Ladysmith Pride Society

06/17/2026

06/17/2026

Join the CMHA staff on Sunday, June 21, for a day of celebration at the Pride March and Festival!

06/13/2026

Tomorrow is the big day, Nanaimo! 🏳️‍🌈✨ The Pride Parade and Festival are finally here, and Mother Nature is delivering all the sunshine—it’s going to be a hot one with a high of 28°C! ☀️🌡️

We want everyone to have the absolute best time while staying safe and comfortable in the heat. As you pack your bags for tomorrow, here is your official festival checklist:

🧢 Bring a hat and your favorite sunnies.

🧴 Slather on the sunscreen (and if you forget yours, don’t panic—we’ll have extra available at Pride HQ).

💧 Bring a reusable water bottle. We have a dedicated water filling station located right by the washrooms to keep you hydrated all day long.

❄️ Need a break from the sun? We have set up a designated Cooling Zone right by the front entrance. Please utilize it whenever you need a moment to chill out and catch some shade.

Get some rest tonight, stay hydrated, and let's make tomorrow a spectacular, unforgettable day of celebration. See you on the parade route! 🥳👟✨

06/12/2026

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🩷🤍🩵🤎🖤

06/12/2026

Our 3rd annual Ladysmith Pride Celebration was a great success. We want to take another moment to thank and recognize everyone who made it possible.

ALL OF YOU WHO SHOWED UP! Means the most of all.🌈🫶🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Motus Fitness for being our muster point and allowing us to utilize this great community space. The balloon arc decoration was a beautiful addition!💙

Town of Ladysmith for all the logistics, our funding, the flag raising, attendance and ongoing efforts to recognize what Pride means and the importance for our community.🩷

Ladysmith Fire/Rescue, Ambulance and First Aider volunteer, Security, our tent rental with Triple T for shelter/shade and seating, and our safe space volunteers who all helped ensure our event participants knew we had safety measures in place to help everyone feel comfortable. ❤️

Huge gratitude for our most-loved, fun and friendly DJ Tree, Teresa Battle, who the crowd completely adores! Bringing the upbeat tunes and inviting dancing in the street! It wouldn’t be the same without you!🧡

Hello Photo Booth for joining again as our entertainment. You helped capture sooo many memories for everyone!💛

Our amazing vendors!! All who returned again, our new vendors, and any of the family and friends who helped with unloading, hauling and cleanup! Markets take immense prep and dedication. Thank you for your patience, understanding and commitment to showing up, sharing your skills and talents, and spreading joy.💚

Our handful of incredible, trusted volunteers who helped with welcoming everyone, assisting with odd tasks, taking directions, kindness, helping with breaks, traffic, set up and take down, and ensuring our vendors were cared for all day.🩵

Endless support of our neighbouring pride team, our dear friends at Nanaimo Pride Society! 💜
And of course the famous Bayview Brewing Company and all the beautiful people who host/attend Qu**rs & Cheers Ladysmith for continuing the party and bringing everyone together.🩷

Fraternal Order of Eagles #2101 for providing us financial assistance, space for our planning sessions, and being a consistent source of support for all we do behind the scenes.🤍

Our 2 newest board members, Hannah and Islay, who stepped in, stepped up and truly made this year go smooth and easy breezy; Our president, Kezia, for doing the absolute MOST and being the glue that holds us together; Lacey for running the booth and sales this year; and Jonelle for keeping our finances, orders, and bookings all in check! The family and spouses of our board members who support us all, and help behind the scenes all year long.🖤

06/10/2026

At Ladysmith Pride I had the pleasure of meeting the Island Qu**rs and Allies Who Care group. This organization has a membership of $10 and accepts donations each quarter. The funds are then distributed to LGBTQ+ organizations as seed money for programs that highlight and support the community.

Every penny that is brought in is distributed each quarter after donors vote on applications that were submitted for funding!

Learn more about the organization and apply for funding here: https://www.islandqueers.ca/apply

06/07/2026

Safe Space Policy 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

The Ladysmith Pride Society is committed to creating and maintaining a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for the 2SLGBTQIA+ people and allies. Our events and spaces exist to support community, celebration, and connection.

We have zero tolerance for discrimination, harassment, aggressive behaviour or violence of any kind.

By attending Ladysmith Pride Celebration events or participating in our spaces, you agree to:

❤️Respect people's names, pronouns, and identities
🧡Refrain from discriminatory, hateful, bigoted or harassing language or behaviour
💛Not engage in bullying, intimidation, or unwanted physical contact of any kind
💚Respect personal boundaries at all times
🩵Follow all event and venue policies.
💜If you experience or witness any behaviour that violates this policy, please notify a board member or volunteer as soon as possible.
🩷Reports will be taken seriously and handled with discretion.

The Ladysmith Pride Society reserves the right to issue a warning, remove any unwanted individuals, ban an individual from future events, and, escalate serious incidents to the RCMP.

https://ladysmithpridesociety.com/about-us-1 -8434-44d2-a116-56bd7ab2c588

11/21/2025

Since our Transgender Day of Remembrance was unfortunately cancelled, our President Kezia Cloke has instead chosen to upload her speech for our members and allies to read. Please take a moment for remembering those we have lost.

[Image text as follows:]

Every year on November 20th, Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed. The gathering came to be in 1998 following the murder of Rita Hester, a Black transgender woman from Boston, Massachusetts. The first Transgender Day of Remembrance took place the following year in 1999. Earlier, Channelle Pickett was murdered in 1995, another Black transgender woman, was also killed in that state. Their lives, and the lives of so many others, were stolen because of hatred, because of prejudice, because people chose cruelty over humanity.

The tradition of gathering together is not just an act of mourning. It is an act of resistance and a declaration that trans lives matter, and that trans people deserve to live, to thrive, to be safe, and celebrated.

Violence, especially gender-based violence against trans people, doesn’t appear out of nowhere. It grows in a cesspool of discrimination, exclusion, and bigotry. It grows in policies that try to strip away healthcare, deny legal recognition, silence our voices in schools, and erase us from public life. It grows when people look away and convince themselves these issues don’t affect them. And that’s why tonight must also be a call to action.

If you are here, you have already taken a step. Standing up for trans people cannot be something we do only when tragedy happens. It has to be a daily practice. It means challenging transphobia when it’s uncomfortable. It means correcting misinformation even when it’s awkward. It means supporting trans youth loudly, especially when powerful people try to legislate them out of existence. It means refusing to let bigotry go unchallenged, no matter where it comes from. Even if it means family dinners might get a little awkward or uncomfortable.

As the President of Ladysmith Pride Society, I’ve gotten emails or phone calls, or sometimes even a quiet, unsure person saying, “how do I support my trans friend or relative? How can I be there for them?” I tell them all the same thing. Trans, non-binary, two spirit and gender-diverse people deserve to know that they are loved, they are safe, and they have community. Even in a town as small as ours.

Tonight, we remember the people who should still be with us. But we also commit unapologetically to fighting for the living, for they are our future.