Pride is a place for everyone and with a variety of inclusive events slated for Winter Pride, Guelph Pride is looking to appeal to students, older LGBTQ+ people and the wider LGBTQ+ community.
Ben Litner has lived in Guelph for a couple of years and wanted to get more involved so he joined the Guelph Pride team. Pride in June and this coming Winter Pride are the first Litner has been a part of in Guelph. He is the co-chair of Guelph Pride with Taylor Gillies
Winter Pride runs Feb. 5 to 15 with a variety of free and by donation events.
The reason there is a Pride this season is to get students involved. It’s supposed to let them see there is an LGBTQ+ community outside university and they are welcome to be a part of it. Litner wants them to know if they stay in Guelph after they graduate there is a place for them here.
On the other end of the spectrum there is an event specifically for older LGBTQ+ people. At The Cornerstone, musician Transstar will perform jazz music from the Great American Songbook. It’s meant to be a laid back evening where people can enjoy dinner, drinks and music.
“Our general view on Pride is that just due to the challenges that the LGBT+ community has faced over the years, there isn't a large population of elder queers and elder queer people and so in general, the face of pride tends to be very young,” said Linter. Pride usually has drag shows and parties geared to young people, so sometimes older LGBTQ+ people feel like they don’t have a space where they fit in and this is where the Transstar event comes in, he said.
Other events include a legal name change clinic, BIPOC Queer Night Out at Two Faces and sexy bingo. There will also be a film screening of Winter Kept Us Warm with a question and answer period with the film’s director David Secter. Litner thinks it's a success when entertainment and education can be combined.
In preparation for the upcoming festivities, Guelph Pride connected with people in the community who regularly organize events to get input and feedback on how Pride can be improved.
Litner has noticed Guelph’s LGBTQ+ community can be fragmented. “It would be great to have some central core that kind of binds us all together,” he said. “We're trying to bring as many people together as possible, collaborate, share ideas and help grow the queer community.”
Coming from Toronto he didn’t realize how big the LGBTQ+ community in Guelph was until he started working with Guelph Pride.
He thinks it's the responsibility of Guelph Pride to unite people. Since Pride is hosted once in the winter and summer, Guelph Pride points people to events, groups and resources during the rest of the year.
“When you band a bunch of misfits together, for lack of a better word, it breeds a lot of positivity and acceptance for everyone. So no matter how you identify – gender, orientation, sexuality, anything, it's still a safe place for you to be. You shouldn't feel like you don't belong because you do,” said Litner.
The schedule of Winter Pride's 17 events is expected on its website in the coming days.