June Pride month marked the 10th anniversary of Elliot Lake Pride. The occasion was celebrated with 21 events during a week-long celebration.
Pride President, Chantal MacEachern told ElliotLakeToday, “The first year was started by Doug Elliott. We strive to make our events available to everyone. So, not just LGBTQ2S+ people, but allies as well. This year, we had a week long Pride event because it was our 10th year anniversary.”
Local lawyer, Doug Elliott, recalled the start of Pride in Elliot Lake. “I grew up in Elliot Lake, but I lived most of my life in Toronto. I came back here as a temporary resident to do the mall collapse inquiry. At that time, the people of Elliot Lake were in a collective state of depression. It was very gloomy. People were despairing. I thought that what the town really needed was cheering up.”
“I felt it was time for a Pride festival in Elliot Lake and that it would be a lot of fun. People would be pulled out of their gloom for a few days. So, I got together a really fantastic group of volunteers. It was amazing.”
Elliott added, “It's pretty amazing to me that even the most conservative people on our council have always been supportive of the festival, which is great.”
Asked about some of the recent anti-gay stories in the news, Elliott said, “We are definitely into a period of backlash right now. I've seen those periods of backlash come and go. But around the world, and in Canada, even here in northern Ontario, we definitely are seeing a backlash where people don't want us to be visible.”
Recalling the backlash against Muslim people after 9/11 he noted, “There's something about human societies that we love a scapegoat. People need to blame someone. Scapegoats come and go, but we always seem to need one.”
About Elliot Lake though, both MacEachern and Elliott say it’s a good place to live. A safe place for the Pride community.
MacEachern, “I came here in 1974 when I was three years old. When I came out, I was 32. I was late. It wasn't very well received. I was with my girlfriend, who was now my wife. We left because of being together. We were getting a lot of hate. We were getting a lot of comments, and we had five kids to consider, so we moved away.”
Soon after Pride began, ten years ago, MacEachern returned. “So my wife and I came to celebrate Pride, and it was like, wow! All of a sudden it's okay in Elliot Lake. I don't have to hide anymore. So, we came back, and we haven't left since.”
Pride celebrations were small in 2022 after COVID. This year, with a full week of events, Elliott noted, “I met a whole bunch of Rainbow Seniors that had moved to Elliot Lake in the past couple of years. I had never met them because this was the first time that they had a chance to come out to our festival activities.”
“And they were in Elliot Lake first for the same reason that other seniors move here. The real estate is cheap. It's a nicer, quieter, cleaner lifestyle than in big cities down south,” he said.
Elliott continued, “Elliot Lake Retirement Living has always been a sponsor of Ellie Lake Pride. I think they understood and accepted right off the hop that it's not just good for us, but I think it's good for everyone.”
“For a lot of people, especially young people and knowledge workers, that's like a touchstone of a progressive community. The kind of place they want to live,” he said.
ElliotLakeToday asked Elliott about the long acronym the community uses.
“The acronym keeps getting longer and longer and it's become unwieldy. But I hope we get to the point where we're all just people. Nobody really cares. The only person who should really care about your sexuality or your gender identity is your partner.”
MacEachern has similar thoughts, “It seems like every few months, something's added, something's added to the flag, something's added to the pronouns.”
Elliott uses the terms Pride community or Rainbow community, because the acronym has become so long.
Education and community building is important. “That's one of the things that Elliot Lake Pride is supposed to be doing is educating people. And we certainly have tried to create opportunities for people to learn and to ask questions,” MacEachern said.
“We have, I'm going to say, eight out of ten members on my Pride committee are straight. Yeah, I have way more straight people on my committee than I do gay people.”
‘People just being people, enjoying other people.’
“That's what it is,” MacEachern said.
Elliot Lake Pride posts events on their Facebook page ElliotLakePride and website at www.ELPride.ca