By Bryan Eneas

James Smith Cree Nation to celebrate gay pride

Jan 19, 2017 | 1:04 PM

A growing number of Indigenous communities are celebrating gay pride in a variety of ways and the James Smith Cree Nation will be the next to do so.

Following a call from their youth action council, chief and council will host a gay pride dance on Feb. 25.

“If that’s a success, if I see a lot of interest, then I’m looking to have a two or three day event in the summer,” Stephanie Constant, a councillor with the Cree Nation said.

Constant said she had the idea in the fall of 2016, but other matters kept her occupied. It was the persistence of youth which brought her back to the idea of pride on James Smith.

“The youth came up to me and they were like ‘what night are we going to have this dance, when are we going to have this dance’ so I started planning it,” Constant said.

Riderville

Riders Have Options Heading into Tuesday CFL Draft

1h ago

Weekend hockey

PAGC set to host largest Senator's Cup tournament to date

2h ago

VAISAKHI MELA

Hundreds flocking to P.A. for Vaisakhi Mela celebration

2h ago

Constant said she feels celebrating pride in anyway is important due to a lack of programming designed specifically for the gay and lesbian youth in James Smith.

“Even more so there is a lack of talk. We don’t talk about youth being gay or lesbian, or any community member,” Constant said. “It’s important we start addressing it now.”

She said she hopes the community mentality shifts, to become more open and willing to discuss being gay or lesbian in an Indigenous community.

“They just need to be able to be themselves,” Constant said of the youth who identify as lesbian, gay or two-spirited.

“With this dance I was hoping to help bring them out of the shadows and them to be happy with who they are,” she said.

Constant is following the lead of Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation which last summer, became the first Indigenous community in the country to celebrate gay, lesbian and two-spirit pride. She said she is hoping to have discussions with Kevin Seeseequasis, the councillor who organized the pride parade in Beardy’s to understand how his event was a success.

Constant said overall the Cree Nation has been very receptive to the idea of pride. She said she’s received many calls from leaders outside of the community praising her for her efforts.

“It’s nice to hear, and I’m glad they support this,” Constant said. “I’m just excited something is going to be done about this.”

The gay pride dance in James Smith will be hosted at the Bernard Constant Community School’s gymnasium. Constant said everyone is welcome to come by around 6 p.m. on Feb. 25.

Bryan Eneas is paNOW’s Indigenous and northern reporter. He can be reached at Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca or tweet him: @BryanEneas