Concerns over a rainbow crosswalks become an opportunity say community leaders

The rainbow crosswalks are located throughout the Quinte region and will remain a symbol of inclusion going forward, say advocates. Photo by Jordan Mills, QNet News

By Jordan Mills

BELLEVILLE – A recent controversy surrounding the rainbow crosswalks in Quinte West has opened up discussions about how  a bridge can be built between residents and the LGBTQ2+ community, as well as other minority groups.

During a Quinte West council meeting on Jan. 11, a delegation of local residents discussed how the rainbow crosswalks in the area might appear to only be welcoming members of the LGBTQ2+ community and no other minority groups.

After hearing from members of local LGBTQ2+ groups on Jan. 25, council members decided to keep the rainbow crosswalks as they are and had no plans to make any changes as of this time.

A two-spirited Métis Trans woman, Love-Jolicoeur has a passion for making the world a more inclusive place for the LGBTQ2+ community. Photo courtesy of Stacey Love-Jolicoeur via bayofquinte.ca

Stacey Love-Jolicoeur is the chair of Bay of Quinte Pride and is involved with several other LGBTQ2+ groups in the area. Love-Jolicoeur said the issue was born from a misunderstanding about what the crosswalks represent and that the delegation may not have been educated on what the rainbows represent.

“The request wasn’t to take the crosswalks out, only for them to be there in June, our Pride month,” she said. “But we have come to realize that pride is a year-round thing, not a one-month thing.”

Quinte West councillor Egerton Boyce, a member of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee, echoes Love-Jolicoeur’s belief these groups who wanted to switch out the crosswalks had no ill-intent towards the LGBTQ2+ community.

“We do different activities, and what the inclusivity committee will do is we make it more welcoming for everyone in the community,” Boyce told QNet News.

Love-Jolicoeur goes on to say that an easy solution to making the area more inclusive for the LGBTQ2+ community is to incorporate more pride flags in the area, especially around public buildings like schools and hospitals.

She also says the biggest improvement would be the education of doctors on how to properly and respectfully treat trans patients, especially trans patients. The number of doctors who are knowledgeable on trans physiology is limited and is a cause for anxiety and long wait times for the trans community. The Belleville and Quinte West Community Health Centre has a large contingency of trans-competent doctors, but the wait lists are upwards of ten months.

“A primary health care provider (a doctor and nurse practitioner) can legally offer these services,” she said. “Unfortunately, we are finding very select and very few who are willing or able to step up to that claim.”

Rainbow Health Ontario, a Toronto-based group, offers an online course, three hours in length, to doctors who wish to get educated on how to treat trans patients properly.

Boyce said the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee was recently formed. It hadn’t officially discussed anything concrete. However, he did point toward Belleville as an example of what could be done in the Quinte West community.

“In Belleville, they have the Diwali festival, as well as many others, that they run during their turn in office,” Boyce said. “We will be looking at those festivals and listening to different groups. What they would like to do in our community to make it more inclusive to everyone in Quinte West.”

The committee will be formally introduced at an upcoming Quinte West council meeting, and from there, they will decide upon an official date for the group to meet.