What to expect at this year’s Taber Pride

TIMES FILE PHOTO

Poll

Is the province taking the right approach to drought management?

• YES
• NO

View Results

 Loading ...

Recent News →

• Provincial budget highlights identified: MLA Hunter
• Provincial grant solves “unfair” funding anomaly for RCMP-contracted policing in Coaldale
• Jets return to southern Alberta for matchup against the Okotoks Dawgs
• Taber WHAM finishes in bronze medal position
• Horizon School Board meeting brief from March 25

Recent Blog Posts →

• From the Archives of Western Newspapers
• From the Archives of Western Newspapers
• From the Archives of Western Newspapers
• From the Archives of Western Newspapers
• From the Archives of Western Newspapers

By Laura Balanko-Dickson
Taber Times

Although Scott Gillespie, a member of the Taber Equality Alliance, would love to see more 2SLGBTQIA+ people involved in Taber Pride, he admits the “numbers of the people who have run Taber Pride has been diminishing over the years.”

Despite all of this, he is excited to announce a concert, flag-raising ceremony and a documentary film showcasing Taber Pride.

“We definitely want more people from the queer community,” said Gillespie, “but we also know it’s not their responsibility to have to run an organization.”

“There have been a lot of people who have been a part of the organization that have since moved away from the town,” Gillespie said. “That’s a reality too. People move to different places and they’re not as able to run things.”

When thinking of Taber Pride’s skeleton crew of committed people keeping the event running, Gillespie pointed out, “as we are right now — we can keep going, and so, we’re keeping on going.”

The Taber Equality Alliance’s continued commitment to Taber Pride starts June 4 at 7 p.m. with Jeffery Straker.

“He’s kind of a singer and songwriter, kind of folky kind of music,” said Gillespie. “He is a gay person who is in, out of Saskatchewan, out of a small area of Saskatchewan.”
According to Gillespie, Straker is not only a performer at this year’s Taber Pride online events — but a consistent supporter of Taber Pride.

“In the first years of forming Taber Equality Alliance, his schedule had him driving right through Taber. So, we were able to get him booked in and get a fundraising concert to help get us going.”

The fifth annual flag-raising ceremony starts Saturday at 1 p.m. in front of the Taber Provincial Building on 50 Street.

“One thing we are going to be doing this year is we are going to be putting up the inclusive pride flag,” said Gillespie. “We’ve got an A/V person to run the event for us, we hope to be better than just having, just holding a phone up and live-streaming that way.”

The final day of Taber Pride wraps up on June 6 at 1 p.m. with an announcement about a documentary film called “Small Town Pride.”

Gillespie said, in 2019, “they filmed it with us and two other places in Canada.”

“Unfortunately, there’s issues with the distribution, so we don’t have the rights to play it.”

All of the events can be found online at http://www.facebook.com/taberpride.

Get More The Taber Times →