Kemptville Pride is putting a pause on Pride Month to acknowledge the tragic finding of the bodies of 215 children at a residential school in British Columbia.
The organization will be taking the first 215 hours of the month to stand in solidarity with Indigenous communities and honour the souls that were stolen from their families.
In a statement, Executive Director Jennifer Crawford says the harm that occurred in these schools affects Indigenous families and communities today through direct and intergenerational trauma.
“This tragic story is a reminder of the significance and urgency of the work that needs to be done, to not only acknowledge this dark stain on Canada’s history but to recognize that this history unfolds daily in current living,” the statement said.
Between 1831 and 1996, Canada’s residential school system forcibly separated children from their families, in what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission tasked with investigating the system called “cultural genocide” in 2015.
Pride celebrations will officially resume next Wednesday.