A celebration of LGBTQ Community and diversity in the Northwest
Closing of Pride in the Park 2011
THUNDER PRIDE 2012: June 10 - 17
City Hall Thunder Pride Flag Raising
Once again, the City of Thunder Bay will be flying Pride Flags to celebrate the city's pride during the second annual Thunder Pride Week, June 10 - 17. The Rainbow Pride Flag will be flown along with our own official "Thunder Pride Flag", a stylized Sleeping Giant in all six pride colours.
The flag raising ceremony will be held at 10 AM on Tuesday, June 5 at City Hall, and will be the official kick-off of Thunder Pride 2012. Everyone is welcome to come out to City Hall and be a part of the festivities.
THUNDER PRIDE 2012 - VISION
Thunder Pride is a celebration of the LGBTQ community, highlighting the diversity of Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario.
The Thunder Pride Committee offers a celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirited, and queer communities within our region, along with their families, friends, allies, and supporters. Thunder Pride is a celebration of the beautiful diversity that exists in our families, work place, community and region. Thunder Pride events will be held throughout the city during the week of June 10-17, 2012.
THUNDER PRIDE - Goals
THUNDER PRIDE is an annual community celebration of LGBTQ and diversity rights in Northwestern Ontario. Its goals are to:
Celebrate the history, courage, diversity and future of Thunder Bay's LBGTQ community.
Provide support, encouragement and education to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, queer people, family and friends in Northwestern Ontario.
Work with community groups, academic and other organizations to develop programming, initiatives and events dedicated to reducing homophobia- during THUNDER PRIDE and throughout the year.
Build a unique arts and cultural celebration for the City of Thunder Bay, its residents and the surrounding region.
The Rainbow Flag
The rainbow flag, sometimes called 'the freedom flag', was created as a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pride and diversity by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. The different colors symbolize diversity in the gay community, and the flag is used predominantly at gay pride events and in gay villages worldwide.
It consists of six colored stripes, which should always be displayed with red on top or to left, as the colors appear in a natural rainbow. Aside from the obvious symbolism of a mixed LGBT community, the colors were designed to symbolize: red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sunlight), green (nature), blue (harmony), and purple/violet (spirit). [ - Wikipedia]
Thunder Pride Extends Special Thanks To Our Major Sponsors
Watch for the list of sponsors as they come on board.
If you are coming from outside Thunder Bay, or just want to be close to the action, check out the
Prince Arthur Waterfront Hotel and Suites. The hotel is offering a special rate of $89.95/double occupancy with two coupons for a hot buffet breakfast. You must ask for the "Thunder Pride rate".
A Note About LGBTQ
Throughout this website LGBTQ is used as an abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, intersex, queer, questioning, and others who identify themselves as part of a sexual minority.
