Jun. 16, 2010 - Issue #765: Whose Pride?
Queermonton
Pride in our community
Politics and parties make for a successful Pride Week
I've spent the last few weeks trying to remind everyone what Pride is really about. The partying and insanity sure was fun, but we can't forget how and why the whole gig started. It was easy this year since nothing put that into such sharp focus as Pride Toronto's decisions to ban Queers Against Israeli Apartheid. Agree or disagree with the conflict, there was nothing quite so startling as the disconnect that's happened between the origins of pride march activism and the financial motivations that now seem to steer it when once it was a revolution.
But somewhere in my pleas, I forgot something important. Pride is political, but there are more facets than that. It's all there in the name: to be proud is to remind us we are people who deserve to feel good about ourselves. Pride is a time to be happy, crazy-ridiculously-happy, because it's our day to take back the streets. It's our chance to flood heteronormative, gendered, restrictive spaces; to display that we are happy and fulfiled and worthy.
Every year the parade seems to be lengthened by 20 entries. I may be young, but I can still remember an extremely different kind of event from less than a decade ago. Long gone is a handful of walking groups, one truck, two quiet Jasper blocks and a modest gathering at the Oliver rink. Participants ranged from wild, elaborate floats with towering rainbows, to Pine Trail's full campfire scene, warm spiritual congregations, city councillors on flowery bikes, impeccable drag queens, queer Muslims, Play's "cocketship" mascots, children and dogs, Furries, the Edmonton Atheist pirates carrying a Flying Spaghetti Monster and, to my delight, many activists. Signs reminded of Bill 44, cuts to gender reassignment surgery, Bill C-389 and a huge contingent showed up to push for an end to the Gaza conflict.
At the after-party in Churchill Square I was feeling pretty good, but still a little lost as to what it all meant. After the usual mix of politicians, thank yous, music and drag queens, the after-party closed out with a performance by Edmonton supergroup the Boyfriends. A fantastically queer but even more fantastically talented crew, they got the crowd so excited that chants demanded an encore. As the group covered Gaga, I watched the party goers run to the stage. The high-heeled queens pounded the concrete next to the short-short boys and hipster girls. It was a punky barn-stomping closing number and, for once, the "Celebration in the Square" seemed flawlessly carried out in front of me.
Edmonton Pride Week now extends past even what the name suggests, this year with 10 days of officially sanctioned events that numbered almost 40. It's impossible to make every event, and that kind of choice is thrilling, with something for absolutely everyone. These events are about friendship and community building with a hearty emphasis on a good time, and it’s that type of meeting that our community, any community, really needs. They build the strength to last another year.
On Sunday night at the Pride Awards, I watched valued, gifted members of the community receive recognition for the tireless effort that they put into making the Edmonton queer community the vibrant and diverse microcosm that it is. It was the first year I’d attended the awards without being directly involved in some way and yet, for some reason, it was the best so far. I felt so content to watch friends, colleagues and people I deeply respect as they were awarded for their efforts with not only LGBTQ people, but all of Edmonton's minority communities.
British Expat "Queenie" Valerie-Mason John, delivered the Awards' keynote speech. She closed it by saying how important these good and valuable works are and that she hopes that one day "Every single person in this room gets a Pride Award for themselves."
That's something to strive for: the parties and the activism, the bonds and community good work. It seems to me to be everything Pride really and truly is about and sometimes, I'm just a little bit ecstatic to live in this sort of world. V
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