Happy Valley-Goose Bay Pride kicks off week-long celebrations

The 7th annual Pride Week in Happy Valley-Goose Bay got underway Monday, as organizers looked forward to mixing celebration with education for its biggest-ever week of events, since its beginnings in 2009.

"Every year we've added something extra since,so this is the first time actually filling up their entire week with things," said Denise Cole, amember of Safe Alliance, the non-profit Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual and Transgender(LGBT) group in charge of the events.

But from the flag-raising on Monday afternoon to the big parade and party scheduled for Saturday, this year's Pride Week hopes to strike a bit more of a serious message about LGBT issues.

"We've always had toughconversations around our planning table aboutwhy we do these events, and why we have Pride Week," Cole told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning.

"Talking about [the mass shooting at a gay nightclubin]Orlando, talking about what safe spaces are and how we promote that. But also talking about,why don't we get a lot more people out to our pride events?"

So for 2016, organizers areaiming to take those talks from behind-the-scenes to the forefront.

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"We had discussions around our planning table of making pride real, so one of the things we're going to be doing is at some of the events we're going to be speaking a bit more about those hard things," said Raelene Vickers, another organizer and member of Safe Alliance.

"While we celebrate, we can still talk about awareness and what's needed in our communities," Cole added.