Albany Pride recognises that for Pride to be a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community, it needs to be accessible and inclusive, so that everyone within our community can show their Pride.
For Pride 2023, Albany Pride committed 15% of its sponsorship funding to improving accessibility and inclusion at our Festival. Albany Pride have been delighted to work with Living Proud’s Queer & Accessible project to help us achieve this.
Sometimes, the available venues sometimes pose challenges for folk with accessibility requirements, but very early on during our planning processes, we made venue accessibility an essential consideration.
For Fair Day, we are welcoming back AUSLAN interpreters, and providing a ‘Quiet Space’ for persons with sensory challenges.
Albany Pride is also conscious of cultural diversity in our LGBTQIA+ community and are building partnerships with other organisations and stakeholders to drive this forward.
We acknowledge that this is very much a work in progress, and one that is heavily reliant on funding and available support, and a continued learning process that we have has a priority for our planning for future festivals. As such, feedback and suggestions are always welcome.
Albany Pride is unapologetically driven by our goals to serve the entire spectrum of LGBTIQA+ community, and we refuse to tolerate bigotry based on anybody’s disability, ethnicity, neurodivergence, age, sexuality, gender identity and/or intersex status. Pride is a time for togetherness, and it should be enjoyed by all members of our community.