Meagan Simpson, Centretown News
Capital Pride will be undergoing changes for its 2015 festival. After a rocky end to last year’s Capital Pride committee, with the group folding, Ottawa is set to celebrate Pride’s 30th anniversary this August. With a parade that winds down Bank Street, celebrations and parties, the festival is integral to the local gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. It is now up to community members to make sure the event is continued.
A renewed vision has sprung up with a new group, the community advisory committee, which is made up of a wide variety of representatives from various LGBTQ groups in Ottawa. According to Tammy Dopson, the committee’s spokesperson, each of the members involved has a specific talent, a background in policy making and showcases a good understanding of Ottawa’s pride community.
“We are trying to create a sustainable business model, with community infusion,” says Dopson of the festival. “The community is very much in control of this ship, but we are building a more sustainable model so it can carry on for years.”
The Bank Street BIA will be accountable for financial expenditures and reporting for the festival but not its day-to-day operations, according to a recent press release. The BIA will ensure the committee sticks to its budget and the funds are dispensed properly, while keeping a paper trail of all of its operations, to ensure the mistakes of last year’s committee won’t happen again.
“The BIA could give us the financial backbone we need, and we could bring the business back to Bank Street,” says Dopson.
Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney says she supports the BIA’s proposal and believes the advisory committee is in need of a new structure.
“Last year’s committee has outgrown the model, being managed by a group of volunteers,” McKenney says. “They need professional co-ordination and management.”
Capital Pride is not only important for business, but also for customers, says Rob Spittall, owner of the Comic Book Shoppe on Bank Street.
“We have a clientele from all different backgrounds. We want to make sure we include and support everyone we can,” he says. “The whole thing about our world of comics is that everyone’s accepted. Everybody’s included and everybody’s welcome.”
Making the culture of the festival more welcoming is also a committee consideration Capital Pride. Dobson said voices behind Pride will give more focus to certain groups, such as French Canadians.
For those identifying as LGBTQ, Pride is an important time to celebrate, to communicate and to be open.
Ottawa resident Bia Salles arrived in the city in 2010, jobless and homeless. Her first summer here, she attended the Pride Parade, one of the few free events.
In subsequent years, she volunteered with Pride and participated in the Dyke March. While the Pride festival is something she and her friends enjoy, Salles says she believes there should be changes made to the festival heading into the future.
In 2014, more than 110,000 people attended the free Pride Parade, yet only 8,000 people attended the party at city hall. Salles says money is an issue when it comes to getting people from the parade into the party
“I would love to see people not being charged to get into city hall,” she explains. “I find that creates a big chasm.”
Dillon Black, who has been attending Pride for 10 years, says there needs to be more educational and arts-focused events.
“Looking at where Pride’s been in history, where Pride is today, and that celebration of our history . . . that’s really missing,” Blac says.
Much of Dopson’s focus has been LGBTQ youth in Ottawa. “These are the messengers of the future,” she says. “It’s going to be the youth that carry this forward.”
Black says there needs to be spaces for youth and families at Pride. In previous years, there have been family picnics offered.
“Ottawa is seeing more queer families having young children,” Black explains. “There’s not a lot of space.”
Salles and Black both agree that the party focus of Pride can be too much for some attendees, and would like to see more alcohol-free events.
“There are people in our queer community who are trying to overcome addictions,” Salles says. “When they go to city hall and everyone’s drinking . . . it’s not a safe space for people who are dealing with addiction.”
Capital Pride is about the Ottawa LGBTQ community and Black says she hopes it stays that way.