Albany Pride is hitting the road in style, unveiling a colourful new community trailer which will help the organisation spread its message across the Great Southern.
The vibrant trailer was officially unveiled on July 23 and will be used to transport equipment to events while boosting Albany Pride’s visibility at festivals and community celebrations throughout the region and beyond.
The project was made possible through State Government funding, with support from former Albany MLA Rebecca Stephens and the Great Southern Development Commission.
Minister for Commerce Tony Buti travelled to Albany to represent the State Government in unveiling the new trailer.
Albany Pride member Tiger Bird said the trailer would make a significant difference to the organisation, which regularly transports merchandise and event equipment across WA.
“WA Labor got us a lovely merchandise trailer which was fantastic,” they said.
“We’re forever dragging boxes about and we go to Perth for Pride Fair Day and all sorts of other things, so now we’ll be able to carry a lot of our things around and also provide a bit of visibility at events as well which will be nice.”
Tiger Bird said the trailer would also help Albany Pride attend more regional festivals.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to go to other regional Pride festivals as well as the Perth one and provide a bit of visibility for Albany Pride and also Albany,” they said.
“It will make it easier for our volunteers to be able to connect with more LGBTIQA+ people throughout the region by providing a physical and accessible presence at events, and to promote the support groups and community functions that provide a very real and important benefit to members of our community, as well as their families and friends.
“We get so many people come down to Albany specifically because of us and we just want to expand on that so we can bring more people here.”
Tiger Bird also designed the trailers eye catching artwork and admitted they were relieved with how good the finished product looked.
“I had a lot of fun designing it,” they said.
“I must admit I was always looking at it and I was dreading how it would turn out to be honest, but then it got here and I was happy.”
They said the trailer would play an important role in increasing visibility for LGBTIQA+ people across the region.
“A big thank you to WA Labor, I think it’s really important for visibility and ensuring the LGBTIQA+ community in the Great Southern and beyond know that we’re here as well,” Tiger Bird said.
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