Members of Grand Falls-Windor Pride are thankful for the outpouring of generosity, kindness and support they’ve received following unfortunate incident that they say only reinforces the need for Pride events.
The Grand Falls-Windsor Lion’s Club yesterday announced that it had severed its partnership with a local church after the Salvation Army Citadel on Park Street objected to the service club inviting the local Pride committee to a weekly healthy living walk.
The Lion’s Club hosts the walks every Thursday evening at the Park Street Salvation Army property for some time.
The walks are intended to encourage active living, and to mark Pride month, the Lion’s Club invited members of GF-W Pride to join in the activity this evening.
That didn’t sit well with the church, prompting the club to cancel the walk and sever its partnership with the Salvation Army Citadel.
The Lion’s Club is now seeking out another venue.
Alyssa Frampton, co-chair of Pride Grand Falls-Windsor, says they weren’t shocked to get the news.
She says they’ve seen a history of anti-2SLGBTQ+ messaging from the Salvation Army, so they weren’t surprised but were still hurt. She says the Lion’s Club were just doing a nice thing in inviting them to cap off Pride Month.
Meanwhile, the Salvation Army in Newfoundland and Labrador has released a statement on the situation. They say they are disappointed in the way the situation unfolded with the Lion’s Club as they did not ask for the event to be cancelled.
They say as a faith-based organization, The Salvation Army Park Street Citadel is guided by the organization’s core values and welcomes all on church property.