Sam Casselman, President of Pride Calgary is promoting two upcoming events in May and June.

First, on Tuesday, May 17, Pride Calgary will recognize the International Day Against Homophobia with a film screening of But I’m a Cheerleader, which will be followed by a discussion about homophobia and how to confront it.

Given all the various dates of awareness that the GLBTQ community observes (i.e. Pink shirt day, Purple shirt day, etc.) I wondered how well we are served by having all these separate dates. Granted, each event focuses on different circumstances (celebration, anti-bullying etc.) but can it get a bit much?

Sam doesn’t think so. "It’s important to recognize homophobia still exists...it’s something we’re fighting against. The more days we can make it visible to everyone...the better it will be to get it eradicated."

Additionally, Sam thinks that regardless of the particular focus for specific days, acceptance towards our community is something which should be brought to attention every day.

The post-film discussion will be about what to do if you experience homophobia, and resources and contacts available in the community (police, counselling). Furthermore, as it’s the International Day Against Homophobia, "...part of it is also going to be educating people.  (While) we have it pretty good in Canada...other places in the world there’s still the death penalty for homosexuals."

The screening and discussion takes place at the Old Y Center downtown. It’s open to all ages, there is no charge, and there will be popcorn and beverages available for free.

Meanwhile in June, it’s the second annual running of the GAYmazing Race. If you participated in the race last year, you’ll remember how much fun it was. "Last year was awesome...the response we got was incredible," said Sam.

Nevertheless, they are making some minor modifications. "A couple things we’re changing this year...one, the length of time it takes and the amount of stops. Some of the feedback we got last year was that it was a little too long and there were too many stops." This year they cut it down, while still trying to fit in as much as possible of the community who are participating.

The main goal remains to get people thinking about Pride (and to raise funds for September’s Pride event). Additionally, it’s to show contestants the different groups, organizations and businesses working within the GBLTQ section of Calgary that are GBLTQ owned/allied or at the very least, as Sam phrases it, "are tied to our community."

For example, Sam explains, "a lot of people will say I don’t know what [Calgary Outlink] is. So this is a great opportunity for them to go to [Calgary Outlink], find out something about it, and know that is a resource for them."

Regarding prizes and the race, Sam was tight-lipped; she did mention some of the stops are going to be similar to last year, yet they do have a lot of new stuff this year. As well, "there will be tonnes of prizes available for people this year, the race itself will be shorter, and the after party is going to be much better than last year."