Medicine Hat Public Library Welcoming Two Speakers For Pride Month

Written by Chris Brown, Head of Marketing & Community Engagement

Speakers will present on the history of Pride and how you can be an ally

To help mark Pride Month, Medicine Hat Public Library is welcoming two speakers from the Prairie Pride Guild of Medicine Hat and District for a pair of presentations that will reflect on the last and look to the future of Pride in our community. 

First, Jenni Barrientos, an archivist at the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre, will discuss the history of Pride in Medicine Hat. Following that, Kim Large will speak about her journey as a parent of a transgender child and steps you can take to support 2SLGBTQ+ youth.

Barrientos and Large provided bios below for you to get to know them better before hearing them speak on Thursday, June 20, starting at 6 p.m. 

Those who attend on Thursday, June 20, can put their name in one of two draws to win a book. Adults can get their hands on a copy of "The Guncle" by Steven Rowley, and for teens we have "The Comedienne's Guide to Pride" by Hayli Thomson. You can also enter the draws at Pride For Everyone, hosted by the Prairie Pride Guild on Saturday, June 29, at Kin Coulee Park.

Jenni Barrientos

Jenni Barrientos (she/they) was born and raised in the Okanagan in B.C. A prolific writer and a lover of all things historic, she left her small hometown behind and moved to Toronto to pursue a bachelor's degree in history. She arrived in Medicine Hat in 2010 to meet with her then-long-distance-girlfriend-now-spouse, and never left. As Rudyard Kipling described Medicine Hat in 1907: "it's all your own, and the only hat of its kind on Earth." In the spirit of making Medicine Hat her home, Jenni is a current practicing appraiser with the National Archival Appraisal Board, the editor of the Medicine Hat Historical Society Newsletter, an archivist at the Esplanade, and the president of the Prairie Pride Guild of Medicine Hat and District.

Kim Large

Kim Large (she/her) is a community member, volunteer and parent of two. She is a parent of a transgender child, ally, advocate and activist for transgender, two-spirit, non-binary and gender-diverse kids and youth. Her family has been on this journey for about four years now. As of September 2023 her advocacy took on a new role, focusing on mostly the local community. Kim takes every opportunity she can to educate herself and do whatever she can in the community to help show visibility, validity, worth and kindness for 2SLGBTQ+ people, especially families. She enjoys reading, hiking/outdoors, birds, thrifting, spending time with her family and friends like family. Her family has a medium-sized terrier mix named Frankie and a crested gecko named Grey.

Another way MHPL is marking Pride Month is with our new book display near the Info Desk. Stop by and find fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, serious books, humorous books and more. 

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