FORT FRANCES – After COVID-19 halted festivities last year, Borderland Pride is back and ready to get people from all around the region out of their homes and into the streets to celebrate loud and proud.
Douglas Judson, Borderland Pride Festival co-chair, says, “Pride is back, and we are proud to kick off a long-overdue summer of fun for families across the Borderland region.”
Through an event dedicated to promoting diversity, inclusion, and allyship for the 2SLGBTQ+ community, this year’s Pride Festival starts on May 31 at the Rainy River Public Library with an “All Tea; No Shade” meet and greet where community members can socialize and share a hot cup of tea with their follow neighbours before the official flag-raising ceremony on June 6.
“One thing that is really important about a Pride festival in a small community is that unlike any other type of festival, you tap into people from different segments of the community who have something in common, said Judson. “Maybe they didn’t know they have in common before, and that could be as simple as may they both have kids that are 2SLGBTQ+, or maybe they both care about an issue that they don’t get to talk about often in their work.”
Around the world, people raise flags to show national pride, economic pride, and community pride. A flag represents a sense of belonging. Therefore, the raising of the Pride encompasses a sight of resistance and resilience for the 2SLGBTQ+ community as they show the public that they are as much a part of the multi-cultural diversity of Canada. They are business owners, law enforcement officials, politicians, school teachers, health care workers, and local celebrities.
Hosted by the Seven Generations Educational Institute, raising the official Pride flag honours the historical struggle for civil and human rights. Before there was a Pride march in celebration of the 2SLGBTQ+ movement, Pride was a protest march in response to the 2SLGBTQ+ community fighting back against the police as they violently raided a local gay bar in the Greenwich Village, New York, on June 28, 1969.
During that time, homosexuality was illegal. As it is referred to today, the Stonewall Uprising helped perpetuate the 2SLGBTQ+ movement years after years to commemorate the Stonewall Uprising while ensuring that laws violating the human rights 2SLGBTQ+ people were being met.
Following the raising of the flag, people can then head over to Memorial Sports Centre for “An Evening with Brock McGillis,” co-hosted by the Fort Frances Girls’ and Women’s Hockey Association. Former Ontario Hockey League goaltender and 2SLGBTQ+ advocate will be sharing stories of his hockey career and speaking on LGBTQ2 inclusion in sports.
On Wednesday, June 8, a lunch-time film screening of “Sweetheart Dancers,” a short documentary film about Adrian and Sean, a same-sex duo, competing in the San Manuel Sweetheart Dance, a Native American tradition that was once for hetero couples only. The film will be shown at the Fort Frances Public Library.
A virtual resource panel will provide medical, legal, cultural, and parental perspectives on gender identity/expression in the evening. The forum is hosted by the United Native Friendship Centre and Gizhewaadiziwin Health Access Centre.
“Part of the journey we are on as a community is, I think, the ability to have dialogue. I sometimes even hesitate to characterize what we are doing as education because when we think of education, we think of it as, “I am the knowledgeable person, and I am going to in part onto you all this stuff.”” Judson explains jokingly. “But that isn’t what we are trying to do. What we want to do is create a safe space where people are open to sharing ideas and perspectives that are arrived at in good faith and come from a place of sincerely held commitment to inclusion and building a space of belonging.”
For art enthusiasts, on Thursday, June 9, there will be a vendor market at Rainy Lake Square and a come-and-go tea social hosted by Curvy Chick Boutique and organized by the United Native Friendship Centre.
“Most of the events on the calendar are the result of partnerships with other organizations, and that’s what you want when organizing a Pride Festival. You want other groups to care about your message and to want to do their own things that you can promote because that will demonstrate to everyone that says, “oh look, all these organizations I know, that I do business with, participate in programming at, or go to school or where I work, all these organizations care about Pride.”
On Saturday, June 11, Borderland Pride will kick off the annual Pride March to Rainy Lake Square for a concert by internationally acclaimed YouTube sensation CHOIR! CHOIR! CHOIR!
Douglas Judson, Borderland Pride Festival Co-chair, says, “the highlight of the festival will be our pride march, which ends with the “Choir, Choir, Choir,” performance on June 11. I think that’s, without a doubt, the one we are looking forward to the most because it typically brings out the most people. We know we have a lot of talented and musical people within the community that will be interested and excited about this show.”
Looking at the events Borderland Pride offers, there is something for everyone, regardless of age. Whether you are a part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, an ally, a family member, a friend or a person who loves to dance, Borderland Pride celebrates a community of inclusion and a safe space to get up and shout loud and proud, “We are here.”
FREE tickets are available at www.borderlandpride.org/ccc.
