Kehisha Wilmot wishes Pride were more intersectional. “It seemed like once we got to the point where marriage equality was a thing, a lot of people just kind of put their shoes on the shelf and went the other way,” says Wilmot, head of Mount Saint Vincent University’s Queer Collective. “We were the ones who […]
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Posted inArts + Music
Happy ours: A history of local gay bars
Halifax is a city with a vibrant history, and that extends into its queer culture. Since the first gay bar opened in 1971, Halifax’s queer community has found a home in nightlife. The first “officially gay” gay bar in Halifax was Thee Klub. It opened in 1971 in the Green Lantern Building on Barrington Street. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Trudeau pinkwashing Pride parade
The most watched person at this year’s Halifax Pride parade will be a straight white man with a penchant for rainbow socks. It was announced Monday that Justin Trudeau will be marching this weekend in Halifax, becoming the first sitting prime minister to take part in a local Pride parade. But some members of the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
A trans-Canada tale
Forty years after the Canadian Human Rights Act was passed by parliament, transgender individuals are finally protected by the document. At least three different incarnations of a Canadian trans rights bill have been drafted in the last 12 years, and now the most recent one has passed. Bill C-16 will amend the Human Rights Act, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax Pride addresses pinkwashing by discontinuing community fair
Halifax Pride is nixing booths from its festival grounds ahead of this year’s celebration. The change was announced late last month, several months after October’s tumultuous AGM, during which a “pinkwashing motion” brought forth by members of Queer Arabs of Halifax (QAH) was voted down. According to the Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project, pinkwashing usually […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Fraying at the edges
There were more people at the zombie walk last year than the AIDS walk. Dressed in tattered costumes and gruesome make-up, over 100 people shambled around the downtown on September 25. Meanwhile, on the very same day at the Central Common, about 90 people (including sponsors and media) gathered together wearing red-pinned ribbons for the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
We’re young Jews, and we support Queer Arabs of Halifax
[Image-1] For the past few years, Queer Arabs of Halifax (QAH) have asked Halifax Pride to counter pinkwashing efforts that portray foreign states as queer-friendly tourist destinations, distracting from these states’ human rights violations and the traumas that queer folks of colour have experienced as a result. This year, QAH put forward a motion to […]