AMHERST – Rogan Porter has seen all the dirty looks thrown his way and absorbed all the barbs and verbal assaults given him as a member of the LGBTQ community.
There was a time when they hurt, but now the looks and hurtful comments make Porter more determined than ever to change attitudes and educate people about the community he is proud to be part of.
“We’ve come a long way in terms of human rights, but there’s still a long way to go in regard to the treatment of the LGBTQ community and the stigma we continue to face,” Porter said. “That’s why we get together to celebrate who we are and how we are allowed to celebrate ourselves.”
Porter said communities such as Amherst are very accepting of members of the LGBTQ community, but there are still some barriers and walls people such as the Sackville, N.B. resident face when it comes to finding and keeping a job.
“I remember when I had started a new job that someone referred to me as an ‘it’,” Porter said. “The news of my gender spread like wildfire. I lost a job because I was Trans and I’m sure there are others who have faced the same situation I have. There are many similar stories out there. I try to think of the positive, but it’s hard to ignore the negative stories you experience or hear about.”
Cumberland Pride is hosting a number of activities in conjunction with its community partners during Pride Week from June 10 to 16 with events in both Amherst and Oxford. The theme of this year’s celebration is Diversity Creates Community.
“It’s so fitting because it takes a lot of people to make a community function and the fact is we’re all human and all the same in our hearts,” Porter said.
Festivities kick off with an all bodies swim at the Cumberland YMCA on Sunday, June 10 while the annual flag-raising ceremony will take place on Monday, June 11 at the flagpole in front of the YMCA.
Other events include a Pride movie night on June 12, a flag-raising ceremony in Oxford on June 13, a coffee house on June 14 and a youth swag-making party on June 15 with Amherst’s second Pride Parade on Saturday, June 16.
Porter and Emma Brown are the co-chairs of Cumberland Pride and leading the steering committee that’s hosting the events that celebrate community diversity and acceptance of people from all backgrounds.
“It was two years ago that former mayor Robert Small challenged Cumberland Pride to hold a Pride Parade in Amherst,” Brown said. “Last year’s event was so successful and attracted so much positive attention for our community. It showcased Amherst as an open and welcoming community and we’re so pleased that the parade is going to be an annual thing.”
For Porter, the fact Oxford, where he grew up, is having a flag-raising ceremony. It’s something that wouldn’t have happened there, or many small, rural communities, just a few years ago.
The flag-raising ceremony in Oxford will take place at 6 p.m. on the 13th at the flagpole that’s located in the park that’s diagonal to town hall.
The youth swag-making event, held in partnership with UBU Amherst, will see young people get together at the Christ Church Parish Hall to make posters and signs for the Pride Parade the following day, while Autumn House is showing the movie Pride at the Four Father’s Memorial Library on June 12 at 7 p.m.
Brown said setup for the parade on the 16th will begin at 1 p.m. with the parade beginning at 2 p.m. Following the parade, there’ll be music and vendors in Victoria Square as well as face-painting and information tables for groups such as the multicultural association of Cumberland County and the youth project.
Longtime gay activist and former Cumberland Pride member Gerard Veldhoven has been named as the honorary parade marshal while there will also be a ceremony to honour the late Rev. Eldon Hay, a United Church minister, activist and Order of Canada member, who passed away last October at age 83.
Twitter: @ADNdarrell
