Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Continuing their mandate of demonstrating a rural town can be inclusive, Greater Napanee Pride will be hosting a ground-breaking workshop Sept. 23 at NDSS.
Known as Pride Summit, the event will feature keynote speakers, with workshops led by experts covering a wide array of topics from queer history, a two-spirit panel, board governance, self-advocacy and more.
“”We have incredible speakers coming from around the province,” said Tiffany Lloyd of Greater Napanee Pride. “Some of these folks are absolute legends. Cheri DiNovo and Tim McCaskell have been advocating for the community since before it was born.”
DiNovo is Minister at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre for Faith, Justice, and the Arts and was the only woman to sign on to “We Demand” in 1971, the first “gay rights” demo on Parliament Hill. She also performed the first legalized same-sex marriage in Canada in 2001. As MPP for Parkdale-High Park from 2006–2017, she passed more pro-LGBTQ2+ legislation than anyone in Canadian history.
McCaskell is a veteran activist and author and is one of Canada’s longest-serving advocates for LGBTQ2+ rights. He is author of Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism.
“Our two keynote speakers are perfect for any audience, anybody who is an ally, advocate, volunteer, pride board member, youth, it doesn’t matter, they’re incredible,” said Lloyd. “There are three workshops, two choices in each place, so we have six workshops running that day. They are for a variety of folks, whether you’re a student, whether you are a business or organization that wants promote equality and inclusion, it’s perfect for them and we have workshops that are perfect for small local boards. We have a workshop on governance and a workshop on board dynamics. They can pick and choose where they fit in.”
Other speakers at the workshop include Eric Duncan, Dr. Lee Airton, Kelly Dear, Alison Clark and Dionne Nolan.
The event begins at 8 a.m. with registration followed by 9 a.m. opening remarks and wrap up with closing remarks at 4:15 p.m.
Tickets are $100 or $50 for students or youth under 18.
For a full schedule and to purchase a ticket visit https://greaternapaneepride.com/events.