Oxford County Pride events announced with new and returning partners

Emily Stewart, Echo Correspondent

Oxford County Pride president Tera Russell-Curtis is looking forward to the upcoming Pride events during her first year as president.

Russell-Curtis was announced as the new president of Oxford County Pride, with Katie Schuett as Vice-President, Becca Neepin as Indigenous Ambassador, and Ali as the Gender-Diversity Ambassador at the Oxford County Pride Annual General Meeting in October 2025. Tami Murray wrapped up her presidency and Jordan Kent finished his time as vice-president.

"We have a really solid committee this year, and they're working hard to fill the shoes that were left for us,” Russell Curtis said.

Ahead of Pride Month, there will be a Drag Brunch at Good Times on May 16. Oxford County Pride will kick off Pride Month on June 1 with municipal flag raisings. The organization will be going to every municipality, as was done in 2024.

"We are a new committee, and we want to be able to introduce ourselves to the communities and be visible for every flag raising, so we thought it would be a good idea to go back to that,” Russell-Curtis said.

Upper Thames Brewing Co. will host Big Top Bingo on June 3, starting at 7 p.m. Ingersoll’s Commonplace Books will run a Rainbow Storytime Adventure on June 6 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., and the Joker’s Crown will have a 19-plus karaoke party beginning at 8 p.m.

Pride Family Day will return to Museum Square on June 13 and will feature a variety of performances by Patrick Jackson Murphy, Richard Hopper, Deshkan Ziibi, Mabe Kyle, Jeff Shadbolt, the Magic Man, Helena Poison from Season 5 of Canada’s Drag Race and Canadian Idol finalist Taylor Abrahamse.

There will also be a movie night at the Market Square Theatre on June 17 from 6 to 8 p.m., a Cheesy Family Pride Day at Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese on June 20 starting at 11 a.m. and trivia at Upper Thames Brewing Co. on June 24 starting at 7 p.m.

Oxford County Pride festivities close off at the Woodstock Art Gallery on June 27 with a Big Cityyy Story Adventure from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and a Sip and Sculpt from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Russell-Curtis, who uses she/they pronouns, said the new partnership occurred after the gallery faced constant vandalism amid their allyships.

"The committee decided to reach out and co-host an art event with them to show our support of their ongoing allyship,” she said. “It seems to be a yearly thing, sometimes multiple times a year, where their walkway, their picnic table is consistently being vandalized, and they're footing the bill to repaint it and deal with the graffiti every time, so we thought it was time that we connect with them.”

Russell-Curtis is also thankful for the community’s support from both new and returning businesses and organizations.

"We have actually been really lucky this year that a lot of the businesses that are coming on board with us,” they said. “It's showing strength in the community and I think in light of a lot the hate that has been going on around us, having so many businesses added to our hosting roster and so many businesses that have added into our platinum sponsorship, it's showing that love is stronger than the hate and is louder than the hate and even with all that going on, we're still growing and people are still coming together and showing that Oxford County can be an inclusive accepting place for everyone."

More information about Oxford County Pride Festivities can be found online by visiting https://oxfordpride.ca.