Pride picnics brings community together

Proud of pride.

BRACEBRIDGE — Muskoka is known as being a welcoming place, and members of the local LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community felt that on Sunday at the Muskoka Pride Picnic.
Held at Annie Williams Park in Bracebridge, the picnic was the culmination of a week of pride events in various Muskoka communities. It was the third year running for the annual event, organized by Shawn Forth, Andrew Baker, Matt Commandant and Jason Jones.
Commandant was moved to create the gathering three years ago after witnessing a heartbreaking case of discrimination.
“A teen that I knew got kicked out of home when he came out,” he said. “I think it’s very important that we are out there in a positive way, and so I said, ‘Well, let’s do something.’ And picnic, Muskoka, seemed to fit.”
The tone for future Muskoka pride events was set in that first year, Commandant noted.
“It was nice and organic, not big and commercial and noisy or anything else. And I think that’s what we wanted to do. I mean, it’s Muskoka,” he said. “By the same token, we’ve got educational materials here; it’s about creating that sense of community.”
“That’s what we wanted to show the community at large: that we’re people. We’re in your community. And, you know, we’re here.”
Baker said that pride week in Muskoka plays an important role in combating the feeling of isolation that can affect local members of the LGBT community. Pride events help to foster a sense of belonging.
“When you’re in Muskoka … there’s the feeling and perception that you’re the only one, because there’s not necessarily a place where you can connect with other people who are a member of your community,” he said. “There’s this aspect of isolation, even though the person in front of you in line at the grocery store could be LGBT, you wouldn’t know, and it’s not something that you necessarily ask.”
This year, the organizing community extended the festivities to include a full slate of events over the course of the week.
Other activities included fireworks, a flag-raising at Bracebridge town hall, a dinner night and bowling.
Forth said that turning the pride picnic into a week of festivities was an effort to reach out to more areas of Muskoka.
“We’re really trying to build that sense of a week,” he said. “Just to give people, when they’re a little isolated or a little more remote, a social venue that they could go to over the course of a week.”
Adam Jones, a Bracebridge resident for four years, said the picnic serves as a welcoming haven for families, people who are proudly out and those coming to terms with their sexual orientation.
“It’s a comfortable, safe place to go,” he said. “There’s some people here who aren’t physically ‘out’; they’re here, and it’s a safe place for them.”

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