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Category: editorial
Tuesday September 12, 2023, the council of the Municipality of Barrington heard a presentation to ban the use of Pride flags on the ‘community flagpole’, a flagpole separate from the municipal flagpole intended to bring awareness and support to marginalized communities. Interested members of the public on both sides of this issue turned up in large numbers.
The request to council, made by Barrington resident Christy Conrad, was attached to the meeting’s agenda posted publicly on the Barrington Municipal Council website and proved to be a rallying point for the Nova Scotia 2SLGBTQIA+ community and allies.
Ms. Conrad’s application states:
“Allegedly, to many people the rainbow flag represents aversion or hostility of Christianity, a radical ideology being pushed into schools and businesses, loss of religious liberty and forced celebration of sexual perversion. This is seen over and over in the news as we see more and more communities standing up against this radical theology, such as Drag Queen book reading being cancelled and LGBTQ flags being taken down across North America.”
That document, although now removed from the Council website, can be read here.
The text of the request was replaced at some point after Sunday September 10. Ms Conrad stated during her presentation that she was contacted 6 hours before the meeting and told to reword her presentation. It was contextually clear that she was told to edit the presentation due to the presence of hate speech, and she is also on the record as having said that “there’s things I would have liked to say but I was told I’m not allowed to.”
Current Warden of the Barrington council, Eddie Nickerson, told those in attendance that no decision would be made that night and that council was not obligated to consult with the community on policy changes. Of note, Eddie Nickerson was part of Council when it responded to the public outcry about activist Eric Smith’s HIV status becoming public by “ask[ing] the provincial government to ban not only gay teachers, but gay students from school as well. While the proposal didn’t get too far, it helped send a message to those members of the gay community living in the area.” (Eric Smith, April 20, 2022)
NSGEU Local President (and Southwest Nova Pride board member) Lynette Hayward-Byrd (pictured second from the right in her NSGEU shirt) was one of the Yarmouth allies in attendance last night. She said she was shocked by the proceedings: “As a straight ally I felt the 2SLGBTQIA+ community who is already oppressed was even more oppressed last night. They were not given a chance to voice their concerns. Even the councillor who was trying to fight for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community was shot down and not given the opportunity to express his concerns.”
Many of the 2SLGBTQ+ community members expressed that their issue was not with the flag policy or potential changes to the policy, but with the language being used in support of that application and the clear targeting of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Councillor Shaun Hatfield pointed out that the only time the community flagpole becomes an “issue” is when a flag from the 2SLGBTQ+ community is flown. Other flags flown on the community flagpole since 2019 include: the National Indigenous History Month Flag, Access Awareness Week Flag, and the Shelburne County Strong Firefighter’s Flag. Councillor Hatfield asked how many other applications Council received to use the flagpole and if there were any competing applications. CAO Chris Frotten did not have that information available.
It is important to note that, in the words of lawyer Kym Sweeny, “Municipalities only have power as vested in them by provincial legislation. Provincial and Federal Human Rights legislation applies to municipal governments and their actions, which includes protection for individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.”
This conversation isn’t over: if anything, it’s just beginning.
The Southwest Nova Pride Association board has been made aware of the anti-drag protest taking place on June 3rd in Kentville, and we feel it is important that we issue this statement in condemnation of all hate against our community, be it homophobia, transphobia, biphobia or otherwise. Drag is not a crime, and the 2SLGBTQIA+ community is not interested in ‘grooming’ children or ‘turning’ straight kids gay. We are, however, highly invested in seeing 2SLGBTQIA+ kids flourish as they grow into emotionally healthy adults, supported by their community. To that end, we fully support family events such as this and hope to host our own in the future.
We are concerned and dismayed by the militant, violent language used by those organizing the protest against the ‘Drag Me To Dinner’ event. We strongly urge that anyone attending this event behave in a non-violent manner towards law enforcement and any other attendees.
Some of the members of our board and society will be attending the ‘Come Together‘ counter-protest in support of the family drag event, but we will not be attending on behalf of SWNPA. Those of us who attend will be doing so in an unofficial capacity as private citizens and proud members of our community, and in solidarity with all 2SLGBTQIA+ people in Nova Scotia and beyond.
— Southwest Nova Pride Association Board of Directors.
Categories
Voice of the Community: An Open Letter
I came out over 20 years ago and while I was anxious about it, I knew my family would still love me. I was in grade 10? So like 98/99. I knew then that while some folks were still bigoted and there were still kids being kicked out for who they were, things were getting better. As I figured out who I was and found there were so many others like me, I delved into the history and learned about stonewall and anti cross dressing laws and the AIDS crisis and all sorts of things we’ve had to fight and overcome. At that time, I knew that we were safer than we were 10 or 20 years ago. Today I know of more youth that have become homeless because of being queer or trans or both than I ever did in the past. This is alarming. I know that I moved from a larger metropolitan area, to a smaller rural one, but even in Vancouver, where I spend a lot of time in a much larger queer community and where inevitably, we share our coming out stories, I knew where folks were coming from, what they were escaping. Still, here in Southwest Nova Scotia, years later, where I know fewer people in general, I’ve heard way too many terrible stories.
Lately I’ve been scared. I recently learned about a teacher here in an English school that was screamed at and is being threatened because she is standing up and defending gender being in the curriculum and supporting GSAs. Not too much earlier I had heard that the CSAP school board might have been giving instructions to teachers to only instruct kids up to grade 3 abut boys and girls, with no mention of gender diversity in response to threats from some religious radicals. While it’s easy to look at the states and how bad some states are getting, and think oh, this is Canada, we don’t have people like that here, we do and they are emboldened.
I know that some of you are out there, challenging the hate, being visible, creating safe places, sticking your necks out. I see you. Thank you. Please keep doing what you are doing. You may not know the difference you are making in the moment, but you are. You are saving lives.
For those just trying to survive. We got you. Please find us and hopefully feel a little safer, even for a time.
To those that “don’t agree with that lifestyle” or think we are perverts or groomers, I would ask you to look into your hearts and find out for yourself, why do you believe this? What about any of this makes you uncomfortable? Are you able to sit with that for a moment?
For those who believe that queer people not only have a right to exist, but to be known, in the curriculum, to each other, to others, I challenge you to step up. Even in a tiny way. Shut down that bigoted comment, wear that ally pin, voice your support for GSA’s and gender in the school curriculum. The louder you are, the better, but even the slightest action, shows us that you are with us.
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About the author: Mel is non-binary, queer person born and raised in Coast Salish Territories (Tsawwassen) in BC and transplanted to Yarmouth 8 years ago. They live with their two queer kids, wife and husband, 2 cats and a dog and loves playing music in the Yarmouth Community Band, and skating as a founding/board member of Tri-County Roller Derby.
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‘Voice of the Community’ is a new SWNPA initiative designed to platform the diverse voices of our community. Got something on your chest that you’d like to contribute? Our communications team would love to work with you on putting your voice out there. Please get in touch at communications@southwestnovaprideassociation.ca