Further to the reflections that Heather McCain shared at their presentation to Fierté Canada Pride mentioned later in this blog, Heather sent the following letter to Vancouver Pride Society in April. They have yet to receive a response.

“I wanted to bring VPS’ social media posts to your attention. On both Instagram and Facebook, Harmony was shown by photo and image description as last year’s Grand Marshal. This was brought to my attention by someone who shares my identities (fat, disabled, and neurodivergent) and frustrations about the bias I seem/seemed to experience as Grand Marshal.

When I was told about being chosen about being Grand Marshal, I was excited by the opportunity and how I would be able to represent a combination of identities not often given the spotlight. I was told to expect to do media and interviews (and I heard this from previous grand marshals and parade attendees). These did not materialize. Other than the city hall flag raising, any media was arranged by myself or was pre-Grand Marshall decision mentions based on the parade route/festival location changes.

I did not say anything at the time. I decided to focus on the positive as there were many highlights from being Grand Marshal and the accessibility changes. I really enjoyed being in the parade, getting to see the new route, and how many more disabled and neurodivergent folks could attend, having my kiddo in the parade with me, and hearing from so many people who felt represented. I did privately wonder about the slights. And I fielded questions by people, who shared one or more of my identities, who questioned whether the lack of media was due to any of those identities.

I even recently addressed this during my Fierté Pride presentation when I shared for while there was gained appreciation created by the accessibility improvements, there was also lost support by the nearly non-advertising of me, including within coverage of the parade.

I regret not saying something as there does appear to be a continued pattern that does trouble and sadden me. While I don’t require recognition (and feel incredibly awkward in saying I didn’t get enough attention), I do feel like it speaks to a deeper problem that needs to be addressed.

Tonight’s social media posts in which Harmony is shown in photo and caption as Grand Marshal feels very much like erasure of me, my role, and my accomplishments. Harmony is certainly deserving in her own right and should be celebrated but not in the role I was chosen for. I’ve cc’ed Harmony on this email as she has been supporting me as I process my disappointment.

After writing out several versions of a comment in response to the social media post, I simply went with a request for a correction of the caption. The correction was made in a timely manner. However, Harmony’s photo should not have remained on the post. Honestly, I felt this slight more keenly than seeing the initial post. I couldn’t help but think of all the comments made about why I might not have been highlighted as Grand Marshal.

When harm has been done, I try not to assume or guess things I can’t know for sure but it naturally happens as one tries to make sense of the situation. The erasure of even a mention of my name and no change to the photo of Harmony, left me wondering if VPS has any photos of me as Grand Marshal. If they do, why weren’t they used? If they don’t, why not? Is it because I have an evident disability, because I use a walker, because I’m fat, because I asked for a truck instead of a convertible (to have room for my walker and to better fit my butch identity) or a combination of all? The “correction” that changed the caption to properly identify Harmony but kepy her photo, erased all mention of me and seems to confirm a bias exists.

I am used to prejudice, bias, and judgements about my weight and appearance but this did hurt on multiple levels. Something that was meant to celebrate me and my achievements managed to invisibilize me. It being done by community, where I should feel safe, welcome, and celebrated, stung. Overall, I thought I had dealt with it and moved forward. The post reiterated that it was not over.

I email you not because I think you can rewind time or change things but because my not being explicit about this now feels like complicity in a bias that myself and others have noticed. And I trust that you will hold space for what I am feeling and seek ways to ensure no one else experiences the same.”

LET’S met with Fraser Valley Pride about our upcoming involvement at Pride on July 13th at Fraser Valley Heritage Park in Mission.

Last year we had an excellent location for the low sensory space. We were in a wooded area, a good distance away from noises and performers. This year we are working with Fraser Valley Pride on better signage and ideas that will draw more people to our tent. We suggested one way to encourage people towards us is with a trail of trans + queer history facts. We will be working with Fraser Valley Pride on this approach by providing them with facts from our Queer + Trans workshop (created and researched by Harmony Bongat, with help by Heather). LET’S will also have a table in the main section of the event.

LETS has partnered with Zee Zee Theatre for an in-person reading of Equinox.

This play is part of the Queer and Trans Play Reading Series, a first-of-its-kind new play development model & virtual reading series.

Streaming Online and In-Person Across Canada, October 21, 2023 | Vancity Culture Lab | 3:00 PM Facilitated conversation to follow

About the play:
Deep in the woods, somewhere not very far from here, there’s been a very exciting development in the field of modern medicine: a cutting-edge, state-of-the-art inpatient treatment and psychiatric research facility.

With access to some of the world’s top doctors, and every material need (and want!) provided for, the clinic boasts unfathomable success rates, rave reviews, and the easiest ‘yes’ its patients will ever give: a six-month stay onsite, with part-time participation in field research, in exchange for any and all required therapy, treatments, and surgeries — and unbridled euphoria.

It’s the ultimate evolution — at 100% coverage.
And Avis and Ursa are 100% onboard.
At first.

The thing is, there’s something not-quite-right about this arrangement. The seasons are changing. Again. Time behaves strangely in this place. The staff more strangely still. (Like, what’s the deal with that weird custodian?)

And even for a medical facility, there’s an awful lot of stuff being tested around here.
Bodies.
Neurology.
Sex.
Desire.
Relationships.
Play.
Patience …
But everyone has a breaking point.
And when push comes to shove, creatures in captivity will make very interesting choices.

Trigger warnings:
Genocide, medical discrimination/ trauma, transphobia
Content warnings:
Explicit sexual content.

We had a wonderful time at Victoria Pride. The very first  guest who stopped by our tent was having a panic attack. It was their first time attending a public event since coming  out. They were supported by a friend. They were able to  utilize some of our low sensory materials to regulate her

emotions. She said that just seeing the low sensory space  made her feel seen and wanted.

We had a vast assortment of people who used our space. We  had some who came to regulate emotions, some who needed  some alone time, others who needed a break from the  people, noises, and action, and others who heard about the  books, colouring, and stuffs and just wanted to check out our  tent. All were welcome.

LET’S was unable to participate in the Vancouver Trans  Pride March as we had several other events happening at  the same time. We did, however, provide the Vancouver  Trans Pride March with some stim toys to give away. We  heard from members who were glad to have a stim toy  during the march.

Executive Director, Heather McCain, board member Rebekah  Mahaffey, and future board member Adam (Rebekah’s son)  were excited to be in the Grand Marshal truck. Grand  Marshal’s are typically provided with 3 convertibles but  Heather switched things upby requesting a truck. Heather  made this switch for a couple of reaons, the 2 main being  that a truck can hold Heather’s walker better than a  convertible and because Heather wanted to butch up the  Grand Marshal role to be more in keeping with who they are.

In the 2nd vehicle provided to the Grand Marshal was LET’S facilitator and researcher Harmony Bongat (and friends). In  the 3rd vehicle was Kaschelle Thiessen (and friends), the person who originally hired Heather and LET’S at Vancouver Pride Parade. It was a great day for everyone.

LET’S had a booth and a low sensory space at the  Vancouver Pride Society Festival. It was an amazing day.

Even before the event started, we had people coming up to  us to share how much the accessibility changes, by  Vancouver Pride Society, meant to them. We met vendors  who were vending for the very 1st time because the previous  location was not accessible to them (steep hill and sand). We  heard from volunteers who thanked us. 1 shared that at the  last Pride he volunteered at, he had fainted from going up  and down the festival hill so much, helping vendors. He  absolutely loved the flatness of the new location. And we heard from visitors who really enjoyed the easy access from transit.

It’s amazing to hear, from so many people, that the changes  we were part of has made a huge impact. Yay LET’S!!!

LET’S wasn’t able to participate in the Vancouver Dyke  March this year. We did, however, do some advising for the  Dyke March team regarding accessibility.

Vancouver Pride Society invited LET’S to create a low  sensory space at the 3rd annual Vancouver Kiki Ballroom  Scene Posh Ball held at Parq Vancouver.

Van Vogue Jam in partnership with Vancouver Pride  Society presented a night of ballroom, a series of  competitive categories birthed in NYC (New York City) by

communities of
Queer, Black and
Latinex people. Partial
proceeds of ticket
profits were donated
to a charity.
We had a good time
and enjoyed the many
visitors who stopped
by to check out the
low sensory space.
As we were adjacent
to a restaurant, we
had people from the event and other Parq guests stopping
by. It was a good opportunity to educate people about low
sensory spaces and demonstrate the stim toys.

New West Pride was the last Pride event of the summer. It  was a blast. We didn’t provide a low sensory space at this  Pride but we did have a LET’S booth. We had great conversations, gave away more stim toys, and let people  know about the great work we are doing.