By Jessica Wind (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: May 22, 2013
The Fraser Valley Youth Society (FVYS) is gearing up for their first annual Pride event on May 25.
The afternoon will begin with a march from Matsqui Recreation Centre (MRC) to Civic Plaza at the corner of Trethewey and South Fraser Way, followed by a barbecue, community speeches and in the evening a film screening and panel discussion.
The FVYS is a small non-profit organization specializing in services for youth ages 13-25. They focus on community events, advocacy and connect LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer)-identifying youth with external community resources.
“The focus is on social determination of health,” FVYS coordinator, John Kuipers explained, “And then, looking at our target population, [identifying] what contributes to a healthy, pro-social, contributing, queer member of society, and how can living in the Fraser Valley not negate the fact that somebody can still engage in their community.”
An aspect of this is building a strong community that youth—straight or LGBTQ—can engage in. It is out of this that the Pride event was constructed.
“The event was sort of drawn out of an event that we’ve done for the past five years called The Walk Away From Homophobia,” he explained. “We changed the name because walking away from homophobia sort of has a negative connotation to it … There are a lot of positive experiences that people have here in the Fraser Valley. We should celebrate that.”
This previous, similar event was solely a march, but this year FVYS is expanding it to bring in many new elements.
“What’s new and different is the location, and the fact that it’s in the afternoon into the evening. We haven’t done a public film screening before, so that’s new, and we haven’t had community speeches before,” Kuipers explained. “It’s just a little bit longer, a little bit more engaged, and I think more accessible for people.”
There will be a focus on transgendered advocacy running throughout the day, culminating in the film screening of She’s a Boy I Knew, directed by Vancouverite Gwen Haworth, who will also be in attendance.
“We are focusing on gender identity or gender expression, because it doesn’t get enough attention. There’s transphobia … not only in the community at large but also within the LGBT community, just because of misunderstandings,” Kuipers said. “We just hope to shed some light on some of the unique challenges that transgendered people face but also some of the unique successes and beautiful things that there are about the expression of gender.”
Anyone looking to get involved in the event as a volunteer can send Kuipers an email at fvys12@gmail.com. For those looking to attend it is as simple as showing up at MRC on May 25 at 2:30 p.m. to participate in the march, 4 p.m. to participate in the barbecue or 6 p.m. for the film screening.
“Everybody’s welcome to come,” Kuipers noted. “We’re asking for donations for the food and for the film screening, but if people can’t then we certainly want them to come anyways.”
The barbecue portion of the event is designed to be a relaxed atmosphere with music, face-painting, door prizes and guest speakers. Previous events of the same style have had a turnout of around 200 community members; Kuipers is planning for a similar crowd, but doesn’t know what exactly to expect.
“Anybody who feels apprehensive about coming for positive or negative reasons, I would challenge them to come and to say everybody’s voice is welcome there,” Kuipers said. “Even people who are not supportive of the gay and lesbian community – because this might be the opportunity to change their perception of what it means to be a gay or lesbian or trans or bisexual. It may reinforce it, I don’t know, but they will never know unless they come and see – and I think that the Fraser Valley really has an appetite for this right now.”
