Pride and solidarity brought people together in downtown Orillia on Thursday evening.
The theme of this year's seventh annual Fierté Simcoe Pride Trans Rally — held in the courtyard of the Orillia Public Library — was “we stand proud, we stand together." The rally was followed by a Trans Community Gathering at St. Paul's Centre.
“We want to address that there is a lot of anti-LGTB and anti-trans rhetoric that has been increasing over the past year and over the pandemic,” explained Fierté Simcoe Pride chair Christian Kenehan. “You see it a lot, especially in the U.S.”
Kenehan says there are 492 anti-LGTB bills in the U.S. today and they feel they are targeting trans people and their ability to access gender-affirming care.
“Some trans youth or even adults are not able to participate in sports,” they said. “There are a lot of bills that are specifically targeting trans people and they are being framed as protecting women and children.”
Kenehan says trans people in the U.S. are being left in crisis and some have decided to flee to Canada.
“We are seeing the same rhetoric being repeated by the far right in Canada,” they said.
Thursday’s rally and Pride events are an effort to protect trans and LGTB people from hate and discrimination.
“We are hoping that people see that we need our allies right now,” Kenehan said. “We are a community that is resilient, we are strong, and we are together on this.”
The more support the trans and LGTB community receives, Kenehan believes it will dampen the spirits of those spreading harmful rhetoric.
“There is a lot of negativity going on right now,” they said. “Our community has always and will always stand together.”
Seeing the turnout of around 50 people at Thursday’s event was meaningful to the event's organizers.
“It means a lot to have allies coming to make a stance,” Kenehan said. “It shows that trans people are not alone in this.”
While trans people make up a small percentage of the population, Kenehan says support from the community gives them a voice.
Nyreen Martin-John spoke on behalf of the transgender community at the event on Thursday.
"I'm here to stand proud with the people who love and support us," they told OrilliaMatters. "We are here to give a voice to people who don't have that power in themselves and really hope to inspire confidence in the community."
As a trans person, Martin-John says there is a welcoming presence in Orillia for the 2SLGBTQ+ community, but there is also still some stigma that exists.
"I have experienced a little bit of that from time to time," they said. "I've had stuff thrown at me in the middle of the road and have had names called out to me."
Martin-John says events like Thursday's rally help battle such stigma and hate.
"It shows people that we are doing nothing but trying to be respectful," they said. "The more events and community things that we do together, it will help push that stigma back."
Madelein Funk was at Thursday's event to support the 2SLGBTQ+ community. She is also getting set to start an Orillia chapter of Pflag, a support group for parents and families on the "rainbow spectrum."
"I think it's really needed," she said. "Orillia seems to be a community where there is no supportive centre for rainbow families."
Funk says the Pflag chapter will aim to give families peer support, education, and advocacy when it comes to sexuality, gender, and gender expression changes.
While there is no timeline for when the service will be made available, she says it will help people deal with some of the hate that Martin-John experienced.
"Some older folks run into some really big challenges in daily living," she said. "You run into younger folks who have more connections through peers, family, and maybe they would say they aren't running into those kinds of challenges, but they also aren't as independent yet."
More information about Fierté Simcoe Pride, and a list of upcoming events, can be found here.
