10 champions for LGBT2Q+
With this being Pride Week in Kelowna, for our Okanagan Top 10 list we are recognizing 10 champions for the LGBT2Q+ community in the Okanagan.
JOHN ARCHER & DOUG BERTZ
After 35 years together, this longtime couple finally tied the knot in a public ceremony hosted by the Penticton Art Gallery.
Both men were long-time supporters of the gallery and their wedding nicely coincided with the gallery’s “Ipseity” exhibition, which explored personal journeys of identity and self. Instead of gifts, the couple asked for donations to the South Okanagan Similkameen Pride student bursary program.
Their recent honeymoon to Paris — one of the world’s most romantic cities — included Archer participating in the Gay Games, an international competition. The former Ironman brought home a silver medal in his age category in the long-distance swim.
DUSTYN BAULKHAM
“I’m loud and proud,” said Dustyn Baulkham when we profiled him as one of Kelowna’s Top Forty Under 40 in 2016.
He said it again when he was a subject of the newspaper’s “In Conversation” feature in 2017. And, we imagine he says it almost daily as the president of Okanagan Pride and the owner of Rebellious Unicorn Productions, the company that organizes numerous events for the local LGBT2Q+ community, including a monthly networking mixer, Peak Pride at Big White Ski Resort, the FruitCake monthly club night and the StompOut grape stomp. A UBC Okanagan graduate and former banker, Baulkham’s day job now is workforce development officer with the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission.
TOR BROUGHTON
“It’s only now that we’re starting to speak about the unspoken,” this 12-year-old, transgender boy told school board trustees in a meeting stacked by opponents to the SOGI 123 (sexual-orientation gender identity) program. “Thanks to SOGI 123, I can comfortably say I am transgender without having to explain myself.”
As others spoke in opposition, Tor sat in the front row, scribbling out notes and composing a speech on the spot.
It wasn’t the first time he’s addressed the board. He went before trustees on the issue of gender-neutral washrooms.
He shared his personal experiences and challenges at a recent TEDxYouth talk, which can be found on YouTube. He also spoke at this week’s Trans March, among many others.
While many trans kids experience bullying and harassment, Tor is blessed with an incredibly supportive family and, for his classmates, his orientation is a non-issue.
KAREN DAVY
Davy, the president of the South Okanagan Similkameen Pride Society, overcame multiple obstacles to help rebrand the organization to a not-for-profit charity. The focus shifted from being a social group to inclusive to all. An emphasis was placed on services for youth, education and awareness.
Today, SOS Pride has 120 active members, plus a strong presence on social media. They still offer special events, most recently entering a float in the Peters Bros. Grand Parade at Peachfest.
The long-term goals for SOS Pride are to work with communities, local government, Interior Health and others to bring more education and awareness to the general public.
Davy, already well-known due to her previous job in radio, came out 13 years ago, at a time when the LGBTQ2+ community in Penticton was mostly underground.
DUSTIN DUFAULT
Dustin Dufault is a local drag queen who performs under the stage name Ella Lamoureux.
Dufault is praised for being a key player in bringing the Kelowna drag scene to life, and being a mentor to other people in the community.
“Ella has always been very supportive of new queens and has worked hard to help create the thriving drag scene we have today,” said Shannon Lester. “Drag has always been an essential part of the LGBTQ+ community, and it has also become a big part of Kelowna Pride, as well as an avenue for the straight and queer community to come together.”
Grayson Hope Nordgren credited Dufault with being someone others look up to .
“She’s been a drag mother to a lot of us without taking that name, and I don’t think there are any queens in town who don’t look up to her or haven’t gotten some solid advice from her at one point or another,” said Nordgren.
WALTER GRAY
Former Kelowna mayor Walter Gray made national headlines in 1997 when he refused to sign a Pride Week proclamation, saying he believed many of his constituents did not want him to do so.
That brought him a rebuke from the B.C. Human Rights Commission, and Gray subsequently refused to sign any proclamations.
Fast forward to 2011, when Gray was running for re-election after a time out of office. Inevitably, the question was put to him whether he would sign a Pride proclamation.
Gray said his views on the subject had changed, and he would happily sign such a document. He did, and then went a step further by appearing at a 2012 Pride event, reading the proclamation, then receiving a kiss from the drag queen emcee.
After the laughter and applause died down, Gray said Pride Week is a celebration of diversity, but also a chance to reflect on similarities between all people, such as their desire for a better life, their common ambitions, and their need to love and be loved.
After he retired from politics, Gray and his wife Doreen bought a winter home in Arizona. It’s purely coincidental, but in a pleasing way that perhaps reflects the evolution of attitudes, the name of the street they live on is Rainbow Circle.
RAYMOND KOEHLER
Raymond Koehler, chair of Senior Gay Men in Kelowna, is an advocate for isolated senior gay men in the community.
The group began in 2013, and has since grown to include hundreds of gay senior men in the Central Okanagan.
“There is a very large number of senior gay guys out there, and they need a little bit of safety and a little bit of encouragement in breaking through some of the stigma that has coloured their lives for the last 50 years,” Koehler said at a past Kelowna Pride Week event.
Koehler is also known for his other volunteer work, including mentoring youth at Foundry Kelowna and working with the Central Okanagan Community Food Bank.
Altair Millares called Koehler a “volunteer workhorse” for all the work he does for an underserved part of the community.
BRIAN McARTHUR
A partner with Connect Okanagan Telephone, he moved to the Okanagan 24 years ago and immediately became involved with OGLO, which eventually morphed into Kelowna Pride.
He served on its executive for 12 years and his primary responsibility was fundraising. His monthly fundraising dances helped keep the organization going, as well as the Drop-In Centre on Water Street (which has since closed).
“Brian McArthur has quietly helped out for many years with ORC and events to this day and without judgement. He would give the shirt off his back,” Duane Peters wrote on Facebook.
MICHAEL V. SMITH
Michael V. Smith is a UBC Okanagan professor, novelist, poet, filmmaker, and drag queen.
“He’s bright and creative and I have always found him to be warm, kind, inspiring, open, and encouraging,” says Robyn MacDonald. “He teaches at the university, where he shows lots of pride, individuality, and an authentically-sparkling personality. He brings colour and fun and witty boldness to the local Kelowna entertainment scene through his drag nights and his writing.”
Smith’s debut novel, “Cumberland,” was nominated for the Books in Canada First Novel Award in 2002. He has also published several books of poetry and a memoir.
“Michael has made a significant impact by sharing himself wholeheartedly with Kelowna over the last 10 years, as well as organizing inclusive events celebrating pride in all genders and sexual identities,” says Karma Reine.
LOYAL WOOLDRIDGE
If elected in the municipal election this fall, Loyal Wooldridge will become the first openly gay man to sit on Kelowna city council.
However, his sexual orientation isn’t a big plank in his campaign platform.
His overall goal is for Kelowna to be an accepting and diverse community, which includes LGBT2Q+.
Wooldridge’s quest for acceptance and diversity began years ago when the hair salon he owns adopted a philosophy and branding around the I Am Me, Own It and Know Who You Are catchphrases.
The branding, which works for the annual pink T-shirt anti-bullying movement as well as a year-round mantra, has won accolades from the City of Kelowna and a B.C. Broadcasting Award from Bell Media.