By Rebecca Gruszka, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
On Saturday, June 1, at Hidden Valley Park in Burlington, the 2LGBTQIA+ community, family, and allies gathered to celebrate Halton Pride Fest ’24.
Halton Pride Fest, organized by Pflag Halton, is one of many events taking place all over the country during Pride Month, and, more widely, Canadian Pride Season, which runs across the summer months. These Pride events, which started as protests, now serve as a way for the community to highlight the resilience, celebrate the talent, and recognize the continued contributions of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
Pflag Halton, which is entirely volunteer-run, serves Halton’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community through their peer support services, workshops, and training, all towards the goal of making inclusive and safer spaces.
Families and friends (and many dogs) gathered at Pride Fest 2024 to enjoy live entertainment, including drag performances and music, and the many community organization and vendor booths.
Most community organizations’ tents offered games and activities for children, from a giant Connect Four to bubble wands, colouring pages, and button making, for an all-ages family and community experience.
The vendors included Mazy Way Indigenous Designs by D.K. Moore, a jewelry vendor selling hand-beaded earrings; BRFC, created by John Johnson of Bear Face Designs from Kitchener, Ontario, selling T-shirts, pins, stickers, and patches; and artist Riley Bataillard. A community booth from the AIDS Network shared sex education information, a safer sex guide, condoms, and naloxone kits, complete with a volunteer to demonstrate how to recognize someone overdosing and then how to administer the naloxone safely.
Reach Out Centre for Kids had a booth for their Queer@Rock programming, with community resource information and brochures about their services; they noted how great it was to see so many multigenerational families at the event. Clearly, a number of parents were in attendance in support of children who are part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and are aware of the difficulties people in this community can face — one parent was wearing a shirt in support of their child that read, “You’ll have to go through me.”
SAVIS of Halton and SAFE, two agencies that advocate for and support those who have experienced sexual assault and violence, as well as provide education agencies, had booths to spread the word about their services. Halton Black Voices was also on hand; their booth had information on how they help build strong communities through an array of community, leadership, educational, and wellness initiatives, which includes their Black Student Union, their healing gardens, and their Deep Roots Basketball Leadership program.
The Milton, Burlington, Oakville, and Halton Hills public libraries had information about queer- and trans-specific library resources, and their summer programming for all ages and families. Volunteers and ministers from St. Christopher’s Anglican Church, Port Nelson United Church, Grace United Church, and St. Paul’s United Church presided over booths with Pride swag and church programming information; one even had information on queer-affirming Bible passages.
Politicians were also in attendance; Mayor Marianne Meed Ward spoke at the event, and there were booths with Members of Parliament and volunteers from the Liberal and NDP parties.
Entertainment included Steve from the House of Adam and Steve (who are DJs, event planners, and public speakers), live music from Bourbon Brown and Co., and Generation Next, a Spice Girls drag act, alongside solo performances from Generation Next members Karma Kameleon, Jessie James, Chimaera, Calypso Cosmic, and Charlize Angel. The drag acts drew all attention and the music had groups of teens and couples, dancing together and laughing.
Said a volunteer from St Christopher’s Church, “It is so important for community to come together and support each other. Having events like Halton PrideFest gives the LGBTQ2+ community in Burlington a place to celebrate themselves,” especially, they pointed out, after the pandemic left many queer and trans community members alienated and without a support system. Penny Anderson, the minister at St Christopher’s also stated how important it is for queer and trans people to have safe and inclusive spaces to gather.
Pflag Halton posted a thank you on their website and their Instagram page after the event, thanking everyone involved in the event, including Meed Ward, for her “powerful remarks about the importance of pride and reaffirming that Burlington and Halton Region is committed to supporting 2LGBTQIA+ individuals.”
Pflag also stated after the event, “Queer and trans joy is the most powerful form of resistance — thank you to every one of you who showed up yesterday to contribute to that act of resistance.”
Deputy Mayor and Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan commented online about the “amazing community spirit at Halton Pride Fest ’24,” a sentiment echoed by other Instagram users, including drag performer Karma Kameleon, who wrote “Such a magical day!”
Others commented that Pride Fest had provided “a wonderful Pride Month kick-off,” evidence that Pflag Halton is already well on their way towards their goal as shared in their “Pride Guide”: “Let’s make this Pride Month a memorable one and demonstrate the power that exists when we stand united to celebrate our community even in the face of discrimination and hate.”
