I'm writing this on the afternoon of Friday the 13th, so let me wish everyone a Happy Don't Walk Under Any Ladders, Avoid Black Cats, And Stay Away From Any Abandoned Summer Camps Day to everyone out there.
I mean, if you believe in that sort of thing.
Hmmm, that's funny, there's a big hulking guy wearing a hockey mask and carrying a large machete walking towards my apartment building. I wonder if he's in the mood for a coffee...?
Moving on...
So, we're a couple of weeks into a new month, and as I'm sure many people are aware, June symbolizes many things for many people. In this timespan of 30 days, we see things going on such as high school kids cramming for final exams, all kinds of graduation ceremonies are being held in communities dotting the province, and a lot of people are in the midst of planning some summer holidays and events once the kids exit school for the next couple of months and people are looking for things in which to fill their time.
But June is also a month in which pride is celebrated. Or rather, Pride with that proper capital 'P'.
The LGBTQ+ community utilizes this month as a timeframe in which anyone who may be gay, lesbian, transgender or any other personal profile is looking for acceptance and understanding from everyone else from every other walk of life. In many communities, you may see Pride flags flown at the local town hall or you may see Pride colours painted on crosswalks or elsewhere in the community.
It's quickly become something that's so engrained in our culture that when June arrives every year, it comes across as normal to me as seeing the trees and grass green up in May or watching all the machines go at it in the fields every September.
Of course, this really all depends on who you're talking to because not everyone is as accepting as perhaps you and I. Case in point, check out this article from one of my fellow journalists over at Â鶹´«Ã½AV.ca about something that just happened over in Tisdale this week:
"Leaders in Tisdale are showing support and condemning the hate that transpired on June 12 at Tisdale Middle and Secondary School (TMSS).
The TMSS True Colours GSA Club, in partnership with Suncrest College, painted the Recplex crosswalk in rainbow colours for Pride Month. This was meant to be a vibrant display and a powerful reminder that LGBTQ2S+ people are seen, respected and belong, said TMSS in a social media post the day before it was defaced with a swastika. Skid marks from a vehicle were also observed.
There has been a strong wave of support for Pride Month and what it represents to community members, North East School Division (NESD) leadership and youth.
Young Tisdale community member Baylee Cresswell showed her support on social media, disapproving of the vandalism.
Cresswell took to social media to support those who feel targeted and to condemn the actions of the perpetrators:
“To the kids in the GSA that painted the sidewalk and any person in Tisdale that is a part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, I’ve been you, and my heart hurts for you. … Your voice and acts are valuable and lifesaving to those who feel they cannot speak up for themselves.”
Lori Kidney, NESD board chair, also responded on social media.
“The sidewalk was a beautiful and courageous student-led statement of belonging for all. Its defacement is a painful reminder that the work of building inclusive, compassionate communities must continue, and that we each have a role to play in standing up against hate,” she wrote.
“As your local trustee and as a board, we fully support the leadership of our students, school staff, and administrators who have responded with resolve, unity, and care. We also acknowledge the swift action taken by the Town of Tisdale and the RCMP in their efforts to investigate this incident and hold those responsible accountable.”
Tisdale RCMP are investigating the incident involving a Pride crosswalk at a community facility on 101st Street. A hateful symbol was discovered painted over the flag between 9:45 p.m. on June 11 and 4 a.m. on June 12.
Anyone with information or who may have witnessed suspicious activity in the area during that time is asked to contact Tisdale RCMP at 310-RCMP. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.saskcrimestoppers.com."
Here's a photo taken from the Tisdale Rant and Rave page on social media:
I don't even really know where to begin with this one.
Here we are, living in the year 2025, and we continue to function in a society where someone's reaction to some simple rainbow colours that symbolize acceptance and understanding.....is to paint a freaking swastika?!?!?
Anyone with this kind of mindset: you're gross, you're vile, and you'd be doing all of us a favor if you just got off the grid, packed a van with all your belongings, and drove into a random forest to live out the rest of your days.
And hey, I'm certainly not shunning Tisdale as a whole because it's obvious that Outlook has to do better in the same regard. I can remember a town council meeting just a couple of years ago where a delegate asked to speak and proceeded to quote the Bible as perhaps some form of "leverage" as to why the Town shouldn't be flying the Pride flag in June.
The Town proceeded to fly the flag that June. And the June after that.
However, when it comes to the right here and right now, the Town has decided not to fly the Pride flag as I type this. I can't lie, I find that to be a little disappointing.
Look, I'm not trying to show people how open I am as a person on any of this stuff because I can admit that I certainly am not an expert by any means. I'm a straight guy, so it's not exactly my world and I won't pretend to understand a lot of what people from that LGBTQ+ community go through on a daily basis.
But what I am is a human being with empathy and emotion.
I believe that every human, regardless of who they may sleep next to at night, deserves acceptance and a seat at the table in our normal, functioning, everyday society. It's really as simple as that.
And if you don't share that belief and you squawk on social media about how, "There needs to be a Straight Pride Month, dangit!", let me simply point out a few things to you:
- No one has ever been excluded for being straight.
- There is no straight conversion therapy.
- No one has ever been jailed for being straight.
- No one protests straight weddings.
- No one has to come out of the proverbial closet as straight.
- Being straight has never been illegal.
- No one has ever outed straight kids.
- No one has ever been killed for being straight.
As straight people, we receive a lot of freedoms that we take for granted. Just imagine being someone who wasn't straight and watching these kind of gates and fences become closed off to you in your everyday life.
It's no wonder why suicide numbers are as high as they are within that community.
A few years ago, I saw all the whining and complaining online about the Black Lives Matter movement, with people providing the argument of, "Well, I don't know about you, but *I* say that ALL Lives Matter!"
So I presented a counter argument as such:
Everybody's home matters, but we tend to park the fire trucks and point the hoses at the ones that are going up in flames at the time.
Do you want Straight Pride events? Fine, no worries, what exactly is stopping you from organizing them?
Of course, all love matters and should be treated equally, but until the day comes where people are denied jobs because they're straight, or they're the target of harassment for choosing to sleep with the opposite sex, or they're humiliated, beaten, tortured, and then murdered for daring to love someone with the opposite kind of genitalia from them, then I'd like to think that most people would understand why one part of our society is just looking for some common decency and respect from everyone else.
Seriously, folks. It's rainbows and messages of hope and acceptance for a few weeks.
Let's grow the hell up.
For this week, that's been the Ruttle Report.
