The Pride Progress flag is now attached to the crosswalk sign in front of the Canada Summit Centre.
However, this time next year, Tarmo Uukkivi, Director of Operations and Protective Services for the Town of Huntsville, says the flag could be swapped out for a rainbow-coloured crosswalk.
The flag can be seen no matter which direction you’re coming from and Uukkivi says it will remain up even once Pride Month ends.
“The town is very supportive of everybody,” he says, adding they’re committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. “The town wants to be part of the pride celebrations to show their commitment to that.”
The original idea was to paint a crosswalk this year. Uukkivi says Huntsville High School Principal Alison Turnbull reached out with the idea. He noted the school Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA) group was part of the initial discussions as well in the lead-up to this year’s Pride Month.
However, Uukkivi says as staff looked into the idea it became clear the timeline was too tight. “It became readily apparent that it would be a significant budgetary issue for this year, but if we planned it out properly for the upcoming year we could definitely work with the student group to achieve that,” he says.
Ahead of Pride Month 2023, Uukkivi says he and his staff will work closely with the SAGA group to plan for the crosswalk. “It’s a little bit of a lesson in civics for the students so that they’re getting a learning experience in addition to supporting the pride movement,” he says.