This year, Capital Pride’s human rights vigil focused on the progress the global LGBT community has made for equal rights and its ongoing fight.
“It’s a weird moment to be at a human rights vigil. We’ve come so far but we still have such a long way to go,” said Gilbert Baker, who designed the rainbow pride flag in 1978 and was the keynote speaker at the August 20 event.
The event was a chance to remember the lives of activists and LGBT people who died for the cause, said Jackie Hansen, a campaigner for Amnesty International, which co-sponsored the event.
She said Capital Pride’s human rights vigil is an annual event and stands out because it sends a different message than the other festivities, and a good opportunity for activists to recommit themselves to the LGBT cause.
“A lot of Pride is about celebrating but this is about remembering,” Hansen said. “We want to celebrate the advancements of human rights but also honour the lives that have been lost to homophobia and transphobia.”
The vigil featured three guest speakers and a slide show with the names of transgender people around the world who have been killed in the past year.
Baker, who is also a prominent activist, spoke about the progress he has seen on LGBT rights over his lifetime and the evolution of the movement over the past 40 years.
“In my lifetime [gay people] have gone from being criminals to being citizens,” he said.
Baker also thanked Canadian activists for their work towards the cause and said he is inspired by their decades of hard work.
Sophia Cassivi, a transgender person and former president of Gender Mosaic, a transgender social and support group based in Ottawa, spoke about her experience coming out and how she has helped fight prejudice in the community.
“We start killing discrimination within our soul—within ourselves,” Cassivi said. “We go for the fight inside of us.”
The final speaker was R.J. Jones, a two-spirited Cree individual, who talked about discrimination within Canada’s Aboriginal community.
Jones focused on how gay people are seen in a negative light in the Aboriginal community, largely due to attitudes passed down to older people who developed while attending residential schools.
About 100 people attended the vigil, including Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi, Somerset Ward city councilor Catherine McKenney, and Ottawa Centre federal Green Party candidate Tom Milroy.
“Ottawa Centre in particular is very diverse and I feel I’ve got to see all perspectives from all sides. It’s so diverse that one needs to educate themselves constantly on the changing face of the community,” Milroy said.
This is the third year Amnesty International has partnered with Capital Pride to host the event, which was also supported by the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity.
Baker said that despite some setbacks, the world is becoming a more accepting place for gay people and that there are many encouraging signs.
“Our place in this world is to make it better for everyone,” Baker said. “That’s why we’re here, that’s why we’re on this planet, to change it and to make it a place that’s loving.”
