Pride Winnipeg | 2018

MAY 25 - JUNE 3, 2018

Last November, the organization held its first Finding Rainbows Summit for older adults, prompting conversations about expanding the event to a national stage next year, and about adding a seniors resource coordinator position to the Centre’s staff, with an eye on expanded programming.

Everything Under the Rainbow Resource Centre programming is all-inclusive

A balanced budget, a busy programming roster, and major progress on new positions and some long-awaited projects — it’s been a banner year for Winnipeg’s Rainbow Resource Centre, with plans for continued growth in the coming months.

territorial ministers. “Lots of our older adults will tell us they don’t go to another seniors program, because they’re not convinced everyone is going to understand what their life experience is.” To that end, the Centre is also making progress on plans for dedicated housing for LGBT2SQ seniors in Winnipeg. The Positive Spaces Initiative committee recently secured a Winnipeg Foundation grant to fund a feasibility study into the project. Four community consultations have already taken place, with support shown for a plan to combine the housing project with a newly built home for the Rainbow Resource Centre itself — which has already expanded twice in the last year. “If we’re going to build something … we might as well co- locate those things and do one capital campaign,” he says. “It’s about maximizing the programming resources we have, as well as the physicality of the capital we’d be investing in and creating.” A bigger base of operations would allow the Centre to maintain its busy community event calendar and to continue with outreach efforts such as New Pride of Winnipeg, a support group for newcomers to Canada. In addition to New Pride, the Centre staffs a settlement worker who

Now in its 45th year of operation, the Osborne Village- situated non-profit has for decades provided support, resources and education to Manitoba’s LGBT2SQ community. Over the last 12 months, that’s meant a renewed focus on programs that offer invaluable social supports for community members of all ages — many of whom still face barriers, regardless of their age or cultural background. “For anybody who’s LGBT, we grow up in environments that tell us we shouldn’t be, or that we’re outcasts,” says Mike Tuthill, the Centre’s executive director for the last four years. “So any social support group, no matter the age range, is about people being able to find social connections with other people like them, who are going through similar struggles in life.” One of the more recent additions to the Centre’s programming umbrella is BLiNK (which signifies “not only blue, and not only pink”), a monthly playgroup for trans and gender-creative children and their families. Like many of the Centre’s offerings, BLiNK was initiated by families within the community, and has proven to be as beneficial to parents and siblings as to the gender non- conforming kids who provide its mandate. “We just worked with a family recently, and one of the kids — who’s cisgender — was really upset and the parents couldn’t figure out why,” says Tuthill. “It was because the kid’s sibling had decided they didn’t want to come to BLiNK anymore, so the cisgender kid was really sad because they weren’t to get to see their BLiNK friends, either.” The Centre also plays host to weekly Peer Project for Youth gatherings, providing opportunities for LGBT2SQ youth ages 13 to 21 to make social connections through everything from family dinners to arts and crafts, movie nights, and sports and rec activities. And every summer, the Centre welcomes 48 teens to Camp Aurora in the Whiteshell, a scenic retreat that seeks to build resiliency and self-esteem through experiential learning in a safe, supportive environment. On the other end of the spectrum, the Over the Rainbow group provides social supports for older adults and seniors, who meet twice a month for coffee, movie matinees and potluck dinners. Last November, the organization held its first Finding Rainbows Summit for older adults, prompting conversations about expanding the event to a national stage next year, and about adding a seniors resource coordinator position to the Centre’s staff, with an eye on expanded programming. “We know LGBT seniors are particularly vulnerable to isolation,” says Tuthill, who recently participated in Canada- wide consultations on the topic with federal, provincial and

Mike Tuthill, Rainbow Resource Centre, executive director. PHOTO BY DARCY FINLEY

can help newcomers navigate the refugee and immigration processes, and is in the process of hiring a newcomer programming coordinator, whose role will be to develop materials that address the specific challenges of LGBT2SQ immigrants. “Some folks face barriers — because of their sexual orientation

or gender identity — in feeling connected to their ethno-cultural community, which for many newcomers is generally a source of pride or strength or social support when settling in a new place,”Tuthill says. “Canadian LGBT folks navigate this all the time, as well. But I think the social support that comes from an ethno-cultural community is not needed in the same way if you’re someone who was born here.”