A bit of rain couldn’t dampen the spirits of the hundreds of people who came out Saturday to celebrate Winkler’s first-ever Pride march and rally.
The 2SLGBTQIA+ community came together for the first time in Winkler Saturday to hold a march and rally in celebration of June as Pride Month. Left photo, Carman’s Jack Knight shares what seeing Pride celebrations taking place in their communities means to them
The Parkland hill was filled with a sea of rainbows as members and allies of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community gathered together in solidary and support.
In addition to a barbecue, vendor market, stage performances, and a short march around the area’s walking paths, several speakers also took the stage to share their stories and reflect on the importance of seeing Pride celebrated in the Pembina Valley.
Jack Knight is a transgender man living in Carman who feared being his authentic self in the small community.
“I hid, I was ashamed, I treated being queer as a hush-hush topic,” he said, noting he was afraid that “one wrong move and someone could hurt me. I believed I was alone.”
Things changed when Carman held its first Pride celebration last year and Knight saw the outpouring of support the event received.
“I realized that I was doing nothing by hiding who I was,” he said, explaining the importance of living his own truth so that others can feel safe to do the same. “Simply seeing another queer person can do wonders for who you are, and that’s why Pride is so important, especially in places like Winkler.
“Places like Winkler stay more conservative and less accepting towards gay people because no one speaks up,” Knight stressed. “If we don’t have Pride here, no one will, and things will stay the same. And if things stay the same, people believe that they still have to hide when they don’t. Queer people are everywhere. Always have been and always will be. You aren’t alone, you are loved, and you are exactly who you’re supposed to be.”
For Sebastian Saunders, born and raised in Winkler, coming back home to take part in a Pride celebration was an emotional experience.
“When you’re taught that who you are is against God, you grow up kind of hating yourself,” he reflected.
“You try to hide who you really are and fit the mold of what is pure and right. So for almost 20 years of my life I tried being a perfect Christian girl.”
But doing so never felt quite right. Saunders knew in his heart that he was a boy from a very young age but couldn’t reconcile those feelings with the teachings of his childhood.
“I felt like a freak,” he said, noting he never felt at home in his body nor with the personae he had create to protect himself. “I would fabricate crushes on boys my age so the girls my age and I had something to talk about … it felt like every fake crush I talked about, the more I was chipping away at the real me and becoming a shape and a form that looked nothing like the real me.”
A cancer diagnosis as a young adult left him revaluating his life.
“Through it all, the scariest part of it was that I could die when I wasn’t fully myself. My family and my friends could be burying a person they didn’t really know at all,” Saunders said. “I promised that I’d live freely, be my true self, and live my truth if I survived.
“I am who I needed to look up to as a kid. I am who I needed to see live a happy and authentic life when I was a kid,” he said of his life today, stressing that “representation matters.”
“Winkler is my hometown, so I feel super proud and happy that finally we are having a Pride event here,” Saunders said. ”This is one of the coolest things I think I’ve ever been a part of. It feels like a very full circle moment … honestly, I’m talking to my little self in the crowd being like, ‘Hey, buddy, you’re going to be okay. Don’t die. You need to be here. You are important. You are loved.’”
