Stay in the Game Youth Sports

🌈 RIP DOLLY PARTON — THANK YOU FOR MAKING ROOM FOR EVERYONE 🌈

The world has lost an extraordinary light. 💔

Dolly Parton was so much more than a country music legend. For generations of LGBTQ+ people, she was also a voice of kindness, acceptance and belonging.

Long before it was easy or popular in country music, Dolly supported marriage equality, welcomed LGBTQ+ families at Dollywood and challenged Christians who used faith to judge others.

Her philosophy was beautifully simple:

❤️ “I try to love everybody.”

She spoke with compassion about transgender people and pushed back against anti-trans legislation in Tennessee. She embraced her LGBTQ+ fans and their right to live authentically:

🌈 “We are who we are, so why can’t we be allowed to be that?”

She wrote the Oscar-nominated “Travelin’ Thru” for Transamerica and later joined Miley Cyrus for “Rainbowland” — a song imagining a world where our differences don’t have to divide us.

Dolly rarely made herself a partisan political figure. Instead, she kept returning to something much simpler:

Human dignity. Kindness. Acceptance. Love.

She didn’t ask everyone to be the same.

She simply believed there was room for everyone. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Rest in peace, Dolly. 🌈

Thank you for the music.
Thank you for the laughter.
Thank you for the kindness.
And thank you for making our Rainbowland a little brighter.

We will always love you. ❤️

Dolly Parton • 1946–2026

Reading with Pride: Stories for Everyone
Nearly 300 2SLGBTQI+ picture books collected by Honourable Senator and expanded through a national call by will be debuted and showcased in Reading with Pride: Stories for Everyone, a landmark exhibition with an accompanying print catalogue, at the 40th IBBY World Congress in Ottawa from August 6 to 9, 2026.

https://www.ibby-canada.org/programs/

Today, at the 40th International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) World Congress, we launched the world’s largest collection of LGBTQ+ children’s picture books spanning 50+ years with over 350 unique titles. We invite people from around the world to help us grow this remarkable archive at a time when these books are being banned in schools, libraries, and communities around the globe. This archive of hope will help to preserve these books and celebrate them for generations to come. Read our new monograph compendium at: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0886/1178/2966/files/READING_WITH_PRIDE_CATALOGUE_R6_lowres_for_web.pdf?v=1785857388

School start is only weeks away. Go back to school in style, free!

Queerly United Clothing Swap.

Join this 2SLGBTQIA+ & Allies inclusive clothing swap event on Saturday August 15th from 1-3PM. There is no cost to attend! If you have clothing/jewelry items that you'd like to donate, please drop them off either on Sunday August 9th following the service or during office hours Monday August 10th to Thursday August 13th between 9AM and 1PM.

Come as you are and find some fashionable treasures for self-expression!

Clothing swap McDougall United Church, Calgary, just in time for back to school!

False and misleading information online doesn’t just create confusion—it can fuel stigma, discrimination, and real-world harm for 2SLGBTQI+ communities.

Join this free Egale Canada webinar to learn:
✅ The difference between misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation (MDM)
✅ How false narratives spread online
✅ How MDM contributes to rising anti-2SLGBTQI+ hate
✅ Practical strategies to recognize and respond to harmful content

🗓️ Today
🕛 12:00–1:00 PM ET

Register here: https://lnkd.in/gZthaTuF

The more we understand how harmful information spreads, the better equipped we are to foster respectful, informed, and inclusive conversations.

Misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation (MDM) are shaping online conversations-and fueling harmful narratives that impact 2SLGBTQI communities.

Join us today, from 12:00–1:00 PM ET, for our free webinar, Understanding & Countering Misinformation, Disinformation, & Malinformation, to learn:

✔️ What MDM is and how it spreads
✔️ How MDM contributes to rising anti-2SLGBTQI hate
✔️ Practical strategies to recognize and respond to harmful content online

Register today at: https://egale.ca/free-workshops