Queer in the North
Queer in the North is a podcast that amplifies the rich and diverse stories of 2SLGBTQ+ seniors in Northern Ontario. Our goal is to shed a light on the unique experiences and wisdom of individuals whose stories have often been overlooked. So much of Northern Ontario's queer history hasn't been documented but lives in the stories and memories of 2SLGBTQ+ older adults. Join us as we explore the vibrant tapestry of identities, challenges faced, and triumphs achieved by our extraordinary Queer elders!
Queer in the North
01: Tales from Thunder Bay (w/ David Belrose)
In this episode, we delve into the captivating life of David Belrose, a longtime figure in the queer community of Thunder Bay. With a legacy spanning decades, David has been at the forefront of community development since the 1970s. As a founding member of Gays of Thunder Bay in 1980, he played a pivotal role in shaping the local queer narrative.
Join us as David shares his journey, from his early involvement with AIDS Thunder Bay (ATB), where he served as a founding member and past board chair, to his impactful role as Education Coordinator in HIV/AIDS prevention and education until his retirement. From 2008 to 2014, he served as an outreach worker with Rainbow Health Ontario, leaving an indelible mark on LGBTQ+ health advocacy.
In 2016, David penned his autobiographical memoir, "Answering A Different Call: My (Queer) Thunder Bay Life," offering a personal and profound perspective on the challenges and triumphs of navigating a queer identity in Thunder Bay.
Currently, as a member of Lakehead Unitarian Fellowship, David continues to contribute to the community by delivering monthly Sunday services on a variety of themes. Join us for a rich conversation that explores the evolution of Thunder Bay, the challenges faced by the queer community, and the enduring spirit of advocacy that defines David Belrose's remarkable life.
This podcast is presented by the Northern Ontario Pride Connection with support from Taking IT Global and the Sprout Ideas Fellowship Program. To learn more visit: northernontarioprideconnection.ca
Instagram: @northernontarioprideconnection
Facebook: facebook.com/northernontarioprideconnection
Email: info@northernontarioprideconnection.ca
Website: northernontarioprideconnection.ca
00;00;07;21 - 00;00;48;08
Kyelle Byne
Welcome to Queer in the North, the podcast that amplifies the rich and diverse stories of two LGBTQ plus seniors in northern Ontario. My name is Kyle Biden, and I'll be your host as we embark on a journey of discovery, resilience and celebration, shedding light on the unique experiences and wisdom of individuals whose stories have often been overlooked. So much of Northern Ontario's queer history hasn't been documented, but lives in the stories and memories of two us LGBTQ, older adults, people who have lived through challenges and changes in queer culture in recent decades spearheaded incredible campaigns of advocacy and allyship and driven so much of the work that has led to the current state of.
00;00;48;09 - 00;01;18;01
Kyelle Byne
To see LGBTQ plus culture in the region. Together, we'll explore the vibrant tapestry of identities, challenges faced, and triumphs achieved by our extraordinary queer elders. Get ready for an insightful and inspiring series that aims to bridge generations and foster understanding in the heart of northern Ontario. David Belrose has been part of the queer community in Thunder Bay for decades and been involved with community development since the 1970s.
00;01;18;04 - 00;01;46;02
Kyelle Byne
He helped found the community group Gays of Thunder Bay in 1980. A founding member and past board chair of AIDS, Thunder Bay. As education coordinator, he was involved in HIV and AIDS prevention and education work until his retirement from 2008 to 2014. He was an outreach worker with Rainbow Health Ontario in 2016. He self-published an autobiographical memoir, answering a Different Call My Queer Thunder Bay Life.
00;01;46;04 - 00;01;56;21
Kyelle Byne
I had the pleasure of speaking with David about his experiences leading this important work that helped shape the queer community in Thunder Bay. I was hoping that you could just introduce yourself.
00;01;56;23 - 00;02;20;02
David Belrose
My name is David Dela Rosa, and my pronouns are he and they. I live in Thunder Bay and have for most of my life here on the traditional lands of the additional people of Fort William First Nation under the Robinson Superior Treaty of 1850. I have spent about 7/8 of my life here in Thunder Bay. I do have a very strong connection here.
00;02;20;03 - 00;02;49;03
David Belrose
I was born in Port Arthur, Ontario, which is a predecessor to Thunder Bay and long before Thunder Bay became a reality in 1970. So. But I was born here. Port Arthur General Hospital. I grew up and went to Prospect Avenue Public School and got my high school at Port Arthur Collegiate Institute. And then at that point, when I after I graduated in 61, I did spend 11 years away from the city.
00;02;49;03 - 00;03;07;06
David Belrose
But when I did move back in 1971 and was away again between 75 and 76, but subsequent to that, I've spent all of my life here in Thunder Bay. So I think I do have a pretty strong connection to this, to this area, to this region.
00;03;07;09 - 00;03;09;28
Kyelle Byne
What about Thunder Bay keeps throwing you back?
00;03;10;00 - 00;03;41;11
David Belrose
Once I settled here, it is just my home. It's I mean, I think it has a lot of problems, but it's also a really I love the place and it's it's so close to nature now. The older natural surroundings in this area make me happy to be here. It's and it's also had a much less frenetic pace than than larger urban areas.
00;03;41;14 - 00;04;07;06
David Belrose
In fact, when I was I was in Toronto from 1975 to 76, and I had actually gone on a I guess you could call it a meditation teacher training retreat in Norway in 1976. And I got back to Toronto and I found myself in the young and blue subway station at 5:00 on a Friday afternoon, and I just said, What am I doing here in this city?
00;04;07;09 - 00;04;16;15
David Belrose
And at that point, I came back to Thunder Bay, and I've just been this is just this is my home.
00;04;16;18 - 00;04;30;24
Kyelle Byne
So what was your experience like coming out or coming to do your identity as a two LGBTQ plus person? Like in general, but also in the context of being in in Thunder Bay in this sort of northern, a bit more remote type community.
00;04;30;26 - 00;04;46;01
David Belrose
If you don't mind, I'm going to use the term queer please, instead of two as LGBTQIA plus abs, because it's just easier. And I figure I'm at an age where I can get away with using that term.
00;04;46;03 - 00;05;02;09
Kyelle Byne
I'm glad to hear you say that too, because I always want to like. I've spoken to some folks who are like, yes, I love using the word queer. I love to reclaim it. I describe myself as a queer person. There are a few people who I know are there is still some some difficulties associated with the word so.
00;05;02;09 - 00;05;08;24
Kyelle Byne
But please, if for the contents of this conversation, we can both go ahead using queer. It's a lot. It's a lot of an easier mouthful.
00;05;08;27 - 00;05;36;27
David Belrose
That's what I did. I was part of a panel a few weeks ago at the Thunder Bay Museum. On their culture days, it was about being queer and belonging in the bay. And so that was when the first time I actually used the term that all the time in speaking, although I did the subtitle of my book is I the title was Answering a Different Call, My Queer Thunder Bay Life.
00;05;36;29 - 00;06;01;05
David Belrose
I figured. So I got started back with that. But to get to your question, back to your question, actually, when I grew up here in the late fifties, I did not explore my sexuality at all. In fact, I think I could I really looking back, I was in denial about it. I was busy with a lot of things in school and active with a certain group of people.
00;06;01;05 - 00;06;39;17
David Belrose
But my sexuality was something that was just I just put it aside and it wasn't until I went to graduated and went, then went to the University of Toronto to get my degree in modern history. It was then that I started to explore it and acknowledge that I was gay and that that was who I was. It was complicated because I had I was in the regular officer training plan with the Canadian Army while I was at university, So they were competing competing systems at work there.
00;06;39;19 - 00;07;07;01
David Belrose
My personal system is a great, great person in a military organization that would chase kicked me out as soon as they found out about that. So it was a it was kind of an interesting time where and obviously I was not open about my sexuality at that at that point. I graduated in 1966 with a an honors degree in modern history.
00;07;07;03 - 00;07;44;24
David Belrose
And then I served for years as an officer in the Canadian Army, finally ending up in Montreal Mobile command headquarters and and one of the interesting thing was that in 1969, when Canada decriminalized homosexuality, for those of us over 21, the Canadian Armed Forces, at that point, the forces had become integrated and the Canadian Forces simply changed the Queen's rules and orders anyway, and called homosexuality prejudicial to good order and discipline.
00;07;44;27 - 00;08;11;25
David Belrose
And therefore, I would still kick you out if they found out about it. So that I mean, I knew that it that the military was not a long term career for me. And he really but this helped to speed up the process of of leaving so so in 1970 I just left and decided from then on that I was going to be who I was.
00;08;11;27 - 00;08;32;03
David Belrose
And it still took a long time to become really open and that But from that point on, I wasn't I wasn't going to do anything that where I would have to be forced to hide who I was as a as a gay person, as a gay man. And at that time, I certainly identified simply as a gay man.
00;08;32;06 - 00;08;53;15
Kyelle Byne
Having grown up in the area in Thunder Bay and being sort of existing in a sort of an identity where you weren't out and open to a lot of folks going away, having those those realizations still, you know, remaining hidden. But then coming back to Thunder Bay as someone who was more who was committed to being more open with yourself, what was that?
00;08;53;15 - 00;08;58;29
Kyelle Byne
What was the experience like of coming home to folks who perhaps knew you in a different way?
00;08;59;01 - 00;09;22;28
David Belrose
While I was in Toronto for a year after getting out of the Army, I met my first boyfriend and had a first real relationship. But I then got a Ontario graduate student grant to do graduate work at Lincoln University. And so that was when I came back. And when I came back, I consciously did not make any attempt to connect with people who I had known earlier.
00;09;23;04 - 00;09;35;05
David Belrose
I mean, of course my family was here and but even initially, I didn't I didn't spring it on on them or anything like that. It just I, I thought this will evolve.
00;09;35;08 - 00;09;38;11
Kyelle Byne
Yes. This will come out organically, energetically.
00;09;38;13 - 00;10;02;06
David Belrose
And what I did try to do when I got back was to try and find out what kind of community, if any, there was here in Thunder Bay. So so that's what I did. And it took it took a few months, but I recall one evening I went to down to the Fountain Room and the Prince Arthur Hotel.
00;10;02;06 - 00;10;27;09
David Belrose
It was a major hotel in Port Arthur and sat down to have a beer. And then at another table I saw a group of three guys and two of them I had seen earlier at some public event, although I hadn't talked to them. But I, I thought that's a gay couple and after a while one of the one of them came over to the table and said, Would you like to have a beer with.
00;10;27;11 - 00;10;49;29
David Belrose
You know, come over and join us for a beer. And so that was where he met Mike and Ron and and that was the start of my getting involved in the in whatever community there was in Thunder Bay at that time. In the early seventies. There really was very little in the way of I mean, people met and there were house parties, few there were.
00;10;49;29 - 00;11;05;07
David Belrose
And a couple of bars. The Prince Arthur and the Prince Edward Hotel were probably the two major ones where people would meet. So so it was a slow process of gradually encountering people and and meeting people.
00;11;05;10 - 00;11;14;10
Kyelle Byne
And sort of like a who's who of of the queer community. Like you had to know someone to know someone to find the safe spaces.
00;11;14;12 - 00;11;40;22
David Belrose
That's right. Yeah. Or get it get invited to a party and Yeah. And meet a few people there and that sort of thing. The first organization that was supportive of lesbian and gay rights was the Northern Women's Center, which was established in 1973. Now, the following year, I was still sort of I never did complete my master's degree at the university, but I was there and I was actually working at the university.
00;11;40;22 - 00;12;05;14
David Belrose
But I was still enrolled as a graduate student. And so I there were a group of us who I had met over the past couple of years, and we put together formed a group called Naked Gay Liberation, which we established as an official club at the university. And so that was a start. And actually it was at that point that I finally needed to come out to my family.
00;12;05;14 - 00;12;36;02
David Belrose
My I have three younger sisters and my youngest sister was a student at Lakehead University at the time. And so I first of all, just came out to her. And then there was a possibility that because of like a deliberate action that we were going to have to appear on television and with a show called The Rick Smith Show, it was not exactly the most open individual, but I thought, okay, if this is going to happen, I'd better talk to my folks.
00;12;36;04 - 00;12;37;13
David Belrose
I don't want them to.
00;12;37;16 - 00;12;39;24
Kyelle Byne
Bring it up on the news, like surprise.
00;12;39;29 - 00;12;40;19
David Belrose
Yeah.
00;12;40;21 - 00;13;00;13
Kyelle Byne
This is kind of getting at the second point of like, like sort of the threads that I wanted to follow was like talking about your what you feel your, your greatest contribution in to northern Ontario's queer community is and like, you know, the achievements that you're proud of. So even just like telling the story of like this is how you started to get involved and where that grew from.
00;13;00;15 - 00;13;37;09
David Belrose
Well then the following year I finished up or not, I left my involvement with the university and I decided to I needed to do some more exploration. So I left in 1975, went first to New Brunswick to visit a friend who was building a place down there, and that didn't work. So I was back at in Toronto for a year and that actually was probably the most significant part of it because I, I began getting involved with Buddhist meditation in in 1975.
00;13;37;09 - 00;14;06;05
David Belrose
And then and then in 1976, I went to Norway on this teacher training retreat and that was when I said I came back to to Toronto and decided that Toronto was to to more than I wanted to do. So I said, Well, it's time to move back to Thunder Bay. And that's what I did. Coming back to Thunder Bay, there was a a club called the Backstreet Athletic Club.
00;14;06;07 - 00;14;35;10
David Belrose
It was a membership club and it was inclusive. And the time I came back, it was being run by several women. But when I came, I remember coming to the door and asking for admission and they said, Well, do you know anybody here? So it was still kind of a speakeasy type of system. So I had to think of people that I mentioned to a couple of people first and they said, but everybody knows them.
00;14;35;10 - 00;15;01;08
David Belrose
That doesn't count. So I had to give them really a bit more evidence to suggest that I really was gay and that it was safe to let me in. But that became the kind of social spot for the next up until the January of 1980, when the club closed. The year before that, a few of us got together and formed what we called the Backstreet Auxiliary.
00;15;01;08 - 00;15;31;18
David Belrose
It was we were looking at trying to get together to find some way to do more of an advocacy, political and educational work. And and that. So then in April, well, I guess in April of 1980, the Coalition for Gay Rights in Ontario had a program called Operation Outreach. And Robin Hardy, I don't know if you've encountered his name.
00;15;31;21 - 00;15;57;28
David Belrose
Anyway, he did. He went and did a tour of northern communities and came to Thunder Bay. And I thought, maybe this is a chance to do something. So he came in and we set things up. We had a party at my house on the Saturday and then on the Sunday afternoon we had a an organizational meeting to establish the first community gay organization that we called Gays of Thunder Bay.
00;15;58;00 - 00;16;29;09
David Belrose
So that was and after a couple of more house parties where we asked for donations, we were able to get enough money to rent a hall, the Ukrainian labor temple, and hold a dance there. And that became the site for community dances for the next dozen years or more. And so that's one of the things that I'm I'm proud, I'm very happy about, was to be able to be part of getting people together and forming a group that happened.
00;16;29;11 - 00;16;49;26
Kyelle Byne
I've heard that actually from a few people speaking about that. The role that those community dances played in a lot of the the early I've heard from folks in Sudbury who spoken to like yeah, like those community dances were some of the first times that people were like, you know, there was there was the speakeasy, kind of like quiet sub party culture.
00;16;49;26 - 00;16;57;08
Kyelle Byne
And then but then there was really like, this is the first sort of expression of like queer joy in a public space, so to speak.
00;16;57;11 - 00;17;31;23
David Belrose
Yeah, that's right. It was, wasn't it was a you know, there was a whole range of activities that happened, but everybody went there. And what was really interesting that, you know, you sometimes talk about the police and, and sometimes a not so causative relationship. But at one point I can remember some time in the early eighties probably that we were standing on the at the front door of the dance and one of the dancers and a police car pulled up and a young man got out of it and came in.
00;17;31;23 - 00;17;49;00
David Belrose
And so we were asked and he says, he was looking for that place. So he stopped the police and asked them where the gay dance was, and they actually brought him to the dance. So I thought that was a that felt really good. It felt it felt very positive.
00;17;49;03 - 00;17;51;13
Kyelle Byne
Yeah. Like a nice sort of allyship.
00;17;51;16 - 00;18;23;10
David Belrose
Through of course, by the by this time in the eighties, we were starting to hear about HIV and AIDS. And and that actually became the real focus because starting in 1985, Michael Sloboda, who was one of the people who had been involved with setting up a case of Thunder Bay and a group of us got together and tried to figure out how can we deal with this thing happening?
00;18;23;10 - 00;18;52;28
David Belrose
And so we formed the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay, and a couple of years later, in 87, we got the initial funding from the province and that's been a major player in the community ever since then. And I started out on the board, but then became the education coordinator and spent the rest of my working life actually working with the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay, later AIDS, Thunder Bay.
00;18;53;01 - 00;19;31;14
David Belrose
And it's now evolved into a group called Elevate Northwestern Ontario, and it's focus is much broader. It's a lot of the same people, but there's really dealing with homelessness and and all of the other things now. So I think those two are probably the most important pieces of that, Although do I think what I'm really most grateful for is the fact that I've been a part of that community and and and its evolution for over 50 years.
00;19;31;16 - 00;20;03;21
Kyelle Byne
I was just gonna say I love hearing the the like the pathway that that it took from like moving from this, this position of, you know, denial acceptance but not openness to openness to to to leading it to being that kind of like very visible presence in community and like being so, so firmly like ensconced in the, the community.
00;20;03;24 - 00;20;44;16
David Belrose
In, in 1987, another one of the four founding members of Gays of Thunder Bay had produced a print newsletter called Thunder Gay in 1987. He worked with at that time, it was McClean. Hunter Cable television later became Shaw Cape, but at any rate, and he decided to produce a weekly television show which was called Thunder Gay Magazine. And so I was I guess I was what I was involved with that, too, Not partly as a you know, as a guest on the show, but also I did camera work and other stuff.
00;20;44;16 - 00;21;02;20
David Belrose
So there were a lot of things that it was just whatever we could do to work together. It was always there were always a it was always a group of people who had to work together. And it was so it was really good to be part of that, that community and evolving community as we went along.
00;21;02;22 - 00;21;19;07
Kyelle Byne
You mentioned that you played like an education role within the the the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. What was what did that role kind of look like in terms of was it like public facing education? Was it to other folks within the community? What sort of fell within that?
00;21;19;10 - 00;21;49;01
David Belrose
I was the education coordinator, so our main function was to try and do prevention work around HIV and AIDS. And of course, at that time still it was still everybody thought it was only gay men that got it. But even early on, we were it was much broader than that. And so we did social marketing campaigns. We did and I did workshops with social agencies and things like that.
00;21;49;08 - 00;22;15;28
David Belrose
And sometimes it was public, you know, work. So it was it was a whole range of different things trying to find and a lot of it was focused on the just on the queer community and making trying to improve the situation there. When we established the AIDS committee, we talked about the need for prevention, support, education and advocacy.
00;22;16;05 - 00;22;20;07
David Belrose
And those were the four four elements of the work that we did.
00;22;20;10 - 00;22;48;16
Kyelle Byne
What would you say then that your biggest, like the most significant challenge that you faced as a queer person living in northern Ontario specifically? And I think in general, a lot of folks have very shared broad experiences of what it's like existing as a queer person within the world. But like when you add that Northern Ontario context, what was the the most significant challenge that you you faced or overcame to it to put a positive spin on it?
00;22;48;18 - 00;23;09;18
David Belrose
You know, it's interesting to think about that. I know it's just occurring to me. I think one of my biggest things was to get over myself to to, okay, this is who I am and I'm not hiding it. And in any situation, I mean, for a time I was involved with I worked for a while for the letter carrier.
00;23;09;20 - 00;23;34;08
David Belrose
I was a letter carrier and I worked for the letter carriers. Union of Canada is in the it's and I can recall at one point being at a district gathering and some people started to talking about how Ed Schreier, who was the premier of Manitoba, was opposed to gay rights. And I had to so I had to out myself to people in that thing.
00;23;34;08 - 00;24;01;08
David Belrose
And it was like I did it and it was so it was every time you come into a different situation, it was like outing yourself too, or opening yourself up to people in that vulnerable body that was there. But I had it. There was a it was a good group of people that I was around, and I never I never felt threatened at any any point.
00;24;01;08 - 00;24;17;28
David Belrose
So that wasn't a major concern of mine. I think it was just that, yeah. Okay. Moving into a new situation here, here, here we are. And, and just being, being myself and being open about who I was.
00;24;18;01 - 00;24;39;17
Kyelle Byne
There's a certain awkwardness and vulnerability, I think, of walking into a room and, like, having to pick out, like, how many of these people know that I'm gay? Do enough of them. Know that it's like implied? Is it is it like, is it reintroducing myself and this identity to all of these people? Like I can see that's a challenging thing to do.
00;24;39;20 - 00;25;05;00
David Belrose
Well, after a while and especially after Thunder Gay magazine went on the air because in the lead in intro to it, I appeared in that answering a phone and then appeared on the very first couple of shows. And so at that point I just said, Everybody must know that I'm gay. And so I then became surprised if people didn't know.
00;25;05;04 - 00;25;09;22
Kyelle Byne
Yeah, you're like, I'm on TV visibly, visibly gay.
00;25;09;25 - 00;25;11;08
David Belrose
You haven't seen me. How come?
00;25;11;13 - 00;25;20;19
Kyelle Byne
Yeah, you should really check it out. I'm at that point, it becomes free advertising for the Center Gay magazine. I'm like, You should really check it out. So then you can figure this whole thing out.
00;25;20;22 - 00;25;46;05
David Belrose
We did have a bit of fun. I remember early on with the when we were doing our shows Social marketing campaign, one of the first ads that we put out, which we put out in or about ten small regional newspapers, and it was What does a baby in Africa have in common with a truck driver in Northwestern Ontario?
00;25;46;08 - 00;26;08;08
David Belrose
And the answer was AIDS because it's universal, you know, in fact, everybody well, that resulted in a phone call to the AIDS committee telling us we're going to have a convoy of trucks surrounding your place in the next while. If you talk about truck drivers this way, this is terrible. I mean, that never happened, but it was their world and people do react.
00;26;08;11 - 00;26;24;15
Kyelle Byne
Yeah. Yeah, it does. It does. I don't know if it lends a certain kind of context to the the certain the readiness of of the freedom convoy that came in to like their own truck. They're always ready to go in a convoy.
00;26;24;17 - 00;26;45;08
David Belrose
Exactly. When the freedom convoy happened, it it brought my memory back to well, of course, the whole COVID pandemic triggered in me all the memories from the eighties and nineties, HIV and AIDS and the fear and that people had so so it was kind of an interesting time.
00;26;45;10 - 00;26;51;22
Kyelle Byne
Would you be comfortable like drawing a comparison between this? You're like sort of explaining a little further what you mean by that?
00;26;51;24 - 00;27;21;13
David Belrose
Well, I'll start with COVID because the early stages of it, people really didn't understand how it was transmitted. And so there was a great deal of fear and concern. We had people going out and hoarding toilet paper and and all the rest of it. Well, that took me right back to the eighties. And I remember when we did our first public forum, there was a case of a young man who was living with AIDS and went into the hospital.
00;27;21;13 - 00;27;56;11
David Belrose
And everybody, every staff were all masked and gowned and food was left outside the door. But at the same time, just in terms of in the public, people didn't really know or understand how HIV was transmitted. And so there was that kind of fear about what was going on. And of course, because there was already a strong anti-gay, you know, homosexuality is it's evil and that so it made things it made things quite difficult.
00;27;56;13 - 00;28;28;25
David Belrose
But I don't want to paint. It is all bad because the fact because of all that pressure from the from the community and everything, people, we all had to get together and work together to counter that. And we had good allies within the community even early on, and it gradually grew and changed over time. So it was actually that challenge actually became a positive step forward in terms of improvement in queer rights.
00;28;28;29 - 00;28;47;08
Kyelle Byne
Yeah, it was like a sort of a bonding and crisis moment and like, you know, gathering in in face of like a very clear obstacle and like using that as a, a platform on which everyone was able to come together and build momentum to after that, I guess that's right.
00;28;47;08 - 00;29;12;01
David Belrose
Yeah. So yeah, it was a really it was a very powerful time. I can remember in 1992 we had a showing of the Canadian AIDS quilt at the port, well, actually at Port Arthur Collegiate in town. And, and that, you know, that was a huge thing, getting many people to see things a little differently.
00;29;12;04 - 00;29;35;12
Kyelle Byne
Over the course of your lifetime. And like like you said, you're like 50 years of of more than 50 years of like activism and advocacy in the community. What would you say is the most significant change that you've seen? Like if you could go back to like you as a kid and tell you, like you'll never believe what this this change that has happened in society for for us for for queer kids like that.
00;29;35;12 - 00;29;38;18
Kyelle Byne
So it's the biggest thing that you see as having changed in that time.
00;29;38;20 - 00;30;10;28
David Belrose
I think the first time I really felt that was in 2011 when we had our first citywide Pride event, Pride Week. We were really slow in getting to that. But I think one of the things that was good about that was that we developed slowly and gradually, and I think because of my interest in Buddhist philosophy, I wasn't interested in being confrontational or getting, you know, creating an S&M conflict.
00;30;10;28 - 00;30;31;08
David Belrose
I always wanted us to realize that we're all in this together. This is the whole community needs to be part of it. But in 2011, when the Pride flag went up at City Hall and city Council voted unanimously to support Senator Pride, I thought, okay, things have changed. This is, you know, was this ever going to happen in my lifetime?
00;30;31;10 - 00;31;23;08
David Belrose
And and that was it. And then just a few weeks ago, when after with the all of the rising hostility and the right wing attacks, especially on trans rights, we had there was a they called it a healing rally at city hall. And what was to me was great about it was that both the city council issued full support for, you know, queer rights and both of the school major school boards, the public board and the Catholic Board came out in support as well were all and to me, that's a huge especially a Catholic school board and they've been flying the pride flag.
00;31;23;10 - 00;32;07;02
David Belrose
And so the despite the small number of people who have been protesting against gay rights and trans rights in particular, there is, I think, a sense in the community that the community is is I think we were part of the community, you know, that that there isn't that sense of us being outsiders anymore. And I think that is probably one of the I just feel, you know, I'm here, I'm part of the community and I think we can I think that is probably the biggest change that I've I've seen.
00;32;07;04 - 00;32;34;10
Kyelle Byne
I think I think you've spoken to this a little bit, too, but, you know, looking at the current state of affairs, you know, there is this rising anti-trans sentiment. A lot of the attacks are really tragically focused on on kids from these groups of people who claim to be wanting to protect children. But ultimately their actions are are attacking kids or attacking, you know, their safety.
00;32;34;12 - 00;32;44;19
Kyelle Byne
In this context, I like to sort of parts of this. Question What scares you the most? What's your to be most concerned about in this context? But then also what gives you the most hope?
00;32;44;21 - 00;33;23;03
David Belrose
Back in the in the 1950s and sixties, the you know, it was it was the fags and commies who were the people had to be that was there was that was at the time of the Cold War that if if you weren't coming you were a fag. You and often both were combined together. There was a they were linked together and so the right wing, the bigots and ultra conservative people always have to have an enemy to focus on and that gradually dissipated, especially with the end of the Cold War.
00;33;23;08 - 00;33;57;26
David Belrose
But then AIDS came along and that was used as a focus for, well, you know, Gay got AIDS yet, you know, we're the So now coming especially coming out of the United States. The right wing again now is using kids trans kids as the focus for that hostility and anger. And it's it's it's a really I think it's a really evil approach that they're taking because it's so destructive for for young people.
00;33;57;28 - 00;34;22;23
David Belrose
But I've said all along that we have to remain vigilant always. And I remember at the very first Pride Breakfast for the Pride Week that we had in 2011, that was one of the things that I talked about. Yes, we've made a lot of progress, but we do have to always stay aware, alert and vigilant and ready to ward off these kind of attacks.
00;34;22;23 - 00;34;52;09
David Belrose
So but I think what just give me hope is that there's a much broader range of agencies and community groups and everybody else that are working together. When I mentioned this healing rally that we had in our position to see and there were there was a large number of people there and I it it just felt good. It it felt to me as though I think we've I think we can deal with this.
00;34;52;09 - 00;35;01;27
David Belrose
I'm actually quite involved with Lake Chad Unitarian Fellowship, too, which I don't know if you're aware of Unitarian Universalism.
00;35;01;29 - 00;35;02;21
Kyelle Byne
So not actually.
00;35;02;27 - 00;35;37;27
David Belrose
It's a liberal religious community that doesn't have any creed. We basically are a bunch of people who are trying to explore spirituality, you know, in a group together and looking for, at any rate, a woman who's involved with the United Church contact with me and said, I think we need to try and get two people together from different faith groups who are supportive and affirming and welcoming to try and see what we can do to defuze the this this right wing hatred that's that's coming.
00;35;38;03 - 00;35;52;11
David Belrose
So I thought, okay, yeah, there's another situation where people are working together and trying to make sure that things stay well and that we don't sort of backslide on other things.
00;35;52;13 - 00;36;13;04
Kyelle Byne
It's a small group of very loud people. But then on the other side of it, you have so many different people sitting at the table now who weren't there, you know, 50 years ago and then have slowly been brought in to the table. And I think we have we have the right voices and the right the right people who care now to to stand and to be a part of those conversations.
00;36;13;11 - 00;36;35;01
Kyelle Byne
I love that the the idea of having this multi-faith approach to that as well, because a lot of the justification given for a lot of this hatred is religious in nature. And it's it's so easy to attack that as like, you know, the this is the problem and therefore it should be like admitted we can't have these conversations in a religious context.
00;36;35;01 - 00;36;52;24
Kyelle Byne
But to really the real solution is, no, let's find people within those religious communities who are supportive and let them be the voices because they can more easily reach within community to say, you know, this is not true to our religion and this is how we should be supportive.
00;36;52;27 - 00;37;12;18
David Belrose
I yeah, it's true. I mean, one of the things that's so absurd to me, the basis of Christianity is love and love. Your neighbor, and many of the fundamentalist or right wing groups seem to have distorted that and twisted it and turned it right around.
00;37;12;19 - 00;37;28;13
Kyelle Byne
So just sort of walked right past the point. A final question, and I do want I do want to actually then circle back to to hear a little bit more about your book and so you can share some of that, because I think I would I would love for folks to be able to to find that and read it.
00;37;28;15 - 00;37;49;04
Kyelle Byne
What what advice would you give to young queer people who are they're just starting out in their journey. They either know their identity but are still coming to terms with it or like they are, you know, questioning like these these young queer folks. What advice would you give them as they go out to become, you know, the queer leaders and community?
00;37;49;06 - 00;38;29;26
David Belrose
Figure out for yourself who you are, you know, and don't let anybody else tell you who you need to be. You have to figure out who you are for yourself. And you can take all the time you need to do that. Don't feel pressured into doing one thing or another. And in order to make it easier for yourself, find all the information you can to help and look for all the supportive groups in your community to so that you can get together with other people and share experience and find ways to build that sense.
00;38;29;28 - 00;38;44;02
David Belrose
A good, a healthy sense of who you are. Don't let anybody, your parents or religious teachers or anybody else tell you that anything about you is wrong. You are who you are and who you need to be.
00;38;44;05 - 00;38;58;16
Kyelle Byne
So speaking of resources and finding this sort of information in community. Yeah, Would you please share a little bit about your your book Answering a Different Call My Queer Thunder Bay Life, What it's What it's about and where people can find it. Yeah.
00;38;58;18 - 00;39;25;12
David Belrose
Well, that's a problem because it's not there's not many there aren't really any places where you can find it. Now, I don't want the history of the queer movement in Thunder Bay to disappear, so I thought, I better do something about that and write something about it. So it's actually an autobiographical memoir that I wrote. It's like my autobiography, but it's that it really is a memoir.
00;39;25;12 - 00;39;46;14
David Belrose
And so a major focus of it is the work that I did in the queer community. So and I self-published it in 2016. And so there are copies in the Lakehead University archives, the archives in Toronto, or at least I sent them a copy there.
00;39;46;19 - 00;39;50;20
Kyelle Byne
From what everything I have heard and spoken to them, they're very good at like they keep everything.
00;39;50;20 - 00;40;11;00
David Belrose
Yeah, I would imagine. I would imagine so. And the Thunder Bay Museum has a copy and two of the library branches in Tender Bay have copies of it unless some. But he comes along and wants to reprinted. I'm afraid that's probably all there's going to be, but I think it's a Elevate and all has some copies of it too.
00;40;11;00 - 00;40;39;15
David Belrose
I know I gave them so it's only my story and that's why it's a memoir because like any history, it's based on my experiences and a lot of other people. Yeah. And that's the important thing that as many of us as possible can share our stories to help build a more comprehensive picture of of what did happen. But so I mean, I'm pleased with the book.
00;40;39;17 - 00;40;53;00
Kyelle Byne
I mean, it sounds like there's a few places we'll leave that and people can track it down and try to hunt it. I might see if actually if it's if it's in the library system, I think there's like a across northern Ontario lending program now.
00;40;53;03 - 00;41;06;05
David Belrose
Well, certainly at the Thunder Bay Public Library, they have interlibrary loans. So I'm sure it would be possible. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of this podcast and congratulations on the work you're doing with this file.
00;41;06;05 - 00;41;31;06
Kyelle Byne
Thank you. This podcast is supported by Taking It Global and the Sprout Ideas Fellowship program. Special thanks to Kian Kemp for audio editing and sound design. Queer in the North is a production of the Northern Ontario Pride Connection, an organization dedicated to fostering allyship and understanding. For two See LGBTQ people and ally leaders and businesses across all of northern Ontario.
00;41;31;08 - 00;41;37;12
Kyelle Byne
You can learn more about our work by visiting WW Dot Northern Ontario Pride Connection Dossier.
