qathet Pride Society began as a high school group. It has evolved and grown over the years into a full-fledged, nonprofit, community-run organization with members and a board of directors, who work on behalf of the LGBTQS+ community in the qathet region.
The society's mandate states that: "Our goal is to represent you and the community, in producing our annual pride celebration, and community events that allow us to connect, create friendships and community in a safe and inclusive way."
qathet Pride held its annual general meeting on January 13 at Cranberry Seniors Centre. Newly elected chair and president Donna Gillenardo-Goudreau said they had a full house.
"We had a great show from other local organizations that we've worked with, like volunteer Powell River," said Gillenardo-Goudreau. "We largely have a new board this year."
Susan Reed was elected as first vice-president, and Smith McGovern became second vice-president. Christianne Gillenardo-Goudreau was elected secretary, as was Marshall Reed as treasurer.
Fairly new to qathet, but not to qathet Pride, or the local community, drag performer Conni Smudge opened the meeting with with an introduction and land acknowledgement; the group then recapped the year of events held by the society.
Eighty people attended a community event in April and gave feedback for Pride Week 2023; qathet Pride held a fundraising event in June called qathet’s Got Talent; 11 qathet Pride events were held during Pride Week from August 11 to 18, 2023, with a total estimated attendance of 950 people during that week.
"We have always tried to make Pride happen, and have been really involved in that [qPride Week] in August," said Donna. "This year, we'd really like to expand on advocacy in the community and help educate people and create safe spaces."
Donna indicated that qathet Pride would like to have events throughout the year instead of just one big week of events in August. In some ways, with Smudge relocating to the region, that is already happening.
Smudge hosted a drag bingo night in December and is potentially hosting a drag bingo and buffet at the Forest Bistro and Lounge later this month.
"We always need new members and we want to make our meetings public," said Donna. "We want to advertise [the board meetings] and bring people in, because we really felt that last year, there weren't enough voices represented during Pride Week."
Donna wants the meetings and nonprofit to be open and accessible to people and to have better communications. The newly elected president reiterated that, qathet Pride welcomes new ideas and people who may not be on the board to help brainstorm and plan events in the future.
"We want to expand the society's offerings, do more advocacy and build more safe spaces throughout the community," emphasized Donna.
The next qathet Pride board meeting will be held on February 5, at 6 pm via Zoom.
For more information about Smudge's drag bingo and brunch, go to Coast Cultural Alliance or email [email protected] with the subject line: DQ Bingo Forest.
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