Pride picnic marks first for Crowsnest Pass

The Crowsnest Pass Pride Society marked a milestone during Pride Month with its first ever Pride picnic, held during the community’s second Pride Month celebration.

Amanda Slugoski, founder of the Pride Society and one of its stewards, addressed attendees during the event, calling the afternoon an important moment for visibility, connection and community support in the Crowsnest Pass.

“What an incredible afternoon, marking the first-ever Pride picnic, occurring within the second ever Pride Month celebration in Crowsnest Pass,” said Slugoski.

The event brought together volunteers, performers, local businesses and community members. Slugoski thanked those who helped make the picnic possible, including volunteers Jude and the staff from Crowsnest Museum and Archives, local performers Mudlarker and Ryan Mueller, drag performers Pumpkin and Guts Armstrong, Country Encounters and Ophelia Outpost for donating picnic food, craft table volunteers Brianne, Zoe and Lilly and Tuesday’s Bookshop, which attended on its day off.

“This event is, literally, not possible but for you all,” said Slugoski.

Slugoski also thanked those who attended, describing the gathering as a meaningful show of presence in a community where some LGBTQ2S+ residents and allies may not have always felt comfortable being visible.

“There is something quietly radical about the fact that we are here,” said Slugoski. “Not just here today; but here, in the Crowsnest Pass, visible, loud, together.”

She said the community has changed in recent years because people have chosen to show up publicly and support one another.

“In a place where, not long ago, many of us kept ourselves small and kept our doors closed. That has changed, and it has changed because of you,” said Slugoski.

Slugoski said Pride Month is a celebration, but also a reminder of the struggles that made those celebrations possible. She said rights were fought for by LGBTQ2S+ people and allies who came before, often at significant personal cost.

“We celebrate because celebration is itself an act of resistance,” said Slugoski. “Because when you tell a community it shouldn’t exist, existing joyfully is the most defiant thing you can do.”

She said Pride is not complete and that rights should not be treated as permanent without continued community support.

“The rights we have are not permanent fixtures; they are positions we currently hold, and positions require people to hold them,” said Slugoski.

Slugoski encouraged people to continue attending events, supporting visibility and creating space for LGBTQ2S+ residents in communities across the Pass, including Blairmore, Coleman, Frank, Bellevue and Hillcrest.

“You are the reason a young person in Blairmore or Coleman or Frank or Bellevue or Hillcrest sees that there is a community waiting for them,” said Slugoski. “You are the reason this Pass looks different than it did three years ago.”

She said visibility is not simply symbolic, but something that helps people feel able to live openly in their own community.

“Visibility is not vanity. It is infrastructure,” said Slugoski. “It is the thing that makes it possible for the next person to come out, to stay out, to thrive here rather than leave.”

Slugoski invited attendees to take part in Pride Month events and to understand their presence as part of what makes Pride possible.

“You are not a passive recipient of Pride. You are what Pride is made of,” said Slugoski.

The picnic marked another step in the growing presence of Pride events in the Crowsnest Pass, with Slugoski closing her remarks by thanking attendees for helping build a more visible and welcoming community.

“Thank you for being here. Thank you for being visible. Thank you for being the kind of community that makes this place worth fighting for,” said Slugoski.