Another month of the year filled with Pride events is just on the horizon.
The theme of the Pride events set for this month will be a Chosen Family Reunion. People of all ages, abilities and backgrounds are welcome to attend.
“So much is new this year,” Kiki Barua, the program co-ordinator with the Queer Yukon Society, told The Yukon Star recently.
Barua explained that most events of this type have a specific target group, focusing on the 20- to 30-year-old or a certain economic class. Queer Yukon wanted to host something that is inclusive for everyone.
“We have a lot of youth-focused events this year, a lot of events that centre on two-spirit Indigenous queer people, and also elders. In addition to having Brian (Cope) come down, he’s going to do a free show at the long-term health-care facility,” Barua said.
Brian Cope is one of the oldest drag queens in Canada.
They listed some of the new activities that people can expect, such as a fashion show, medicine bag workshop and fireside chat.
Barua highlighted the Fashion Fam All Ages Runway Show & Dance Party, which will take place Aug. 8 at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre.
The idea is for youth to celebrate and explore their identity. So, youth will be able to try on something that they’ve been curious about — like regalia — in a way that they felt they couldn’t in another ceremony.
Following the Runway Show, on the same day, a series of drag performances will be put on by performers from across the country, including Cedar T, from Edmonton; Jolene Queen Sloan, who started in the territory and has now grown big in Vancouver; and DJ SHE/THEY, for an all-ages dance party.
Scheduling different events through the whole of August was intentional. As Barua said, they believe the 2SLGBTQIA+ community is very diverse.
Not everyone will have time to attend all the events, and they don’t want to force people to choose between one or another. Such a long stretch will give people more opportunities to participate, Barua said.
For Barua, the event means a lot.
“I think that, as a 2SLGBTQIA+ person, when you grow up not being represented or you grow up in communities where you’re told part of yourself isn’t acceptable, you can grow up with shame, which leads to a lot of mental-health issues. The antidote to that is Pride,” they said.
Good moments have been seen over the past when they hosted such events. A lot of the work done behind the scenes is by trans women or lesbians who’ve done all this work, and they don’t always get recognized.
“We stopped and we named each of them, and then the crowd would yell out, ‘I see you!’ This is a big cathartic moment — a lot of tears, a lot of hugs.”
Barua believes that the very first official parade in the city happened in 2012 after Stephanie Hammond saw some overt homophobia at a school that year.
Previously, the parade was more of an “under the table” event, they mentioned. Eleven days of events will be taking place across the city throughout August.
A letter to the Star mentioned their view of why such initiatives are necessary and important.
It said that although a lot of awareness has already been raised, that doesn’t mean that all the hate has gone. The organization quoted Chelsea Manning, an American activist and whistleblower: “Visibility is not equality.”
It reads: “together. In community — where we can witness and hold each other up. This is why Pride is so important. Oppressive forces seek to question our right to be in the world, to have us internalize seeds of shame and turn on ourselves and each other.”
