valley pride march goes ahead four months after threats cancel different event
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participants in valley pride's annual pride month march walk through downtown kentville saturday.
ian fairclough
/
the chronicle herald
the valley pride organization held its fourth annual pride month march in kentville on saturday, the first public event for the group since a planned cross-country skiing outing was canceled in the winter because of online threats.
the march and subsequent celebration event in the town’s centre square weren’t going to be cancelled because of the february incident but extra measures were taken, spokesperson ashley cyr said.
a participant waves as a few hundred people walk through kentville in valley pride’s annual pride month march saturday.
ian fairclough
/
the chronicle herald
“safety is always a concern for us; we’ve always had security guards and we do what we can to keep our community safe, but i think it was just a bit of a prompt for us to reexamine the measures we’re taking and double down and make sure they’re meeting the needs of our community,” they said.
the february ski event was canceled after a 26-year-old man made threats in a post on the town of kentville’s facebook page. he was charged by kentville police with willful promotion of hatred by uttering a death threat. nathan byron rudderham pleaded guilty to willfully promoting hatred toward an identifiable group and was sentenced to house arrest.
cyr said at the time that the threats specifically targeted transgender people.
there was extra security at entry points to the celebration saturday, which had bounce castles and games for children, along with food and vendors from the 2slgbtq+ community.
the event was well attended, and cyr said there were no real concerns about it being significantly affected by the february incident.
“it really was a one-off,” they said, while acknowledging that there is “definitely is a lot of hate out there.”
the celebration event was meant to be a party following the march, which is connected to activism and therefore not billed as a parade.
“we want to celebrate, and we have the big celebration at the end, but it’s important that we acknowledge the work and the activism that’s at the root of the work we’re doing before we get to the party,” cyr said.
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the event and march have been growing over the four years since they started.
“i think it’s a ‘build it and they will come’ situation,” said cyr. “i know a lot of people are pretty isolated, staying inside, being on social media, but i think people are really starting to feel the importance of going out and building community in person.
“that’s what our goal has always been: to get people out and meeting each other and being together and supporting one another as a community. i think the growing numbers really indicate that’s taking root and that we’re achieving our goal.”
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