This is the speech given by Rachel Paterson at the official unveiling of the rainbow sidewalk and Pride flag-raising in Owen Sound.
On behalf of Grey Bruce Pride, we would like to thank the City of Owen Sound and all those present today, thank you for support of our 2S- LGBTQQIAP + Community and being here with us today.
We would like to acknowledge that we are situated on the traditional lands of the Three Fires Confederacy consisting of the Ojibway, Odawa, and Pottawatomie Nations, and further give thanks to the Chippewas of Saugeen and Nawash – known as the Saugeen Ojibway Nation – as the traditional keepers of this land. The lands of Grey Bruce have a long history of treaties, and there is still much work to be done in regards to our responsibilities as Treaty People of The Dish with One Spoon Treaty.
It is the responsibility of all Treaty People, Settlers included, to ensure the dish would never empty, to take care of this glorious land and all of the living beings on it. Now is a time for great reparations and peace and we must remember that the spoon represents peace. With a spoon, there is no need of a knife which leads to violence; rather, we can progress forward together in peace and harmony.
We would also like to recognize the sorrow and grief our Two-Spirit and IndigiQueer community are facing in light of the recent discoveries of 572 children found amongst 5 residential schools this past month. Pride Month and Indigenous History Month coincide, and we at Grey Bruce Pride cannot in good conscience fly the progressive pride flag at full mast over National Indigenous Day this coming Monday, as we await the remains of these children to find their ways home. We have chosen to fly our flag at half mast in recognition of these children.
We cannot allow the attempted erasure of an entire nation of peoples to not be noted while our Two-Spirit and IndigiQueer Community continue to face Erasure in their daily lives under colonial rule. We honour all those in our Two-Spirit and IndigiQueer Community who are continually faced with erasure and colonial misinterpretations of gender yet have persevered to stand with us today as a voice and a beacon to all. We thank you for your teachings of recognizing dualities and effectively expressing them. We thank you for your strength and recognize your time of mourning.
Today we are honoured to fly the progressive pride flag for the first time at Owen Sound City Hall. Many have questioned the difference between it and the standard rainbow flag:
The Red represents Life
The Orange Healing
Yellow Sunlight
Green Nature
Blue Harmony
Purple Spirit
It also includes a chevron to encourage us to move forward, lead by our Queer, Trans and BIPOC Community and memories of those we’ve lost. This is represented by the white, light pink and blue to represent the Trans Flag, Brown to represent our people of colour, and black to represent those no longer with us, AIDS, violence towards women, and stigma surrounding our community.
We stand here today with the privileges paved for us thanks to a black, trans, bisexual woman who happened to be a sex worker and homeless, who threw a brick at a cop in a moment of revolution, of strength against her oppression and against police brutality at Stonewall Inn and started a riot against the state. Without our queer pioneer, Marsha P. Johnston, we would not have the power to voice ourselves, to exist freely or safely. Our freedom to celebrate pride is thanks to trans activists of colour, yet they remain the most vulnerable within our community; so, it is our duty to stand today alongside them, to amplify their voices, to protect their spirits and honour them with visibility.
Yet here we stand.
If we have learned anything this past month as a country, it is that racism, discrimination, islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia are unfortunately alive and well. From the discoveries at the residential schools, to the murders within our Muslim community, to the near-fatal beating of a gay man in Toronto; hatred is thriving. It is our queer responsibility to throw a figurative brick against the system of oppression to make a better safer world for us all and those who come after us much like Marsha and Sylvia Rivera did with their STAR House for queer homeless youth. It is our responsibility to take care of our own and our allies.
We are so truly thankful for our platform and ability to amplify our queer voices as we stand together as a community. Thanks to our city for increasing our visibility with the creation of the sidewalk and the inclusion of the progressive colours.
We ask that you hear us as allies that queer people don’t have the privilege of growing up as ourselves. We play a version of ourselves based on our fears, sacrificing our authenticity to minimize humiliation and prejudice. As adults we slowly work through these layers to reveal our authentic self. Together let us work together to build a safer space for our queer community so individuals don’t have to grow up and come into themselves fighting the whole way. We often lose many along this path. Let’s allow them to have a safe community with the privilege of having the opportunity to be their authentic self free of the traumas of self-loathing, devaluation, suicidal ideation and internalized homophobia.
We must remember pride is crucial because someone in our community on this very day believes they are better off dead than being their authentic self.
It is not pride in our sexuality, expression, or identity that we celebrate, rather the freedom granted to us to proudly stand free of terror in expressing our authentic self. Pride is an act of resistance and a sense of belonging. This is all that what we stand for.
I personally could not do that without our queer pioneers, so I take it upon myself to ensure I too advocate and educate for future generations in order to ensure that my community is a safe space filled with joyfulness and all forms of self-expression. To the queer community, the simple act of living our lives joyfully is an act of activism. May we all be so blessed to live joyfully as ourselves.
