Meadow Lake Pride kicks off Trans Awareness Week

The day also serves an educational purpose to help highlight the community’s struggle with identity and transition.

“They are the highest risk group for hate crimes and increased mental health struggles and [suicide],” she said.

Following the week of promoting education, sharing experiences, allies are helping to bring attention to who people in the community.

For the group’s Board Member Jo Metz, who identifies as non-binary and uses she/they pronouns, another way to raise awareness is to use their voices to support those in the community.

“I know from a couple of friends and also personally that when you’re the one that is targeted or I guess going against the norm of society, it’s hard to speak out and speak up,” said Metz.

“I think for allies, I think it is extremely important be educated to advocate for better treatment and just to treat people like human beings and all of the dignity that should come with that.”

To get the conversation moving forward on MLP’s group pages, there will be posts and information on how people can educate themselves.

“A lot of people when they think transgender, they think one very specific type of trans person but there’s quite a few identities that fall under that like non-binary and two-spirit and intersex,” Wiebe said.

The group’s social media pages has also been highlighting resources and books with trans topics at the Meadow Lake Library and providing general advocacy about what it means to be trans and what it means to be an ally.

“I think a lot of people just don’t know where to start,” she said.

While the week is meant to celebrate, the day of remembrance is a somber one and vigils will be hosted by local organizers around the world and in Canada.

Metz said their experience differs from other transgendered people.

“I do want to start off by saying the immense amount of privilege that I carry as someone who presents as female and is white, but I am also non-binary there’s the like minor, minor struggles,” they said.

“Feeling confident to push the gender norms of fashion and my pronouns that I use, and I guess the space that I take up as a non-binary person.”

Wiebe, meanwhile, said she has been part of several queer organizations for years and she has seen the effects of transphobic rhetoric.

“Those communities have lost trans people,” she said.

“I think that a lot of it tends to go unseen and a lot of it tends to go unnoticed and so I think that there’s been – there has been a lot of loss that I’ve even see first-hand.”

That is why it was important than ever for her to help combat the hate and after moving to the small community last year, Wiebe found it wasn’t difficult to join in.

“I think I’ve noticed a progressive change where the queer people in a small town will not be overlooked,” she said.

“People know queer people in their community, maybe more so than in a city because it’s a small town and so, people are wanting to speak up and wanting to make space.”

This year, the Pride group will hold a private vigil, but members are planning to go to the one hosted by Pride Centre in Place Riel Student Centre North Concourse (1 Campus Dr.) in Saskatoon. The candlelight service will begin at 7 p.m. and all are welcome to attend.

For more information, visit Meadow Lake Pride on social media or email meadowlakepride@gmail.com.

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

On X: jls194864

by Julia Lovett-Squires

Meadow Lake Pride kicks off Trans Awareness Week

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