Each year, the Halifax Pride Society identifies one or more individuals to serve as Pride Ambassador, an honorary title offered to those whose contributions to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community serves as an inspiration to others.

This year, the board has chosen to honour two incredible community members and leaders as Pride Ambassador and Honorary Pride Ambassador. Both individuals exemplify the work this organization has done, and continues to strive to do for our community. 

Both have made considerable contributions to Halifax Pride, both as an event and organization, and have left a lasting legacy on this festival and city. 

2024 Pride Ambassador: April hubbard

April Hubbard is a performance artist, arts administrator, accessibility consultant, and a proudly queer, polyamorous, Mad, Disabled, white & Mi'kmaw woman based in Halifax.

As a teen, April searched for an example of how to thrive as a Disabled woman but found none. Looking at the queer community, she found examples of empowered adults, who also faced struggles with alienation or being silenced. The support and deep interconnectedness she witnessed within both communities pushed her to embrace her various identities. This shift called her to serve as Disability doula and knowledge keeper, welcoming members into our network and guiding them in navigating their new world. 

For two decades, April has worked to create space in the Arts where those with unseen bodies and unheard voices can feel welcome. Partnering with organizations like the Halifax Fringe, disX Halifax, Accessible Media Inc, reachAbility, The River Clyde Pageant, Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, Kinetic, Atlantic Presenters Association, and of course Halifax Pride, she has been fiercely outspoken when witnessing barriers and offering a path toward inclusivity -- whether the organization wanted to hear it or not. By fighting to make queer spaces and events more accessible, and the Disability community more welcoming to all identities, she brought both closer.

In 2019, she made her debut as a performer with an atypical body; first as a circus artist, then as her drag persona, Crip Tease. She continues to expand the image of how a Mad or Disabled person should look or behave. Her journey of community creation has allowed April to find joy and healing and provide hope for the next generation of queer and Crip artists. Today, she is proud to be one example of the thriving, Disabled woman she sought as a teen.

April will be speaking at the Flag Raising on July 18th, and will be seen leading the Pride Parade on July 20th.

2024 Honorary Pride Ambassador: Jane Kansas

Many in our 2SLGBTQIA+ community were deeply saddened in December 2022 to learn that the multi-talented writer, performer, journalist, storyteller, and loveable curmudgeon Jane Kansas had passed away. 

Nova Scotia was Jane’s chosen home and she wasted no time making her mark when she moved to Halifax in 1993. Her many contributions to the city’s artistic and queer cultural community include co-hosting CKDU’s “The Word is Out,” becoming president of Halifax’s Gay and Lesbian Association (GALA), making queer videos at the Centre for Art Tapes, writing a column for Wayves Magazine, reporting at The Coast, performing at the Halifax Fringe Festival with such remarkable shows as My Funeral: the dry run, My Dead Dad, and My First Heart Attack. 

As co-chair of Halifax Pride, she moved the Pride Parade afterparty from behind the doors of Rumours to a celebration in the streets at Sackville Landing. We can’t hear Parachute Club’s Rise Up without thinking of her.

We wish to honour Jane for the remarkable body of work she has left us, for her influence on  our 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and for living life so fully and authentically. She was and is an inspiration to all who knew her, and she left behind a city full of friends and fans. We will carry her memory with us as we parade and celebrate through the streets of Halifax this year and for many more years to come.

Jane will be represented in the Pride Parade by friends and family on July 20th, and will be honoured during the Candlelight Vigil on July 22nd.