Baden Russell-Petigrow, Centretown News
With Capital Pride celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Angus MacIsaac is hoping to free the pride archives from a locker they’ve been in for years. Ottawa’s Capital Pride Festival will be celebrating its 30th anniversary this summer, but the archives of all that history were nearly lost after previous festival organizers declared bankruptcy in December.
The festival’s official flag, a giant rainbow banner which requires dozens of people to carry it aloft, was stored in a locker at A1 Mini U-Store-It on Catherine Street. Along with it were 30 years’ worth of pride memorabilia, photos, newspaper clippings, and old board minutes. When the organizers went under, all of the locker’s contents became the possessions of the storage company.
A local buy-and-sell organization, UsedOttawa.com, stepped in when it became aware of the situation, and the storage company agreed to continue to store the archives for free while advocates attempted to raise about $900 in unpaid fees.
“A1 Mini U-Store-It has been incredible in terms of respecting the importance of the contents to the community,” says Angus MacIsaac, the community co-ordinator for UsedOttawa.com.
“These are (archives) that reflect so much work that has been happening in the community to get us to where are now,” says MacIsaac. “When you look at gay rights in Canada, this is all stuff that reflects that work.”
Capital Pride has come a long way in 30 years, growing into a city-wide 10-day celebration. The main event of the festival is the Pride Parade, which will take place on Bank Street, but it also includes events such as the Human Rights Vigil, athletic and artistic events, and activities geared towards youth and families. The festival is typically held in the end of August.
“The festival is . . . where we celebrate our accomplishments in asserting our human rights, but the contents of the locker signify the hours, days, and years that our community has put into securing those rights,” says MacIsaac.
UsedEverywhere, the parent company of UsedOttawa.com, has a feature called #UsedHelps where it works with registered non-profit organizations and charities. People can place items for sale at UsedOttawa.com and use the hashtag #UsedHasPride to indicate that payment for the items should be donated to preserving the archives.
UsedOttawa.com will be matching donations dollar for dollar until the fees are paid, up to $450. After that, any funds raised using the hashtag will be donated to the AIDS Committee of Ottawa. Cash donations can be made at After Stonewall Gallery and Bookstore at 370 Bank St.
“The AIDS Committee of Ottawa was the first group to get on board in terms of partnering up, so if people want to help out they can place an item for sale with the proceeds going to the committee,” says MacIsaac.
“It would have been easy to just approach individual donors about the money, but (MacIsaac) really wanted this to be a community effort, wanted people from the community to step up and come forward. This really affects the entire community,” says Khaled Salam, executive director of the AIDS Committee of Ottawa.
“The HIV/AIDS movement really started three decades ago as an LGBTQ community response to the AIDS crisis. It was really a very social, grassroots response, and the AIDS Committee of Ottawa is deeply intertwined with the Pride movement here.
“We’re both celebrating our 30 years in the community.”
Capital Pride will celebrate the anniversary in August, and organizers have already begun planning. After bankruptcy was declared, the Bank Street Business Improvement Area stepped in to provide financial oversight for this year’s festival.
“We’ve been working very closely with the city,” says Christine Leadman, executive director of the Bank Street BIA. “They’ve been very supportive in terms of their efforts.”
Any funding provided by the city will be given directly to the Bank Street BIA to manage on behalf of the festival. Capital Pride will also be looking for corporate sponsors.
Organizers have officially begun accepting resumes to hire a festival producer and co-ordinators.
“We have until the end of March to complete interviews, and then in April hopefully it’ll be full steam ahead,” says Tammy Dopson, the head of the community advisory committee for the festival.
“Everyone has a lot of vision. We’re hoping to find a happy medium between the big event that it should be for the anniversary, but also show fiscal restraint and responsibility.