s a bittersweet time, according to Thunder Pride chair Scotia Kauppi, who highlighted this year’s Pride Month theme, “Rise Up.”

On one hand, Thunder Bay has shown strong support, with over 10,000 people attending last year’s Pride celebrations. On the other hand, there are forces actively working to push the LGBTQIA2S+ community back into closets and society back to the stone age, she said.

Kauppi dreams of the day when Pride Month is purely a celebration of love and acceptance, with no need for protest or activism.

Unfortunately, the negative rhetoric has infiltrated Thunder Bay, she said.

The good news is that she firmly believes only a small fraction of the community and country hold anti-LGBTQIA2S+ views.

“We’re out, not hiding behind screens and behind anonymity. We’re out showing everybody that we support all the other members of our community together and that the bigots that want to be out and loud are very small and few, compared to how loud it seems on the internet,” Kauppi said.

Outgoing Rainbow Collective president Jason Veltri said Friday’s kickoff sets the tone for the month of June, adding that he is proud of Pride’s continued growth in Thunder Bay.

However, Veltri noted it’s unfortunate that not all political leaders are on board, though he acknowledged the support from municipal and federal leaders present at Friday’s flag raising.

“It’s concerning to still be fighting to protect LGBTQIA2S+ rights in this day and age,” he said.