FORT FRANCES — The weather and public reception were both good as Borderland Pride participated in the 2024 Emo Fair parade, Douglas Judson said Tuesday.
“It was great to bring our community together in another location in the district – and, you know, one that's attracted its share of controversy," said Judson, who is co-chair of Borderland Pride.
“I think it's well known across the region and elsewhere that the Township of Emo has been very hostile to 2SLGBT inclusion,” he added.
Emo council’s May 2020 decision to not proclaim June as Pride Month is “the subject of an ongoing human rights proceeding at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal,” he noted.
Borderland Pride asked council to change its decision, but Mayor Harold McQuaker and the two other council members who voted against recognizing Pride Month refused.
The Pride organization filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal. Hearings were held in June 2024, and a decision is expected later this year.
Judson and about a dozen other Borderland Pride members were in the Emo Fair parade on Saturday and took second place.
The group’s participation conveyed a message of “We're still here, we're still working on these issues, and we want more people to know that Pride is for them and that they're welcome to participate in Pride,” he said.
“I think that the message needs to be that this is not a fringe movement,” he said.
Spectators could see that “We're part of the community, that we're contributing something positive to a local event that I think people are proud of,” he said.
Judson said, “Not everyone supports what this mayor and council have done.”
