SCRIBBLES VIDEO | Niagara Pride 2018 Had It All...Even a Blast of Snow!

I'm not sure how much time it took to put together everything required to pull off another amazing week of Pride events in Niagara, but I'm betting it was a lot.

First, on Sat. June 2 we had the Kick Off Party at the Meridian Centre, where party goers enjoyed music by DJ Jeremy Khamkeo and were entertained by Rupaul Drag Race queen, Ivy Winters.

There was the raising of the rainbow Pride flags at 8 cities and towns across the region on June 4. We sure hope someone was collecting Petro points for all the gas purchased to drive from location to location (all day long.)

Amici's was all gussied up for the 5th Annual Unity Awards on Wed. June 6. With a full course meal, an entertaining show by the infamous Miss Conception and the presenting of the awards themselves, it was a night to be remembered.

And then there was the big kahuna. The 7th Annual Pride in the Park held from noon to 10:30 pm at MacArthur....errrr.....Montebello Park on Sat. June 9. The title for this post indicates we had snow during this event. Fortunately, it was the kind we all love dearly....Chrissy Snow was back in town for the day to enjoy time in the park with many of us. Now THAT'S  a snowstorm I truly love.

Each year this venue gets larger and larger, both in the number of vendors & performers on hand, as well as the size of the crowd. With Rupaul Drag Race fan-favourites Ongina and the incomparable Thorgy Thor included on the entertainment docket plus mother nature keeping the rain away, how could anyone not have enjoyed themselves?

If you still had some energy left in you, the festivities concluded after Pride in the Park, during the appropriately named Wrap It Up Party at Detour Lounge.

Man, I get exhausted just writing about all the awesome ways Niagara's LGBTQ community & allies had to show their Pride.

I can only imagine the time it took to plan, organize and execute this week of events and tip my red baseball cap to Pride Niagara and everyone else who helped make it all a rousing success.  

Here's a video look at Niagara Pride Week - in particular, Pride in the Park - followed by sample of the show put on by Ongina and Thorgy Thor....F-bombs and all!

Putting together Oh So Proud was oh so fun....that is until I uploaded it to You Tube and soon discovered it was being blocked in 16 countries. I had never heard of 15 of the countries on the list but I was certainly familiar with the last one. It was the USA and because we have Scribbles friends in our neighbouring country and I wanted them to have access to our video, I was prepared to do whatever it took to get it unblocked.

Oh So Proud was being blocked due to copyright infringement. Having made 100 plus video clips over the years, I am aware of policies when it comes to using copyrighted material. In most cases, if you use all or part of a copyrighted song in your video, the party that owns the rights to that song will allow you to leave it in your video.

The stipulation is that ads may appear prior to, during or covering part of your clip when it appears on You Tube.

Every now and then you come across a recording company or artist whose material is strictly monitored. In these case, You Tube will block your video from being viewed in some countries and that's what happened with Oh So Proud.

The song in question was featured in a montage of pop hits which Rupaul Drag Queen alumni Thorgy Thor and Ongina performed to during their Pride in the Park appearance. Although they used less than a minute of the song which was often drowned out by cheers and laughter from the crowd in the park, using "Wanna" by the Spice Girls was a no-no. If I kept the brief segment of that song in my video, US Scribbles pals would not get to watch it. The solution was to re-edit the video minus the Spice Girls in order that everyone could watch it.

There's nothing worse than spending a ton of time putting together a video, only to have it banned from being viewed. This is why I have gotten into the habit of creating my own compositions for the musical scoring on many of my newer videos.

Although St Catharines' annual Pride in the Park was a peaceful day filled with love, diversity and acceptance, sadly the same could not be said for Dunnville’s Pride event a few weeks earlier. This was Dunnville’s second Pride festival and for the second time it was disrupted by religious zealot Jesse Morrell.

Morrell uses biblical references to denounce anything he feels is immoral. He can be found at LGBTQ events, on college and university campuses and standing atop of his portable wooden soap box pretty much anywhere he feels people need to be chastised, repent and be saved.

Frankly, he is an embarrassment and insult to those who have respectful, loving Christian values.

Although he lives in Tyler, Texas, if you pay for his plane ticket and give him a place to crash, Jesse will attend events where he will perform what he calls "open-air outreach". It is obvious someone in Dunnville feels the Pride event is inappropriate and recruits Morrell to do their evil bidding. 

This year Morrell brought in reinforcements with about 6 other protesters joining him. They brandished large offensive signs and blocked the view of the stage, while Jesse and another protester took turns drowning out the event performers by shouting out lude comments with the aid of a megaphone.

The OPP were called, but said they could do nothing because the event was being held in a public park. This sounds questionable, as the Pride event’s organizers had to book the park well in advance and they certainly should not have had to deal with Morell's harassment. 

It is unfortunate the local OPP chose to turn a blind eye on such obvious, disruptive bullying. It’s ironic that a few weeks later during St Catharines Pride in the Park, members from Niagara Regional police and religious groups were active, caring participants in the event. 

Perhaps next year we all need to show our solidarity with Dunnville’s LGBTQ community and their allies.