The creation of a new government secretariat and a cash injection to a local group is aiming to help bolster support for the province’s queer community.
The Gender Equity Manitoba Secretariat will replace the current Manitoba Status of Women Secretariat and have them shift their focus to gender equity, rather than strictly women’s equity, according to a government press release.
The province also announced $250,000 in annual cash for Pride Winnipeg, both the yearly event which takes place at the end of May, and its overarching organization.
The money will allow the organization to appoint a permanent executive director and executive assistant, while also helping to expand Pride activities outside of Winnipeg.
Pride Winnipeg hasn’t had core funding in its 36 years of operation, President Barry Karlenzig said in a press release.
“This announcement today signifies the importance of Prides around the province and the crucial funding they require to provide safe spaces for our 2SLGBTTQIA community,” he said
The province is establishing a new grant program that will give funding for smaller Pride organizations and events elsewhere in Manitoba.
Pride planning relies on organizations, businesses and grants to operate, and in communities where the queer community is small or has little support, money can be hard to come by, Steinbach Pride President Chris Plett told Global News.
“(This) brings a huge amount of hope,” Plett said. Steinbach’s first pride march garnered national attention for the noticeable absence of the city’s local leaders, including then-mayor Chris Goertzen.
Premier Heather Stefanson was placed on a one-year ban from Pride Winnipeg when she spoke at the Pride rally but skipped out on walking in the march.
Pride Winnipeg said while Stefanson is still prohibited from speaking at the rally for the time being, she’s invited to participate in the upcoming march.
Winnipeg’s Pride events kick off at noon on May 26 with a flag-raising at City Hall. The Legislative Building will also be lit with a rainbow from May 31 to June 4 to mark Pride Week.
With the forming of a new secretariat, Families Minister Rochelle Squires will transition her role as the minister responsible for gender equity to have more of an LGBTQ2-inclusive focus. It will also allow for more cross-departmental work on LGBTQ2 issues.
“Our government has made progress, and our work continues to advance the rights and freedoms for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities so that Manitoba can be a place where people are truly free to be who they are. But we also know that 2SLGBTQQIA+ people and families continue to face discrimination, harassment and outright violence in our province, and until that changes, our work is not complete,” Squires said in a statement.
The province is also spending $490,000 to cut waitlists for those seeking gender-affirming care through Klinic Community Health Centre, while $700,000 of provincial cash will see the expansion of the Gender Diversity and Affirming Action for Youth program.
GDAAY offers services for youth seeking gender-affirming care by way of pediatric medicine and endocrinology, and underage mental health support.
– with files from The Canadian Press
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