ATHABASCA – If you’ve visited the library, or the Husky on 50th Avenue, you may have noticed a heart shaped sticker in the window that reads “everyone is welcome”.
The stickers are part of a campaign by the United Church of Athabasca and Athabasca Outreach to let LGBTQ+ people know that the store is a “safe space from hate, and a place of strong allyship,” according to Alia Schamehorn, who is a co-leader of Athabasca Outreach, and the founder of the sticker campaign.
During the April 4 Town of Athabasca council meeting, Schamehorn asked councillors to put one of their stickers in the doorway, to demonstrate that the town office was a safe space for everyone. Councillors voted 5-2 in favour of the ask, with Coun. David Pacholok and Coun. Jonathan LeMessurier against.
During their presentation, Schamehorn (who identifies as non-binary, and uses they/them pronouns) spoke passionately about why now was the time for the initiative. They talked about issues faced by their peers in the United States, and the response they got from internet sites like Reddit when they debuted the idea.
“There was a lot of ‘Good luck,’ and “That will never work in Athabasca,’” said Schamehorn. “People are scared to the point where they’re selling their homes and moving, so it’s not just the kids … I don’t want Athabasca to be known as a backwater hick town where people are afraid to be different.”
In an April 5 interview, Schamehorn said that while they were happy that the motion passed, they were disappointed that it wasn’t unanimous. “I’m glad that I was able to say my piece and that it passed … I’m willing to talk to them (Pacholok and LeMessurier) if they’re willing to discuss it, and I can try to explain the need for it more.”
Besides the sticker campaign, Athabasca Outreach has also partnered with the United Church for a movie night, which they are looking to do again soon. There are also plans to bring in LGBTQ+ authors to speak about their work, and to increase events that are pride focused, such as a “pride picnic” that was held in 2022.
Councillors spent an emotional 15 minutes discussing the stickers, with more than one being moved to tears. It clearly wasn’t a topic that many were educated on; multiple councillors mistakenly referred to Schamehorn as she/her, despite the gentle corrections from Coun. Sara Graling, who said “I am in favour of this, I think it’s a sign of leadership and it’s a sign of taking a path forward and having broader conversations with respect to identity.”
For Pacholok and LeMessurier, the issue wasn’t whether LGBTQ peoples should be welcomed as they both agreed that they were. Instead, they said that it was a case of “is this needed?”
Pacholok thought that a public building might not be the right place for this, saying, “I’m sympathetic to the cause to a point, but I think that it’s just not needed with a public building, everyone is a taxpayer. I don’t know if it’s something that needs to be there.”
LeMessurier, who was one of the councillors that struggled with Alia’s pronouns, put forward a similar argument, albeit one with a more sympathetic tone. “I have a lot of empathy towards Alia, and what she’s gone through in our community. Everyone deserves to be loved, it’s as simple as that,” he said. “Where I vote with this is not against a certain group, it’s just that I really strongly believe that as a municipality, we really should stand for everybody as a whole… Do I think that our community, hearing some of her stories, should be educated more? 100 per cent.”
Ultimately, mayor Rob Balay had the final statement before calling the motion to vote.
“I think it’s unfortunate that we must consider doing things like this. But I consider this to be a space where every person is welcome; that’s how I was raised, it’s how my kids were raised, and it’s how my grandkids were raised. In the end, I think it will send the wrong message not to support this,” said Balay.
