From Muskoka Pride
MUSKOKA PRIDE WEEK A SUCCESS – THANK YOU MUSKOKA!
The Muskoka Pride Festival came to a close at the ninth annual Muskoka Pride Picnic, at Annie Williams Park in Bracebridge. It was another wonderful afternoon of Picnic fun.
Almost 350 picnic-goers were entertained throughout the afternoon by “The Dirty Little Swing Thing,” a band out of Barrie, and our emcee Michelle Emson.
Once again this year all six municipalities in Muskoka and Wahta First Nation raised the Rainbow Pride flag during the Muskoka Pride Festival. We would like to thank the mayors, councillors, and staff at all municipalities.
All of our events this week were well attended, with over 800 people “coming out” to the different events across Muskoka. During the Muskoka Pride Festival, 13,000 people on our Facebook Page, 17,000 people on our Twitter Feed and 4000 visitors to our website (www.muskokapride.com) also saw Muskoka as a queer-positive tourism destination.
We would like to thank our Festival Sponsor, RBC branches of Muskoka. We would also like to thank our Signature Sponsors: The Town of Bracebridge, the Bala Cranberry Festival, Saunders and Welch, TD Bank, and DailyXtra. Please visit www.muskokapride.com/2017-sponsors to see all of the businesses who sponsored
Pride Festival activities this year.
Sadly, many people who identify as LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) still live closeted lives for fear of community-backlash if they come out. Pride celebrations play an important role in creating inclusive and accepting communities.
During the 2017 Festival, there was an noted increase in homophobic and intolerant comments made by individuals on social media related to Muskoka Pride. Muskoka Pride heard several stories of workplace and school homophobia and transphobia, so we know that there is still a lot of work to do in Muskoka in our outreach.
Finally, we would like to say a special thank you to our team of dedicated volunteers, who put in countless hours ensuring the Pride events were successful. Next year’s Muskoka Pride Picnic will be on Sunday, July 29. It will mark the 10th anniversary of Muskoka Pride, so expect many exciting things to come.
LGBT Pride events celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) culture. Most pride events occur annually and many take place around June to commemorate the Stonewall Riots in New York City on June 28, 1969. The first Pride march happened in 1970. Today Pride events are held in cities and towns all over the world. One of the largest and longest-running, Toronto Pride, happens at the end of June and is attended by over 1 million people.
The Muskoka Pride Community is a volunteer group that formed in 2009, whose purpose is to increase awareness of the LGBTQ community of Muskoka and to create opportunities for inclusivity within Muskoka that overcome heterosexism and homo/bi/trans-phobia, providing a safe community for LGBT people.
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