SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The street in front of city hall became quite a bit brighter late Tuesday night with the appearance of rainbow crosswalks in celebration of Yellowknife's LGBTQ community.

Jackie Siegel, left, Iman Kassam, Teal MacIntosh, Katee Doyon, Garett Cochrane, Jessica Wilson and Paige MacIntosh, members of the board of directors of NWT Pride, check out the city's new rainbow crosswalks in front of city hall. - Robin Grant/NNSL photo

Iman Kassam, a member of the board of directors of NWT Pride, said the move is a positive step forward.

"This type of visibility really helps to show our community that we belong, we're supported, and it tells other people that we are part of the community," she said.

"Plus, I mean, rainbows are so beautiful. It is just a beautiful symbol of acceptance, solidarity and ally-ship, and just love for the LGBTQ community."

She pointed out other ways the community is becoming more visible.

For example, some NWT Pride events will be in Somba K'e Civic Plaza this year, putting it up front and centre in the city. As well, the City of Yellowknife is flying the Pride flag in the weeks leading up to Pride in early August.

Kassam added the decision by the Folk on the Rocks board to keep a set of rainbow-painted NWT Pride antlers in its spot on the beer gardens stage last weekend is a good sign, too.

The antlers were taken down in the week before Folk on the Rocks without consultation with the Pride board and after members expressed their concern with the decision, the Folk board quickly reinstated them.

"So many times with the LGBTQ community, people are pushed to the outskirts of communities and pushed to the outskirts of media," she said.

"They don't get a lot of recognition and air time. And I think this is a token way of showing that things should change and things are about to change. I keep using that same word, but visibility is just so important to a demographic of people who have been so invisible and so shamed. And we use the word 'Pride' because it is to counteract the shame that we are taught to feel. To now have this pride and visibility is such a countering shift to what we've always seen historically."

Mayor Mark Heyck said city councillors have discussed painting the crosswalk for the past year, especially after seeing other Canadian cities do it.

"We want to show that Yellowknife is a very inclusive community and we respect all the communities within our community," he told Yellowknifer.

"We've been strong supporters of Days of Pink earlier this year, for example. The work that It Gets Better Yk is doing, the work that NWT Pride has been doing for the past five years. Painting the crosswalks in the rainbow colours is a visual representation of that inclusivity of Yellowknife."

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