Since moving to Jasper five years ago, OUT Jasper director Mychol Ormandy said it’s been his dream to paint a rainbow crosswalk in town, in support of the LGBTQ community.
“When I first got here I thought it was amazing to see how much support this small gay community had. I remember seeing rainbow stickers in a lot of business windows and since then it’s been my dream to see those rainbows grow,” Ormandy said. “And while those rainbows have grown my goal is to make something more permanent.
“Rainbow crosswalks are being done all over the world now and Jasper just seems like a place that should also have one.”
Ormandy recently pitched his idea to Gordon Hutton, the municipality’s fleet and public works manager. Hutton said the traffic and advisory committee supports the idea in principal, however the committee must recommend the project to council which will then have to vote on it before it’s approved. The committee isn’t slated to meet again until the new year.
“Any changes to roadway or traffic markings has to be approved by the committee, but we’ve discussed it off the record and it doesn’t seem to be an issue,” Hutton said. “In principle we’re very supportive of the idea, but what it comes down to is logistics and cost.”
Ormandy and Hutton said OUT Jasper—which is a local advocacy group for the LGBTQ community—will be responsible for the estimated $5,000 installation cost of the crosswalk. However, it hasn’t been decided who will maintain the project.
“Maintenance is a discussion going forward. We’ve done a little research and we found out that a lot of communities have installed these, but the drawback is that they don’t stay new-looking for long,” Hutton said. “So we’re trying to decide if we should go forward with a more permanent type of paint or if we should do something temporary—that discussion is still ongoing, but it really comes down to costs and the availability of contractors.”
Placement of the crosswalk is also something that is still being discussed, but both Hutton and Ormandy said they would like to see it in the downtown core. And while the project hasn’t been officially approved, Hutton said work could start as early as the spring of 2017.
“I would have liked to see it done in time for the pride festival in March, but you can’t really paint in the winter,” Ormandy said.
In order to raise the initial $5,000, Ormandy and the rest of the OUT Jasper crew have organized the Fab-U-Lash fundraiser. The event, which will take place Nov. 26 at the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion, will include a drag show with performances by Jasper’s own Toni Lester Van Blam, Ginger Schnapps and Mae Regret Rayne.
There will also be a silent auction complete with tons of local goods, food by the Jasper Brewing Company and music by DJ Jaxx.
“It’s going to be a full show and we hope a lot of people will come out and have a good time,” said Ormandy, adding that OUT Jasper will also unveil its new board during the evening.
OUT Jasper is hoping to raise the full $5,000 at the upcoming event.
The event starts at 7 p.m. and the drag show will begin at 10 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door.
Kayla Byrne
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