As the 27th annual Pride Festival 2021 nears, the Town of Three Rivers is encouraging its residents and business owners to celebrate diversity and ensure that everyone feels welcome. Local business owner Matt Clendinning recently made a presentation to Town Council about the importance of celebrating Pride following a homophobic comment a passerby made about his business’s Pride flag.
“We want to ensure that Three Rivers is seen as the inclusive, caring and welcoming community that it is,” said Three Rivers Mayor Ed MacAulay. “Our municipality is a bit different than some of the full-service municipalities in that we don’t have jurisdiction over things like streets and crosswalks, so we have to be a bit more creative and collaborative in how we celebrate Pride with our LGBTQ+ community. Our thanks go out to Mr. Clendinning of Lucky Bean Café for not only bringing forward ideas but also being willing to execute them.”
The Town will fly the Pride flag at its municipal properties that have flag poles this year, including West Street Beach and Cardigan Village Green. Town officials have also connected Clendinning to the Kings Playhouse Executive Director and Waterfront Development Corporation Manager as two other possible locations to fly the Pride flag. Additionally, Clendinning suggested the Town paint rainbow crosswalks at the Main Street intersections of Rink Street, Station Street, and Wood Island Road.
“We like the suggestion of rainbow crosswalks and have seen other municipalities with them, so we have sent correspondence to the Province of PEI’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to notify them that we are supportive of this idea and would like to see it move forward if that’s possible,” Mayor MacAulay said.
At its regular monthly Council meeting on May 10, the Three Rivers Mayor suggested Councillors encourage their constituents to look for opportunities to celebrate diversity and demonstrate inclusivity, such as flying the rainbow flag on their own properties.
Planning for the 2021 PEI Pride Festival is underway. Pride PEI, a resource for the Island’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community and the organization behind the Island’s annual Pride Parade and Festival, recently held planning meetings in Summerside and Charlottetown with plans to announce the festival details in the coming weeks. PEI Pride Festival 2021 is July 18-25. Clendinning told Council he plans to visit local businesses and hand out Pride flags.
“It is disturbing to us as a Council that anyone could walk through our Town and feel like they don’t belong or aren’t welcome,” Mayor MacAulay said. “That’s why it is so encouraging to see someone taking initiative and standing before us as a Council to ensure the importance of inclusivity remains top of mind.”
For more information about the Town of Three Rivers, visit https://threeriverspei.com
For information about Pride PEI, visit: https://www.pridepei.ca
