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In the summer of 2015, Kelowna took a significant step.
In the midst of downtown, located on Pandosy Street, the City of Kelowna deserted the classic black and white crosswalk in favor of a rainbow crosswalk.
This crosswalk was a bold signal, it was an indication that the city and the people of Kelowna supported our LGBT community. It was an official symbol that Kelowna intended to be an inclusive, tolerant and accepting place to live.
There were exceptions. One citizen criticized the action, calling Mayor Basran ‘Mayor Sugar Plum’. Instead of being insulted, Basran ran with the insult in the most fabulous way possible: by throwing a superb party to raise funds for the Okanagan Pride Society. This fabulous party was called ‘The Sugarplum Ball’.
This one-of-a-kind ball was hosted at The Rotary Centre for the Arts and was a fabulous drag show. It featured numerous personalities from across Kelowna, all who transformed into the opposite sex. Mayor Basran even participated, revamping himself as the Bowie inspired Mayor Sugarplum.
The Sugarplum Ball was a huge success: 400 people attended and the event raised approximately seven thousand dollars. This money went towards Pride week, an event which normally costs more than it raises.
However, the Okanagan Pride Society refuses to just be known as host and hostess of excellent parties. With next year as their 10th anniversary, they have some big and bold ideas for the future of their society and Kelowna. Ideas that hope to leave an imprint on us as a community.
“We have spent significant amounts of time reanalyzing and refocusing on what we are and what we want to accomplish in the future,” said the President of Okanagan Pride Society, Dustyn Baulkham, in an interview with KelownaNow in November. “The number one focus in the upcoming year will be education. We want to leave an impression on our community.”
According to Dystyn, this education will take various shapes and forms. This includes working with SD23 to inform the public about the importance of gender-neutral washrooms in addition to curating spaces where the gay community are obviously welcomed such as gay sports teams.
“Our community with start to latch onto and click into the Pride movement when they see and understand the human experiences,” said Peter Breeze, Vice-President of the Okanagan Pride Society. “I grew up in Calgary and would encounter one phrase all the time: ‘I don’t like gay people but I really like you’. This doesn’t make any sense, we need to move past the preconceived notions of who people are and connect with them as people. When we focus on human beings behind the label, we will move forward."
As for the Future of Kelowna with regards to the LGBT community, Dustyn and Peter have a very clear vision.
“I’ll never forget something Mayor Basran said once. It was a single line spoken at our drag show at Flashbacks in 2014. He did an impromptu speech that was very moving. During this speech he said something very important. He said ‘I just want Kelowna to be the place my kids can grow up to be the person they were born to be.'”
KelownaNow is looking back on 2016, a year of impactful news locally and worldwide. Stay tuned until New Year's Eve to see what we think our biggest stories were over the past year.
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