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The actress was present in the capital city of Kingston over the weekend to show her support for the first Pride event in the Caribbean nation
Photo via Ian Daniel Instagram
As we reported earlier, Pride Jamaica, the Caribbean nation's first Pride event, is taking place from August 1-8 in the capital city of Kingston, the same time as Jamaica's Emancipation and Independence celebrations. Festivities kicked off this past weekend with a flash mob, followed by an opening ceremony, and it turns out actress Ellen Page was there, along with a friend, to show her support, and both of them posted photos to Instagram.
Grateful to have witnessed first ever Jamaican LGBTQIA pride with @ellenpage
A photo posted by Ian Daniel (@ianjamesdaniel) on
The Pride event was organized byJamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG), which bills itself as "the foremost organization in Jamaica advocating for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people." Ahead of the event, the organization's associate director Latoya Nugent stated: "We will pause the negative vibrations from anti-gay lobby groups and focus on the strides we have made as a community. More importantly, we will recommit to initiatives that see us moving forward as one community."
Jamaica is renowned for homophobic attacks in the past, and the government has been criticized by human rights groups for failing to combat high levels of violent crime perpetrated against LGBT people on the island, but ahead of J-FLAG's Pride week -- which lasts through Aug. 8 -- the country's Justice Minister, Mark Golding, released a statement urging "all Jamaicans to respect their right to do so in peace, and hope that the week's activities will further the goal of making Jamaica a place where 'Out of Many, One People' is a fundamental guiding principle by which we all abide."
It seems Page wanted to make sure things didn't go wrong and enjoyed herself as well.
