Let the queer rumpus begin: Halifax Pride starts today

It’s a grey and rainy day in Halifax today, but that won’t stop any of the hardworking folks from Halifax Pride getting the festivities underway.

Today marks the first day of Pride in the city, and to mark the occasion, Mayor Mike Savage will be raising the Pride flag at Grand Parade in front of city hall. The flag raising will take place today at 5pm, followed by a proclamation by the mayor and an indoor reception.

Tonight is also the first night of the Queer Acts Theatre Festival, which runs until July 20. If you want to start off your Pride week on the right foot — or a pair of dancing feet — make sure to check out Stewart Legere’s Let’s Not Beat Each Other to Death, described as “an electro-pop dance party about brutality, compassion, our own monstrous nature and the unsinkable phoenix within all of us.” Legere was recently interviewed in The Chronicle Herald where he spoke about the creation of the piece, which was inspired by his reaction to violence inflicted on queer people, specifically Raymond Taavel, who was killed in 2012, and the recent attack on Scott Jones. Legere is quoted as saying that creating Let’s Not was “a risk, and I’m nervous because I’m still making it. I also feel the responsibility of the subject matter and want to treat it with respect. I want to be bold enough to make my statement, and hopefully the audience will understand it is offered with love.”

Journalist, writer, blogger, producer.

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