Two-day Pride event in Kuujjuaq saw its biggest turnout in its three years, organizers say
Kuujjuaq’s annual Pride celebration has grown in recent years and its youth organizer hopes to soon see similar growth in other villages.
“I would like to see Pride become this big event, not just in Kuujjuaq but in every town in Nunavik,” said Niivi Snowball in a phone call after the Pride events that ran Monday and Tuesday had wrapped up.
“I want it to become this big celebration that happens in all the communities.”
Snowball handled planning for Kuujjuaq’s Pride concert, which originally was to include multiple performers. However, scheduling issues made it difficult for them to set up.
“It went well. Even though it was smaller than we wanted to be, it was still a lot bigger than what it had been before.”
During the two-day event, members from multiple organizations were invited to Kuujjuaq to be panelists for conferences. Gris Montréal, Les 3sex and Two-Spirit Indigiqueer Circle hosted talks on sexual diversity, religion and gender diversity, and the impact of colonization on Indigenous gender and sexuality, among several topics covered.
The event ended with a parade on Tuesday. “I just remember seeing a lot of people,” said Snowball, “there was quite a big crowd.”
Organizer Tommy Sequaluk agreed, saying “a lot of people showed up, more than last year and the first year. I was very proud of that, and I am so happy they marched with us this year.”
The majority of funding was provided by the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, but Sequaluk said that support was not always a certainty.
“Funding was cut off for a bit, we almost had to go individually do our own fundraising campaign,” he said.
After the group spoke with board executives, part of the funding was restored. With that support organizers brought in two members of the LGBTQ+ community from Puvirnituq and Inukjuak.
The goal is to eventually have all the Nunavik communities involved in the Kuujjuaq Pride event. “We want to bring as much youth from other communities as possible to be able to experience Pride themselves,” said Snowball.
As a message to the LGBTQ+ people who could not participate in the Kuujjuaq Pride event, “we did not forget about you,” said Sequaluk.
“We will be there for you, we can be reached on Facebook or Instagram.”
He added, “in the future we will try and get you to come to Kuujjuaq or we will come to you.”
Read More: Organizers hope Kuujjuaq Pride celebration will include other communities | Nunatsiaq News