Village in Haida Gwaii painting rainbow crosswalks for Pride Week

This week local politicians from Masset, on B.C.'s Haida Gwaii, approved a proposal to paint rainbow crosswalks to commemorate Pride Week later this month.

"It's important to show that [Masset is] acommunity that appreciates and accepts all people and that equality is important to us," said Natanis LaBoucane, a former village councilor who presented the idea to council and whose daughter has gender dysorphia the formal diagnosis for people who experience significant unhappiness with the sex and gender they were assigned at birth.

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Masset is home to approximately 1,000 people, and the LGBQT community is small, but LaBoucane thinks it's essential to promote inclusiveness and acceptance as a general principle.

"This past year in winter we had a number of suicides, especially in First Nations communities, not necessarily related to homosexuality, but amongst teens who aren't feeling accepted. It does make it kind of a timely thing to be talking about being accepting to everyone."

LaBoucane says all four crosswalks at the village's busiest intersection will be painted with rainbows as part of Pride Week celebrations, which take place from June 22 to June 28.

To hear the full interview withNatanisLaBoucane, listen to the audio labelledMasset rainbow crosswalk.