Durham Region held its fifth annual pride event geared toward children and families this weekend, but it was clear from the onset some Canadians were not welcome at the “inclusive” event.
“We will not tolerate ideologies that exclude,” one of the speakers said in the opening remarks of Durham Youth Pride on Saturday at the Durham Regional Headquarters.
Information and resource booths from pride and community organizations across Durham Region were set up, and two Drag Queens, “Sofonda Cox” and “Wilma Checklear”, performed and led dance parties with kids.
At some of the booths, QR code links were posted that people could follow to learn about changing their gender and join private Discord groups.
The booth operators from PFLAG Durham told True North that kids could join the online “TRANSitions” group if they wanted, though following the link says the group is for ages 16 and older and directs younger people to their teens and tweens group, which holds weekly meetings at a physical location.
It’s an online group for youth to connect with others who have similar questions about changing genders and get guidance from the organization on how to do so.
“One Voice,” a weekly group for “2SLGBTQIA+ aged 13-29” offered by The AIDS Committee of Durham Region, provides a “safe space to discuss a variety of sexual health topics including…safer sex, identity and intersectionality.
ACDR also offers an overnight summer camp, “Camp Rainbow Pheonix,” for “2SLGBTQIA+ youth aged 12-17,” where campers can connect in a “welcoming and affirming environment.”
“This is a community event that supports youth in feeling comfortable with who they are and comfortable expressing themselves,” Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull told True North in an interview.
Of course, not everyone agreed that Pride events should include children. Isolated out of sight of the event participants, five protesters were preaching the Gospel through an amplifier.
In an interview with True North, Pastor Jeffrey Sapocinik from the Grace Missionary Baptist Church in Scarborough said this was his group’s eighth time protesting outside of a drag event for children this month.
“They are targeting the youth. They have an agenda. They say it’s not explicitly sexual. But I saw some drag queens (in attendance) who weren’t (appropriately) dressed.” Sapocinik said.
When Turnbull was asked whether the event was inappropriate, he said such a characterization was unfair.
“I don’t think anything indicates that to me,” Turnbull said. “It looks like a bunch of rainbows, and people are having a good time. So I think that’s a pretty skewed perspective on things, and I think it usually comes from people who might be afraid of that inclusive society.”
A few men blared music and held a tarp up for the duration of the event to dampen the sound of the preacher’s amps.
“Why do they desire an audience of children? Why aren’t they going into a nursing home and expressing themselves there?” Sapocinik said. “As Christians, our voice is not heard anymore. And I fault Christians also for not challenging this.”
He said that although the Bible, which he believes in, says adultery, homosexuality and lying are sins, he and his fellow preachers are also sinners and that he doesn’t believe that his group is more righteous than anyone else.
“We’re actually preaching an inclusive message because we’re saying ‘all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,’” Luke Jennings, a street preacher with the church, said.
Andrea Maenza from Durham Children’s Aid Society told attendees, who otherwise were interested in speaking, not to do interviews with True North due to its largely conservative-leaning audience.
True North asked whether gay conservatives were welcome at pride celebrations; Maenza laughed and said, “If you’re gay, you shouldn’t be conservative.”
When asked to confirm that she thinks conservatives who are gay shouldn’t be welcome at “inclusive” pride events such as this, she refused to answer and walked away.
“They don’t allow people who were trans and transitioned back to have a voice,” Jennings added when asked if the event was inclusive.
One attendee identified himself as gay and said he agrees that kids shouldn’t be brought to pride parades if naked adult men are present, such as some events in Toronto. But he said Durham Youth Pride wasn’t one of those events. Instead, it was a family-friendly event, a sentiment shared by all attendees who were asked.
Holly O’Brien, a mother who was there with her family, agreed.
“I like that we can come here, and all these kids are themselves, wearing what they want to wear, doing what they want to do. It’s nice to see that they have somewhere to go where they’re accepted no matter what.”