St. Joseph's participates in London's Pride Parade

Despite the call for rain, more than 40 participants from St. Joseph's Health Care London marched in London’s Pride Parade. Staff and physicians were joined by their family and friends for the walk, which was back after a two-year pandemic hiatus.

The parade route started at the Western Fairgrounds, travelled down Dundas Street and ended at Victoria Park where festivities continued.

a large group of parade participants wearing clothes with the pride stripes holding a pride-themed sign that reads "Embracing the diversity of our community with pride."
St. Joseph’s Health Care London was pleased to join London’s Pride Parade to celebrate diversity and promote a more inclusive society.

“We were thrilled to partake in this year's parade and celebrate the 2SLGBTQ+ community," says Grace VanDenBerg,  clinical nurse specialist at Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care. “2SLGBTQ1+ people continue to face intersecting forms of oppression and disparity in health outcomes. It is vitally important that we, as a health care organization, recognize and begin to break down barriers in health equity.”

a man wearing a pride-striped shirt and sunglasses standing next to a woman wearing a pride pin and brightly coloured clothing
Russell Roth, Coordinator, Organizational Development and Learning Services, and Karen Stone, Vice President, Human Resources and Facilities, were among those representing St. Joseph’s Health Care London in London’s Pride Parade.

To mark the first day of Pride Month this past June, St. Joseph's raised the Progress flag across all sites to celebrate equal rights and diversity and promote a more inclusive society. The flag was again raised again for Pride London Festival week July 14 – 24. 

 "While St. Joseph’s has a long-standing legacy of caring for vulnerable and equity-deserving individuals - those facing significant barriers to participation in different facets of society - we continue our work to ensure we are a place where all staff, physicians, volunteers, patients, residents and caregivers feel they truly belong,”  says  Roy Butler, St. Joseph's President and CEO, who also attended this year's Pride parade.

The parade was part of the annual Pride London Festival, a 10-day event celebrating the LGTBQ community.

“I was proud to participate in an event celebrating love within our community, while honouring advocates from the Stonewall riots who fought for dignity, freedom, and justice,” adds Grace.

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