Comox Valley Pride has new host — the new non-profit organization Queer Centre
meika johnson says while this is the third official Pride Parade, Pride in the Comox Valley has historically been more underground. Photo provided by meika johnson
Comox Valley’s new organization Queer Centre is hosting Pride this year, with events spanning the weekend of August 21st to 24th, including the 3rd annual Pride Parade on Saturday August 23rd.
meika johnson is vice president of the Queer Centre and project lead on the Pride Parade this year. Previously the event was run by another organization, Queer Culture, and before that it was an unofficial community-led parade down 5th Street to Lewis Park, with a dance party to wrap the event. johnson first joined the grassroots gathering four years ago when they moved to town.
“So it's been really beautiful to see that makeshift Pride four years ago turn into a city sanctioned parade that has many community partners and different businesses that support the Pride parade to happen,” they said.
According to johnson, while this is the third official Pride Parade, Pride in Courtenay has historically been more underground.
“There’ve always been queer people here and lots of queer things happening, but it seems from my perception a lot more on the surface and in your face and ‘we're here, we're here to stay.’ We're shining bright and we're organizing and making strong, resilient community that people are welcome to join,” johnson said.
This year’s Pride events will expand beyond the parade, with a focus on visibility and getting people out in community.
“I've lived in the Comox Valley for the last five years and since I've moved here I was like, oh, there's like a ton of queer people, but we're all in our little pockets and we're all under our little rocks. But people do come up for Pride, but I'm seeing like, how can we get all these people together to know each other, to have mutual aid to support each other and have projects,” johnson shared.
johnson also spoke to why it is important to have queer events in the community.
“It’s really important that queer people have space to celebrate because queer joy is healing and magic. And to see people being their most fantastic authentic selves gives other people permission to live their life, the loudest and brightest and most lovely that they can be. And if you've never seen that before, then you don't know it exists,” they said.
“And just seeing one queer person existing and living their life is so healing for everyone. And I see that in youth when I show up in community and I'm like, ‘I love my life and being a weird gender queer’ and youth are like, ‘whoa, you can do that?’ And then they do, and it's beautiful. So having space for queer community to exist gives permission for everyone else to live their best life. And when we don't have spaces for that, then people are in the dark, alone, unwell, and it does not benefit anyone. And it benefits the entire community: allies, straight people, just every type of person is benefited by people living their best, authentic lives,” johnson explained.
johnson said the City of Courtenay’s support of local Pride events is significant because they are recognizing, uplifting and supporting a marginalized community, setting a precedent for acceptance rather than hatred.
“ I think the impact of Pride in the Comox Valley is quite widespread. There's a lot of queer youth here. We have the Foundry, we have lots of queer youth clubs at schools, and we have queer elders that have gone through conversion therapy and have been called slurs and [endured] hate crimes. So I think it's really significant to see queer joy in our world and to uplift that and see that you can have a great, fantastic life being your best self and you don't need to hide yourself,” they said.
“And the kids I work with, they do tell me that they get bullied at school for being queer. So when there's a big city sanctioned parade to celebrate their queerness, we can say that we love you just the way you are, and we want to see you grow and thrive. And that love penetrates into all aspects of the community, and lets people be their true authentic selves and lift each other up. And that's just a beautiful form of community healing that I would like to uplift in all areas of my life,” johnson said.
johnson also shared why it is meaningful to them to participate in this work.
“It’s really significant to me to be organizing the Pride Parade with my friends because when I was younger, I didn't know any queer adults. And now that I'm a queer adult, all my friends are queer adults. So it's really fantastic to grow into the life that I want to lead, and to be a community organizer and organize queer community and have a lot of people show up and be like, ‘yes, this is what we wanna do, this is what we're putting our unpaid labor into because we also believe in it and wanted to grow and thrive.’ And it's so beautiful to see that. And it heals part of my inner child that never saw queer adults, to be a queer adult that shows up for community and queer youth and queer elders and people my age and people who are older than me that just came out or are just transitioning. And I can say, ‘you're beautiful and I love you. Please keep coming back. We wanna hold you in our space.’ And that's just so beautiful,” johnson said.
johnson explained how the new non-profit and Pride organizer Queer Centre started in the Comox Valley earlier this year. They said many people shared a vision, then one person moved into town and said ‘I see there’s a dream, and we can make it happen.’ That person, Jojo Jaeger, is now the president of Queer Centre.
“There's lots of queers here. There's lots of people with fantastic ideas of revolutionary community that's based on love and mutual aid and respect, and there's a strong foundation for some kind of awesome community space here. So it's really fantastic to have all these key community figures in the same place at the same time working on the same dream,” they said.
johnson said the goal for Queer Center is to be a physical space with resources to help people meet their needs, whether that be free food, access to housing, or a social space to sit with friends over free coffee.
“I'm hoping Queer Center will be a local resource space that flies a pride flag year round; when you're new in town and don't know anyone and you're like, ‘oh, there's the trans flag. I'm gonna go in there. I know it's safe,’” johnson said.
They visualize the center as a local info shop for resources and education on allyship, gender and identity, but also as a space to house offices and art studios for local facilitators and artisans in need of space.
“So we're hoping Queer Center can be a local hub where organizers have their office, have meetings, have the things they need to organize community in a good way, and not just have all the burden of these things fall onto underpaid or volunteer people that often just do so much to build community. So we wanna have a foundation of space that provides resources and accommodates people so they can show up and be themselves, have friends and organize,” johnson envisioned.
When it comes to Pride events this summer, Queer Centre is collaborating with various community groups to host a range of celebrations and activities around town, from Thursday August 21st to Sunday the 24th.
Kicking things off with the first event, johnson will be leading a Nature Pride Walk at Bevan Wetlands.
“I do outdoor education and I'm really excited to talk about nature and how queer nature is, and that being queer is natural,” they said.
Other events will include a Youth Pride BBQ Party at the Foundry, and Pulse on the Plaza at the Comox Valley Art Gallery with CV/ARTS.
The parade will take place on Saturday, August 23rd, from 12 to 1 p.m., starting in Downtown Courtenay, marching down 5th Street and over the bridge to Lewis Park for Pride in the Park.
“There is a sliding scale for registration fees, and if you can't afford it, email us. We want you in the parade and we want to remove barriers for it. If you're a youth who shows up with a sign, just get in the parade, I'm never gonna stop that. And everyone's welcome to watch, to spectate or to participate,” johnson said.
johnson said to create a legacy of support and joy, the support of allies is key.
“When we have a lot of allies there to support us, then it decreases the opportunity for hatred or bad things to happen, as well as it increases our ability to support queer youth who are the future leaders and organizers of our world. And when we say, ‘look what we've built for you, please continue our legacy,’ then they'll step into that. And that's similar to the first Pride parade that happened, that was a riot where people were fighting oppression. Those are my queer ancestors, and I'm working to continue their legacy of supporting queer joy, and supporting me as a queer youth. And I would like to continue that. It's extremely important that we set up a good future for future leaders that will be building the world that we'll be living in,” they said.
Registration is open for those interested in joining the parade, with full events details on the Queer Centre website.
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada. Reporting done in the Comox Valley is done in partnership with CVOX.