Submitted by OUTspoken
OUTspoken is Creston’s local LGBTQ+ movement that has been operating since June 2016. This group started very small, just a single person and a Facebook group, but it soon turned into so much more! We quickly learned how important representation is to all of the LGBTQ+ folks in our community and decided to dig our heels in and start being the change we wanted to see. Within the last year, we have gone from three admins with a few shared goals, to eight dedicated advocates.
So far we have had holiday parties, LGBTQ+ Jeopardy, guest speakers, educational workshops, we have painted together, we’ve talked together and we have grown together. You may have seen us in the blossom festival parade, We were the first Pride float in 78 years! We also hosted an art auction that raised over $400 for LGBTQ+ books in our public library. Our next goal is to add Creston to the list of wonderful communities in the Kootenay region to have a Pride crosswalk, more on that as the story develops. We have monthly events on the first Saturday of every month and they are advertised on our Facebook page. Every month we do something a little different, usually by request of our regular participants. In the next few months, we will have themed events highlighting unsung heroes of the LGBTQ+ community.
As a group we are strong, and we have been through a lot as a team, but as a community we are invincible. LGBTQ+ activism has been few and far between in our community, and we are here to see that come to an end. Our citizens deserve better than this, as a community, we can do better than this and our outstanding support is proof that we are already better than this, we just need to show everyone our true colours.
On that note, we want to sincerely thank all of the people who have come out to support us and the wonderful businesses in town that have helped us with donations and acceptance. From all of us at OUTspoken: Thank you!
See you around, Creston.
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