Hamilton

'Where they can just be themselves': Pride events growing in smaller cities, rural areas around Hamilton

Three years ago, the first Pride event in Binbrook involved 12 people gathering around a park bench outside a Tim Hortons. This year, it will be a day-long festival held on Sunday. It's one of several local Pride events bringing celebrations directly to people in communities outside larger city centres.

Burlington and Binbrook both have Pride events this weekend

Two drag performers stand.
Kasha Czech, left, is one of the co-ordinators of Binbrook Pride. She's standing with Galaxy, a drag performer from London, Ont. (Submitted by Kasha Czech)

The first Pride event in Binbrook, a community in the southeastern corner of Hamilton's municipal limits, was 12 people gathered around a park bench outside a Tim Hortons.

Cohen Glaw created a Facebook event that year, in 2021, and put the word out about the meetup, says Kasha Czech, a drag performer who grew up in the community in the pre-Pride era and is now one of its co-ordinators. 

"About 12 people showed up," she said. "It was just a small little get together."

That was only three years ago, but now the suburban area's Pride celebration has blossomed into a day-long festival at the Binbrook Fairgrounds, with this year's incarnation running this Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. It will include music, vendors, comedy and food, and a drag show that Czech is co-hosting.

She said the rapid growth of the event shows how much demand there was in the community for a way to celebrate Pride at home, but also reflects the population growth in Binbrook, which has seen an influx of new residents.

Following a year where drag storytimes and other drag events were widely targeted across the country, Czech said it warms her heart to know she will be celebrating the iconic queer performance style in the community where she grew up.

"The times we are in now, having drag events in small communities has become a little bit of a challenge because there is so much misinformation online about what drag is," she said. "It is a queer art form. We can make it family-friendly."

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The Rainbow Resource Centre has its first-ever drag artist in residence, a program created to champion drag as an art form in the city. The program — the first of its kind in Canada — was created to help uplift drag performers in the city and celebrate drag as an art form.

1st Pride held in Norfolk County

Recalling her youth in Binbrook, Czech noted that without public transportation connecting the community to the rest of Hamilton, it can be isolating for queer people unable to access Pride celebrations in larger centres. 

That motivation, to bring Pride to the people where they are, is a driver for her and her team at Binbrook Pride, much as it is for Jason Dale, co-chair of Pride Haldimand-Norfolk.

The organization held its annual Pride celebrations at Powell Park, on the main street of Port Dover, last weekend, the first time doing so in Norfolk County and likewise in a central location.

"This is in the centre of town," he said, noting previous years' events had been held largely off the beaten track and exclusively in Haldimand County. "We had walk-in traffic."

People sit outside in colourful clothing.
Last weekend was the first time the Pride event was held in Norfolk County instead of Haldimand. (Submitted by Jason Dale)

Dale noted new residents to the rural area have helped change the tone towards people in 2SLGBTQ+ communities, but also believes it's simply a function of society evolving.

"When they first started [Pride Haldimand-Norfolk], the lawn signs were often stolen or damaged," said Dale, who grew up in the area and moved away, later moving back with his husband and adopting children. "This year, there was not one incident."

He said there's still some online hate targeted at queer groups in the area, and "every so often, someone does a burnout on the rainbow crosswalk." As a result, he said, it was important to his organization to work with police on the event — a controversial topic among queer communities, especially when it comes to Pride events.

The Haldimand-Norfolk group worked with the Ontario Provincial Police's community policing team, which attended the event in plain clothes, something Dale feels was a compromise.

"I understand there are complaints with how policing has been done by uniformed officers, especially that one in Hamilton that descended into chaos," he said, referring to the 2019 event after which an independent report found that police "failed to protect" festival attendees when anti-Pride protesters began attacking those celebrating. 

"[The OPP presence] gave me and our committee reassurance," Dale said. 

'It can be isolating'

Halton Region, a population of 548,435 – nearly the size of Hamilton – saw its first Pride festival last year in Milton. This year, organizers have moved festivities to Hidden Valley Park in Burlington, Ont., where Halton Pride Fest 2024 takes place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"We get a lot of teenagers that come," says Leanne Rancourt, a parent support lead with PFLAG Halton, an advocacy group for queer people and their families. "It's so good to see them in a space where they can just be themselves."

Two people sit on a bench under trees smiling.
Randy Rancourt, left, and Leanne Rancourt, right, are part of the team coordinating this year's Halton Pride Fest '24 at Hidden Valley Park in Burlington. The two became involved with Pride events a few years ago after two of their children came out as 2SLGBTQ+. (Eva Salinas/CBC)

"Sometimes it can be isolating for youth when you think you're the only one," added Rancourt, a parent to queer children who works on the event with her husband.

"They shouldn't have to go to Toronto or Hamilton, to the bigger centres."

Even in Hamilton, where Pride Hamilton will host its main event Aug. 10 at Pier 4 Park, smaller community Pride events are also taking place to cater to specific aspects of the queer community. 

Queer Halal Time, a local meetup group for 2SLGBTQ+ Muslims, is planning to host its first Pride event on July 20. It is still waiting for a permit for the location, so hasn't released the full details yet, but is currently raising money to help pay for the event, which will be a picnic in a park.

"Queer Muslims and allies are boycotting Pride Toronto because they haven't taken a stance against the genocide [in Gaza]," said one of the organizers, Jihan "JJ" Hussein. "But we still want to celebrate Pride."

The headshots of two people
Nyx, left, and Jihan "JJ" Hussein are part of the team that runs Queer Halal Time in Hamilton. The group will host its first Pride event on July 20. (Submitted by Bilal Ahmed)

She says the local community of queer Muslims is thriving since regular meetups began near the start of the year.

"It took off pretty quickly. These spaces were lacking," Hussein said. "Right now, Hamilton is the coolest place to be if you're queer."

Pride events in the region

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Saira Peesker is a reporter with CBC Hamilton, with particular interests in climate, labour and local politics. She has previously worked with the Hamilton Spectator and CTV News, and is a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail, covering business and personal finance. Saira can be reached at saira.peesker@cbc.ca.