A record number of Pride Month celebrations planned in Perth County this year is a sign of progress, advocates say.
A record number of Pride Month celebrations planned in Perth County this year is a sign of progress, advocates say.
They’re also “long overdue,” said Bruce Duncan Skeaff, president of the new Stratford Pride Community Centre.
“There are a lot of LGBT people living here and visiting here, yet there hasn’t been a community.”
It seems that’s beginning to change.
A group of volunteers launched the community center online last summer in an attempt to address a need for resources geared toward LGBTQ+ community members living and visiting Stratford. Less than a year later, they’re planning an event celebrating the grand opening of their first bricks-and-mortar location on Downie Street.
“(It’s) a little surreal that it’s happened so quickly,” Skeaff said.
The 92-square-metre (1,000-square-foot) space on the second floor of 24 Downie St. includes a central resource centre, space for meetings and events, and a lending library with books dedicated to LGBTQ+ topics and authors.
Marking the occasion with the group will be Felice Picano, a prominent writer, publisher and critic known for advancing gay literature in the United States. Picano will be at the open house June 4 signing copies of his roman à clef, Justify My Sins: A Hollywood Novel In Three Acts. On June 5, Picano is appearing on the stage of the new Tom Patterson Theater at 8 pm for an evening of stories and anecdotes about his 50-year career, part of a weekend of Pride-related events in Stratford.
“Picano is one of those very rare specimens; a brilliant, diverse writer and personality whose fascinating life and work have spanned two centuries, while also surviving the AIDS epidemic that wiped out a large portion of his generation,” Canadian playwright and author Brad Fraser said in a news release. “His expertise spans many disciplines, many styles and many genres. To hear him speak is an opportunity that no one should miss.”
The Perth County Pride March begins in Stratford June 5 at 1 pm, moving from the Tom Patterson Theater to Upper Queen’s Park. An afternoon concert near the Avon River is also in the works.
Elsewhere in the region, North Perth will fly a rainbow-coloured flag at its municipal offices in Listowel for the first time next month. Stratford-Perth Pride was able to make the request after incorporating as a non-profit in April, a step necessary to comply with the municipality’s flag-flying policy.
“Even though a flag is just a piece of fabric, to many of us, a Pride flag is an acknowledgment of our ability to love who want, identify as who we are, and live our lives authentically,” Stratford-Perth Pride president AJ Adams said.
North Perth Pride, an advocacy group launched last year, also praised the decision.
“Raising the Pride flag is a wonderful way to kick off Pride Month, not only in North Perth but all of Perth County,” co-founder Hollie Chavarria said.
More than one flag is being raised in St. Marys. A series of downtown banners representing a variety of marginalized groups are already up, another first for Perth County.
Robin Awcock, a St. Marys resident and Stratford-Perth Pride board member, caught a glimpse of them for the first time Friday.
“They look wonderful,” she said. “It kind of makes me a bit emotional, actually. If it gets the community asking questions about what each flag means … to that particular group, it’s done its job. It just makes the town look more welcoming when you can see that they’ve taken that step.”
The Pride flag will also be up at town hall in St. Marys for the month of June. A ceremony June 1 will feature Mayor Al Strathdee, members of Stratford-Perth Pride, and a Grade 7 class from St. Marys District Collegiate and Vocational Institute that developed a series of posters to complement the town’s new banners.
On June 12, Awcock and other St. Marys community members have planned St. Marys Pride Day, a new family-friendly community event that includes a variety of activities, food vendors and local artisans.
A resident in St. Marys for nearly 25 years, Awcock said she can’t remember a time when Pride month received so much attention in Perth County.
“It just shows the growth of our small towns,” she said. “This is something you just didn’t see in town before. Any steps that show that our town is welcoming … is a big step.”