That, to me, says, ‘That’s what it was all about. And that gives me an enormous sense of pride just to have played a little role in that. Well, our history was being made and we knew that we were living it every day. They made history.’ And when all the documentaries came out. People didn’t realize until 10 or 20 years later that, ‘Oh, Woodstock. It’s sort of like the analogy I use of Woodstock. “So you have those two examples of where in the queer community, whether it was legislation we were fighting for, most of the times, we knew we were making history, and that’s rare. We weren’t sure what that history was going to end up like, but we knew we were making history every day. But we knew, every single day, we were making history. “Our allies - and we did have allies within all of those institutions who fought with us - were the minority. And we found ourselves literally fighting on our own, trying to save lives, while we watched thousands of people die. We were looking at a situation where we looked at our democracy and the institutions, the established institutions within our democracy, the church, the medical profession, the elected politicians, the communities, who all were supposed to be supportive of their people, and abandoned us. Everybody in the queer community knew, every day, that they were making history. “The other very tragic historical event was, of course, the AIDS epidemic, or pandemic. True Colours: Celebrating the voices of nine members of LGBTQ+ communities in Ottawa
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. And this was a fight that was everywhere. That doesn’t happen often, especially in government, that in five years you saw something so significant, but at that time, we knew we were making history, we knew as the various provinces and territories were going through their court systems. Well, within five years, it was federal law. And most of us then thought it might happen within our generation, but it would probably take another generation to obtain that.
“Twenty years ago, around 2001, we heard of the first rumblings of same-sex marriage. “Two examples, which are at very far ends of the spectrum, come to mind. And to be a part of that, for me, is just astounding. But just about everything that has happened in the past 40 years, in relation to the obtaining of rights and recognitions of the queer community, we’ve been aware of it while it was happening. “Many times, when history is being made, you’re not aware of it until years later. And when I look back over the past, say, four decades alone, living in Ottawa, I’m very conscious of the fact and proud to have been a part of the movement. Even as an individual, I look back and take a lot of pride in being a member of the very first ‘out’ generation. “My story, especially around Pride, is very simple.