Owen Sound has officially opened its rainbow crosswalk.
Members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, city representatives and members of the police service gathered at city hall this morning where they also raised the Progressive Pride Flag.
Grey Bruce Pride Member Rachel Paterson spoke at the event saying the flag is being flown at half-mast in recognition of the recent discoveries in Canada of hundreds of unmarked indigenous residential school children’s graves on the grounds of schools in BC and Manitoba with more searches planned. “We know that there’s anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 that could be discovered,” says Paterson.
She explains, “We can’t in good conscience, while it’s also national indigenous history month, fly the flag at full mast. Especially with the fact that our two-spirit indigiqueer community, of which I am one of them…we are continually faced with erasure on a daily basis. It’s not intended for our two-spirit people to be seen and there’s lots of teachings that have been lost due to these colonial regimes of what gender is. So we really have to try and remind individuals that Canada was a matriarchal society. There was more than just two genders and it’s really important that we recognize all that.”
The Progressive Flag features a six-stripe rainbow and a chevron of stripes in black, brown, light blue, pink and white for people of colour, trans people, and those with HIV/AIDS.
On June 7, 2021, Council approved the recommendation presented by staff to install the City’s first-ever permanent Rainbow Crosswalk. You can find it on 8th street outside the farmer’s market.
Great day to riase the #Pride flag at the Station & stand in solidarity with our community at the unveiling of the #rainbowsidewalk. Action speaks volumes- everyone should feel safe & welcome @CityOwenSound #CommunityPartner @ChiefAmbroseOSP @JFluneyOSPS @Insp_DBishop @OSPApres pic.twitter.com/xtq61GxEuU
— OwenSoundPolice (@OwenSoundPolice) June 17, 2021