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"A
fascinating story"
|
Sudbury Pride WeekendMarriage March - Aug. 10, 2002 "Two
celebrities making the rounds of this year's Gay Pride parades across the country
are dressed neither in leather nor drag. They're wearing something else that pushes
the envelope - gold wedding bands."
"Depending
on what side of the fence you sit on, Joe Varnell and Kevin Bourassa are human
rights advocates or evil homosexuals threatening the holy institution of marriage
... Racists may not have wanted to share a seat at the front of the bus with Rosa
Parks but after the laws were changed, they had no choice. Neither men can say
for sure what the outcome of the federal government's appeal will be, but they
are both sure there is no going back, and they're confident it's only a matter
of time before human rights win out over religious bigotry." We arrived in northern Ontario's Sudbury on August 8, 2002. A comfortable 60 minute flight north of Toronto, this was our final stop on our five-city Pride tour in support of same-sex marriage. Bill Huffman, Director/Curator of the Art Gallery of Sudbury greeted us at the airport with Joseph, a volunteer from the Gallery. Sudbury pride organizers had put us in touch when Bill offered us the use of a vacant residence maintained by the gallery for visiting artists. It was a welcome kindness as we were paying our own way for this advocacy work, as we have done for all Pride parades. Such
was the spirit of generosity and hospitality that filled our weekend in Sudbury.
We began our first ful After lunch,
and a walking tour of the downtown area, we returned to the art gallery. Volunteers
were preparin
When
it came time for us to speak, we applauded the courage and activism Miss Gay Sudbury climbed up on to the open tail-gate of a pickup truck, and we made our way down the streets. Merchants came out to greet us, residents looked down (and waved!) from their apartments, and only one protestor turned out to express his "shame on Sudbury". Our small group was undeterred, as we cheered the local merchants who were gay-friendly in the area. Others handed out leaflets explaining the meaning of the colours used in the pride flag.
We
spent the afternoon meeting new people, listening to stories about how an AIDs
support group
Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell
Thank you to everyone who made Sudbury a wonderful last stop on our Pride tour this year!. We greatly appreciated your hospitality, generosity and kindness. Special thanks to Bill Huffman and Cheryl Rondeau and the Art Gallery of Sudbury, Kelly Landry (chairperson of the Sudbury Pride Committee), Mario Domingue (Northern Rainbow Pride) and Mark, Heather, Chuck Haskins and Ralph Johnston, and Andrea McVey (MidWorld Mosaic Co.) and Stephanie Gowan (Doubleday). Please
provide names of anyone in the photos who would appreciate being identified by
name in a photo credit. | |
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