Reel Affirmations Review: ‘Small Town Pride’
'Small Town Pride' is a satisfying, feel-good documentary, a reassuring reminder of the strength queer people can find in each other.
It’s almost taken for granted that LGBTQ people in small towns will one day grow up and leave for the relative safety and community of bigger cities. Rarely do we pay much attention to those who choose to stay, or to return to those places.
Small Town Pride (★★★★★, CRITIC’S PICK), a documentary by Chelle Turingan and Riley Sparks, makes an attempt to correct that narrative by following the stories of LGBTQ people and their allies preparing to celebrate Pride in their respective communities.
While Pride celebrations are mostly taken for granted in Canada’s urban areas, they are still harder-won in many parts of the country. Sean, a trans man living in Taber, in the famously conservative rural southern Alberta, recounts, “I had a shotgun put in my face one time at Tim Hortons.”
With a population of about 9000, Taber is the largest of the communities profiled and out of the three towns, presents the most clear and obvious challenges to its Pride organizers.
Its council made national headlines when its town council voted down raising a rainbow flag in front of its town hall. In a telling moment, when the group gets news that the town’s rainbow crosswalk has been completed, one of them immediately pipes up to ask if the security camera has been installed.
Learning about the unique challenges of living in each of the three towns, a viewer might wonder why any queer person would choose to stay, but the film’s subjects provide plenty of their own answers.
One teen, Ava, speaks with love about her remote hometown of Norman Wells in the Northwest Territories. Jim and Norm, an older couple living in Annapolis, reflect on the anxiety they felt as two men moving to the country but also the community and sense of peace they found there.
Jayce, a trans woman living in Taber, reflects that, “You’re gonna find queer people no matter where you go,” and that she has found a sense of community in southern Alberta that is authentic and loving.
It is also heartening to watch passionate allies voice their support for Pride in their communities, such as the mayor of Annapolis Royal expressing firm support of his town’s rainbow crosswalk in a busy pedestrian area. Sarah, a teacher in Norman Wells who runs a GSA at lunch, speaks passionately about the need for her students to have a place to feel safe being who they are.
Small Town Pride is a satisfyingly un-schmaltzy feel-good documentary. It is as much a reassuring reminder of the strength queer people can find in each other and in the support of their community as it is a timely argument for the value and relevance of Pride.
Fighting for your voice to be heard in the place you call home is not always an easy task, but for the subjects of this film, the rewards are more than worth it.
Small Town Pride is available in the virtual festival through Sunday, Oct. 23 at 11:59 p.m. Click here for information on how to purchase passes.
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