‘We’re all one community‘: Westlock paints Pride crosswalk – Edmonton | 24CA News

Westlock had an occasion Tuesday wherein a crosswalk was painted with the progress flag for Pride by the neighborhood. A protest was anticipated however the occasion as a substitute was met with enormous neighborhood help.

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The concept for the crosswalk was introduced up in a request from R.F. Staples School’s Thunder Alliance, which is the secondary faculty’s gay-straight alliance (GSA).

A GSA is a gaggle of scholars who work collectively to construct neighborhood and work on addressing points impacting LGBTQ2 and allied youth in class or inside their neighborhood.

The request was handed via council unanimously.

Nicky Vranas, instructor lead for the Thunder Alliance GSA, stated that everybody, together with the LGBTQ2 neighborhood members, ought to really feel protected and supported in your entire neighborhood.

“They are safe here, that they’re loved here, and that we’re all one community,” Vranas stated.

Vranas added that for lots of the youth locally, the crosswalk is greater than only a place the place folks can cross the road.

“It’s not just a crosswalk to the kids. It’s a symbol of being a part of the community.”

“It’s important to our students because it can be really difficult. I mean, high school is difficult as it is. When you add being queer into that and you add being in a small town into that, it can be really, really tough for them,” Vranas stated.

Shaylin Lussier stated this crosswalk reveals the help that Lussier would have hoped to have had in childhood.

“This is really a big thing for me because I’ve grown up, born and raised in Westlock, and I have seen my town slowly become this more accepting, loving place. When I was a lot younger, I didn’t have that and I needed it,” Lussier stated.

Global News obtained a tip that there was a drive to get folks to protest on the crosswalk. The tip stated somebody was handing out flyers to all of the church buildings in Westlock and was inserting flyers on folks’s vehicles, telling them to contact their MLAs, attain out to town council, and are available out to protest the crosswalk.

The final targets, the crosswalk organizers say, are kindness and acceptance; they don’t count on understanding or to alter the opinions of others.

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“At the end of the day, you do have freedom of speech and you can decide how you feel on your own. All we’re asking is that (people) just be kind. That’s what we want. We can all coexist here together. No problem,” Vranas stated.

The mayor of Westlock, Ralph Leriger, stated folks have the fitting to disagree with the crosswalk and council’s determination however that isn’t going to cease the motion.

“People have the right to peacefully protest, and it’s important for all levels of government to recognize that. And we do. At the end of the day, we don’t agree with that opinion,” Leriger stated.

Everyone on the occasion was ready for a protest to happen. Yet as soon as the occasion began, the crosswalk painters had been met with one thing a lot nicer than a protest: a big group of supportive neighborhood members and a big barbecue avenue get together.

Mayor Leriger stated that folks don’t want to grasp the problems however they should perceive that everybody is human and deserves to really feel protected and supported.

“It’s important for the community (to know they) don’t necessarily have to understand all the issues, but you have to understand that those are people that need to feel like they’re supported, welcomed and safe in their own community,” Lergier stated.

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