Ottawa bureaucrats celebrate Pride Week with full schedule of drag, other events
During Public Service Pride Week, government departments were awash with rainbow flags and praise for "gender-affirming" policies.
By Hymie Rubenstein
During Public Service Pride Week, government departments were awash with rainbow flags and praise for "gender-affirming" policies, demonstrating how diversity, equity, and inclusion principles are deeply embedded into federal decision making.
The week began with a launch hosted by the Public Service Pride Network, followed by an event from Statistics Canada titled By the Numbers with StatCan: 2SLGBTQ+ in Canada.
A trivia night in downtown Ottawa, branded Queer Queries on Queen, was also part of the opening day's lineup.
Statistics Canada told True North it has two employee-driven social events scheduled during the week.
The agency said its speakers also took part in a presentation hosted by the Health Canada/Public Health Agency of Canada Gender and Sexual Diversity Network on Monday, focusing on how the department collects data on 2SLGBTQ+ populations in Canada.
“As an employer, Statistics Canada is committed to providing an inclusive and safe work environment for all employees, including members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, so they can achieve their full potential working with us,” the agency told True North in a statement.
Other events in the weeklong lineup reflect the wide range of federal departments.
On Wednesday, the Gender and Sexual Diversity Network is hosting Science is a Drag, featuring drag performers in a program described as linking science communication with LGBTQ+ expression.
Natural Resources Canada is hosting Queer Travel in a Time of Rising Hate the same day.
Workshops also extend into niche policy areas with identity-focused overlays. Fisheries and Oceans Canada is co-hosting Back to Our Roots: Exploring Intersectional Challenges faced by Black 2SLGBTQIA+ Communities across Canada.
Employment and Social Development Canada is running a session promising to “demystify” employment equity.
Thursday a panel featuring Tash McKenna, a Two-Spirit Trans Woman and Advocate for Diversity, Inclusion, and 2SLGBTQIA+ Empowerment, will be hosted by four departments as the marquee event of the week.
On Friday, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada hosts Visible and Valued: Disabilities, Neurodivergence, and 2SLGBTQIA+ Identity at Work. The week closes with a National Film Board of Canada presentation and parade under the theme Queer Acts of Love and Resistance.
Pride Week in the federal public service has been running since 2017.
It is a disgusting travesty and abomination that our government and citizens do not give the same focus of interest, patronage, empathy and public acknowledgment to our vets that they offer these demented, extremist and morally bankrupt circus clowns who parade in public with their junk hanging out dangling around for all to see, including children.....
Can I throw up now???