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Saint John, NB -- event organizer Mirage ThistleHart
Today we had an amazing turnout and I was more than happy to see about a thousand people come and go through King's Square as the day passed -- some queer, some allies, and even some tourists!
Surprisingly no one representing the "1 Million March 4 Children" showed up at all. I did arrange for a few businesses to have pride flags in their windows, and the city to fly theirs. We did have a few right wing homophobes and transphobes pass through, but to be honest, most of them we ignored and they left, because no one likes them anyways. The event was absolutely fun and we had multiple performers and a few vendors!
By mid afternoon, most people were getting ready to head out. The closing ceremony took place at 4 PM. I was more than happy with how the event turned out and how much love was present.
To everyone who was there, I would like to thank you deeply for attending: seeing all of your faces made my day! I am more than proud to have put my blood, sweat and tears into making this happen and delivering it to the queer community of Saint John.
As one of the youth leaders in this city, I am hoping to make this a yearly thing. I’d also like to give a huge thank you to my co-organizer Shawn Rouse for giving me a big hand in making it all happen.
Halifax - Onna Young
“Stood up in Halifax." About 150 queer folks and allies turned up at the Grand Parade to show that Halifax is no place for hateful bigots to march. When they tried this in October last year, only a few showed up, notably one grumpy old man with a sign. There were even fewer this year. Some of the usual suspects of queer activism in town were joined by: Susan Leblanc and Lisa Lachance local NDP MLAs, support from CUPE, some lively entertainment, and some speakers connecting the dots between the attacks on queer folks and the wider rise of right-wing extremism both here in Canada and abroad.
Fredericton
An anonymous correspondent writes: "As of 10:30, a rotating crowd of 20-30 Q folx and allies have been gathered for a calm space of song, poetry, and art at the NB Leg since 8:00am. Meanwhile, two middle aged men could be seen standing in the far corner. "
Bathurst - Ty Boulay
The mental image of clashing protesters and counter-protesters play out in the mind when imagining the far-right crowd that looked to contest the rights of young transgender individuals, sexual education in schools, and against a woman’s right to choose, just outside of the municipality library in Bathurst, New Brunswick.
Under the guise of “parental rights”, the so-called “1 Million March 4 Children” was a dud across much of the country, with an embarrassing turn-out after hoping to cash in on parental outrage and a lack of critical thinking.
Dave Cleveland, minister of the United Church in Dalhousie, chose to speak with the sole protester who stubbornly waited outside in the chill of the early Friday morning for the event to begin. Another eventually joined them.
They told him they believed porn was being shown in schools, that pedophiles were a queer identity, but seemed open-minded to the words of the church minister calmly explaining to them otherwise. The protesters stated that they would be departing due to lack of attendance, and Dave left them with a hug.
But that is not the conclusion of events. Instead, the duo pulled out signs that included the catchy captions such as “No Grooming, No Porn, No Secrets”, and “Stop Trudeau’s Sex Agenda!”
Passersby were curious to the silent protesters and counter-protestors standing and waving signs on opposite sides of the library parking lot. One gave the counter-protestors a honk and a thumbs down. Another thanked them for making the city safer for their transgendered kid.
By the early afternoon, a third eventually joined the protesters for their final thirty minutes. While the counter-protesters maxed out at five, many more were ready to join after just getting off work should the protest have continued.
The allies, and the queer community themselves will continue to be ready to protect and celebrate all 2SLGBTQIA+ people on the northern shore of New Brunswick.
