The vandalism done to a billboard between Morden and Winkler stating that “Pride belongs in the Pembina Valley” doesn’t dissuade the president of Pembina Valley Pride.
Quite to the contrary, Pauline Emerson-Froebe is almost encouraged by it as it demonstrates they are having an impact in the area and especially in Winkler, which hosted its first Pride celebration earlier this month.
“It is disheartening … I was angry, but I suppose it’s just made us more determined,” said Emerson-Froebe. “We have made strides in the Pembina Valley and in the Winkler area, and apparently we must be making an impact for somebody to get their attention enough to get a ladder out, climb a pole, and spray paint the sign.
“It was shocking that someone would go through that amount of trouble and effort … in past years, we’ve had things like flags stolen and things like that, but to really do this on such a public scale … ” Emerson-Froebe said. “This is the second year we’ve had a billboard … we had one last year too, so this isn’t necessarily a new thing for us.”
Emerson-Froebe stressed they will not be deterred in their work of supporting and bringing together the local 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
“We’re trying to really take this energy and not just use it as venom. We really want to turn it, and we want to do good and continue with our good. Even though it is very disheartening, and it is really frustrating … we’re sort of silver lining people, so we’re trying to find how to move forward with it.
“It’s a bit of a confirmation. It’s very easy to ignore people. People do it all the time, right? And it’d be very easy to ignore what we’re doing, but for some, it’s making enough of an impact that they want to make their impact in retaliation,” Emerson-Froebe said. “There is a lot of resilience in this community. We’re a lot more quiet in the steps that we take than large cities in their Pride movements and everything. We try to be very respectful of the different ideologies going on here, the different religions, and still we respect and understand the communities that we live in because we live here. We’re part of it.”
Seeing the support Winkler’s first Pride rally and march June 13 received was a huge encouragement, Emerson-Froebe noted.
“We had such a great turnout,” she said, noting the rainy weather didn’t deter the hundreds who took part, nor did the small group of protestors who greeted marchers along a section of the parade route.
“We just want people to feel welcome and not feel like they have to move away … if they’re queer,” ” Emerson-Froebe stressed. “We don’t want brain drain here. There’s so much talent here. Let’s keep them here.”
RCMP have confirmed they are investigating the incident. Anyone with information is asked to contact Pembina Valley RCMP at 204-822-4476, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, or send a secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.
