Two decades have passed since Salt Spring Island held its first Pride celebration.
Reading newly gathered remembrances from the 2005 event, thanks to former Salt Spring Islander Deirdre Rowland and John Dolman of TJ Beans, and Driftwood coverage from that time reminds us what a big deal it was for the island’s gay and lesbian community to “step out” in a formal way.
Same-sex marriage had become legal in Canada just two months earlier through the Civil Marriage Act, following a contentious public debate. Posters advertising the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) at Gulf Islands Secondary School had been torn down almost immediately when the group was established the year before. Bill Turner, the GSA teacher rep at the time, and a board member of Gays and Lesbians of Salt Spring Island (GLOSSI), said at the first Pride’s powerful panel discussion that “homophobia is alive and well and living on Salt Spring Island, as well as the rest of the world.”
When it comes to 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, much has changed for the better in Canada and parts of the world since 2005, but the converse is also true. Same-sex marriage is only legal in 38 of 195 countries in the world, it is still illegal to be an LGBTQ person in approximately 65 countries, and the pressure from some socially conservative groups and politicians to limit or roll back rights in numerous jurisdictions, including Canada, seems relentless.
In their 2025 Pride message on page 7 of this paper, the board members of Diverse and Inclusive Salt Spring Island (formerly known as GLOSSI) articulate this moment well: “With social conservatism and authoritarianism on the rise again, it is a call to action: now is the time to gather, know our neighbours and pledge to support one another, come what may.”
Islanders of all gender identities have come to embrace the annual Pride celebration, particularly through watching or walking in the parade, but by participating in other events too. It shifted to a mid-summer affair for a couple of years, but has returned to its September origins for 2025.
This year, more than ever, it’s important to express support for the rights of people of all genders on Salt Spring and around the world; to celebrate love and diversity and — because it’s Salt Spring — have a ton of fun at the same time.