May 6th was a beautiful sunny day in Yarmouth, and the rainbow was out in its full, beautiful colours when an important queer elder came to town. The Southwest Nova Pride Association couldn’t have hoped for a better day to host Martin Boyce, Stonewall Riot activist, as part of his ‘Courage to Stand Up’ tour with International Day of Pink (funded by the US Embassy). Equally sunny was our opening act, with local singers (some members of SWNPA, some allies) from Th’YARC‘s recent production serenading us with queer classic Seasons of Love from RENT.
Martin was accompanied by Veronica Merryfield, founder of the Cape Breton Transgender Network, who facilitated the conversation and Martin’s recollections of New York in the Fifties and Sixties, but in particular, the fateful summer of 1969. To say that Martin had a crowd of over seventy of us enthralled is an understatement: we hung on his recollections, from insights into the hierarchies of the groups of gay people who hung around the Stonewall Inn, to remembrances of the struggle and desperation that led to the famous riot. “It was desperate,” he told us, “and it was necessary.” It wasn’t a planned rebellion: it was a shock to those who fought, but it was important. He also recalled the first Pride Parade in New York and how few members of the community were initially involved, but that gradually people rallied and joined them.
Martin noted that, when he was young, he only had older queer people to educate him about what it meant to be gay and part of the community. Nowadays, younger people have the internet and so many more resources, he pointed out. But it was abundantly clear that everyone in Beacon Hall with us realised the echoes there and how important it was to speak with an important queer elder. Jaden Silva, SWNPA board member, commented, “As a young queer person, it was incredible to hear that people my own age made such a difference not so long ago. Listening to Martin describe rebellion with the sassy wit and acerbic tenderness our community is known for made me newly proud to fly the colors.”
Maia, our secretary, brought the conversation up to the modern day with a question that was in all our hearts, considering the work that SWNPA and other pride groups around Nova Scotia are doing: what can or should the modern-day 2SLGBTQIA+ community can do to oppose transphobia and homophobia? Martin’s words were a recognition of struggle and a call for hope. “One of the problems is that we have to live in this situation of reaction, because first we have to see what they want to do. It is quite a difficult position.” But, he clarified, we mustn’t lose hope, because without hope, we lose entirely. History repeats itself and the battle for our rights and equality is never fully won.
Back in 1969, Martin Boyce stood up and defined himself through his actions as a part of our community. Each of us who met him on May 6th, 2023, would agree that his ‘Stand Up’ tour was a passing of the torch to encourage us to follow proudly in his footsteps and, as Jaden said, to ‘fly the colors’.
A big thank you to everyone who attended, volunteered and/or donated to assist in this incredible event. Thank you, also, to Le Courrier de la Nouvelle-Écosse for the coverage!
