Pride WA have announced the dates and themes for this year’s festival and parade, alongside the appointment of their first CEO and proposed sweeping changes for the organisation’s core mission.
Key Dates
The 2021 PrideFEST will run from 6th November through to the closing parade through the streets of Northbridge on 27th November. Fairday will return on Saturday 13th November. Registrations for events is expected to open in August.
The 2020 festival was curtailed due to Covid-19 but the organising committee say many of the new events introduced in 2021 will be returning including the popular Great Pride Bakeoff and the Rainbow Talks events.
This year’s event will be the 30th Pride parade. In 2019 30 years of the Pride organisation was celebrated, but this year’s event will feature the 30th parade.
Theme
The theme for the 2021 festival will be R.E.S.P.E.C.T with organisers describing it as “a time for people to find out what it means to the LGBTIQ+ community as a whole and as individuals travelling together with others on this journey we call LIFE.”
“Whilst all people who identify as being different to the heteronormative are always put into the same box, we are each individual and different. And, the experiences and ambitions of one is never the same as the other. This year we look to acknowledge and celebrate our individuality and to pay respect to ourselves, to each other and to our respective journeys as we celebrate R.E.S.P.E.C.T.”
Proposal to change Pride WA’s missionÂ
Members have also been informed of a proposal to change Pride WA’s mission so the organisation can deliver a wider range of services and activities.
“Presently, Pride WA’s Rules of Association restricts the role of Pride WA to celebrating the community, culture and performing talents of the LGBTIQ+ community. But notwithstanding this, for many years now, Pride WA has been asked to take on numerous other roles outside of this scope. Roles which the community clearly expects Pride WA to perform, and rightfully so.
“These calls for assistance include requests for Pride WA to take on the roles of educator, support network, as a source for referrals, as a commentator and as an advocate. All of which are roles that Pride WA cannot appropriately fulfil under its current mission and objectives as set out in the current Rules of Association.” an email to members read.
A Special AGM has been proposed to allow members to vote on the proposal which would allow Pride WA to expand their current scope.
The current guidelines for the organisation were established in 2014 after the Pride WA conducted a major review of their activities. The 2014 Strategic Review found that successful Pride organisations around the world tended to focus on either being a body for advocacy, or an organisation for cultural celebration.
At the conclusion of the review Pride WA opted to move into being strictly a cultural organisation, a decision which has often been criticised by community members.
Choon Tan appointed as first CEO of Pride WA
The committee has also announced the appointment of Choon Tan as Pride WA’s first CEO. Taking up the full-time role Choon has been tasked with developing the organisation’s first paid operations team. In previous years the organisation has outsourced management of their events and activities to a range of events management companies and public relations firms.
“The inaugural CEO role will include the development of an ongoing operations team within Pride WA. The CEO will also take over the management of the day-to-day operations of Pride WA.” the committee announced.
“Choon has been heavily involved in the day-to-day running of Pride WA over the past few years. Choon has also been our Treasurer since 2020 and has used his skills as a CPA to deftly manage Pride WA’s finances amidst the pandemic. He also played a strategic role in the many successes celebrated by Pride WA in 2020. This experience and demonstration of his skills in running the Association and building relationships with key stakeholders made him the obvious choice for undertaking the appointment.”
Pride WA said it intends to release details of Expressions of Interest for all operational roles created during this process in early-2022 and for appointments to be made in mid-2022.
Graeme Watson.
Graeme is a member of Pride WA.Â
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