With Pride Month around the corner, Thunder Pride is gearing up for virtual celebrations for the second year in a row.

The group has released its calendar for this year’s festivities. COVID-19 has put a halt on in-person events, but organizers have pushed as much as they can to a virtual format.

Pride month begins with a flag raising at City Hall on Tuesday, June 1st.

Lakehead Public Schools will hold its flag raising on Thursday, and the English Catholic board will do the same on June 14th.

The month’s main events will officially start with opening ceremonies on June 11th, and include a gender-affirming gear event, a discussion panel on consent, game and trivia nights, and a virtual drag show.

Drive-by Drag is also making a return this year on June 26th.

The main festivities end on the 21st with the closing ceremonies.

Chair Ashley Moreau says they’re trying to apply the lessons they learned in 2020.

“I think we really did an amazing job, and we plan to kind of mirror that style of delivery again, which seemed to reach farther places so people who wouldn’t typically be able to join are actually able to join now,” they note.

They say Thunder Pride members are excited to return to in-person events.

“Later on in the year, if things open up and we’re able to do that, then absolutely. We can actually include these other events and have smaller gatherings,” Moreau says.Thunder Pride has also been busy with a project looking to catalogue gender-neutral bathrooms in the city.

Moreau is excited about the program, which has tallied up over 20 businesses and organizations so far. It’s a collaboration between Thunder Pride and the Northwest Ontario Pride Facebook group.

Organizations like Lambda Legal have advocated for equal access to public washrooms for transgender people, saying unisex or all-gender restrooms give more options to people who aren’t comfortable in male or female washrooms.

A guide from the Public Service Alliance of Canada emphasizes “people whose appearance does not conform to what is commonly expected for men or women are frequently subjected to stares, questions, comments, verbal harassment, and physical violence when they try to access washrooms.”

It’s something that means a lot to Moreau, who says they’re always glad to see a non-gendered bathroom in local businesses.

“You open the door [to a business] and say, ‘Wow, there’s an all-gender bathroom,” they explain. “This is amazing that this is a focus for people when they’re starting an new business. It’s noticed, you know?”

They point out the local 2SLGBTQ+ youth group Other 10% had the same idea around eight years ago, but note that “traditionally, things like this have always been word-of-mouth in our community.”

“It’s just a matter of having this larger curated list of all the businesses that are up-and-coming, too, that are taking this initiative,” they point out.

“There are some actual plans to create an interactive map,” Moreau explains. “For if you’re new to Thunder Bay, or if you just want to look and see if there’s any new ones.”

Similar projects have cropped up in other areas, including resources like the RefugeRestroom app.