Capital Pride wraps up with Lansdowne party
The Capital Pride Festival wrapped up Sunday at Lansdowne Park, an in-person gathering after a week of nearly all virtual events. Though smaller than a normal year because of pandemic restrictions — and not helped by Sunday's wet weather — the gathering came 50 years, almost to the day, after one of the most significant events in Canada's gay rights history. On Aug. 28, 1971, hundreds of people from across Canada marched on Parliament Hill for the “We Demand Rally” to press the government to end discrimination against gays and lesbians. “They came all the way to Parliament Hill and protested that we should be treated as people,” Ottawa Pride executive director Osmel G. Maynes said as Sunday's events got underway on Rogers
Television. “They said, `We should be living our truth.' And that's why we're here today.” The all-ages event on Lansdowne's Great Lawn celebrated the city's 2SLGBTQ+ community with music and dance, and a drag queen extravaganza, including Ottawa's Sunshine Glitterchild, along with performances by The Peptides and Veils of Bollywood. The event was livestreamed for those who couldn't attend. Public health rules limited attendance and those there were required to complete a COVID screening questionnaire, maintain physical distancing and wear masks in high-traffic areas. It's the second year of a pandemic Pride Week and Maynes said he's hopeful that Capital Pride 2022 will be back to normal. “It's going to be so sweet. We're going to be dancing right there on (Bank) street,” he told co-hosts Sandra Plagakis and Scarlett Bobo. “We're going to be making so many people feel happy and to just see people living their life, living their truth. Living their authentic self. I think that's the most important part of Pride. Living our true lives.”