When yoga instructor Christopher Bourke began a queer and trans yoga class at Andrea Soos Yoga Studio in Dundas, a consistent piece of feedback he kept hearing was that it wasn’t accessible due to its location. Many current and prospective attendees were hoping for a yoga series downtown.
Bourke began to think about solving this problem and that’s when he crossed paths with Robin Lamarr of movement and wellness collective Ritual Island. Together they collaborated to bring his queer and trans yoga classes to the most bustling part of the city.
The result was Q+T Solidarity Moves, a beginner friendly queer and trans strength, mobility and restorative movement series at Redchurch Café and Gallery on King Street East. The $15 one-hour class — or $40 for all four classes — is taking place at 3 p.m. every Sunday from Nov. 18 to Dec. 9.
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Like with other Ritual Island classes, Q+T Solidarity Moves intends to be enjoyable and inclusive. By taking the practice outside of a yoga studio and promoting an accepting environment, the class attracts individuals who don’t feel represented in traditional yoga spaces.
“There is just a vulnerability around… yoga wear or… being in those spaces and not feeling comfortable to be in your body… I've had people come to me in previous classes who aren't out at work in terms of their gender presentation or their sexual identity. So it's just nice for them to come to a space where they can actually be who they want to be,” Bourke explained.
As the name suggests, solidarity is a pillar upon which the class is built. Attending provides participants with a free coffee or tea after the class or a 25 per cent off discount to a lunch up to $10. Bourke intends to hang around at the cafe after the classes to mingle with any participants who would like to socialize and meet new people.
Bourke likes that the class is providing another venue and opportunity for socialization following the closing of Hamilton’s LBGTQ2S+ bar, Embassy. On the other hand, socialization is not expected or obligatory and Bourke welcomes people to come even if they want to leave right after the class.
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[spacer height="20px"]Bourke believes in the healing power of being and moving together as a community. The strength built during the class will be connected to the strength needed to face one’s day-to-day challenges.
“I wanted it to be very purposeful from the beginning that we're coming together and the intention behind what we're doing isn't just to do movement, it’s to integrate the skill that you get from movement to build our solidarity as a community… and then… actually use the resources that we get in that space to do work outside,” Bourke explained.
Bourke is leading the charge on this work by donating his proceeds from the classes to Rainbow Railroad, a charity that helps LGBTQ2S+ individuals escape persecution and violence in one of the 71 countries around the world where being LGBTQ2S+ is still criminalized.
Bourke chose the charity in light of the recent crackdown of LGBTQ2S+ individuals in Tanzania, which is personal to him as he has friends living there. He also wanted to donate to Rainbow Railroad as they are in the midst of their #60in60 Campaign to raise $600 000 to save 60 lives in the final 60 days of 2018.
In this way, Q+T Solidarity Moves aims to stand in solidarity with people all over the world. Yet despite those heavy undertones, the movement series will definitely be light-hearted and fun, with a dash of Bourke’s humour and Robyn’s dance-pop tracks playing in the background.
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The McMaster Students Union Queer Students Community Centre may see big changes in the coming school year if incoming coordinator, Miranda Clayton, has her way. Clayton, who plans on implementing new programming and potentially change the physical layout of the space, hopes to bring the QSCC to the quality of other MSU peer support services on campus.
“The QSCC hasn’t felt like home to queer and trans students for a really long time. I’ve been at Mac for quite a while even though I’ve been out as bisexual on campus for several years, I have never actually felt comfortable accessing a service,” said Clayton.
Clayton, whose term as QSCC coordinator officially began on March 1, has been circulating a survey to LGBTQ+ students in order to see what specific needs the McMaster LGBTQ+ community has.
The survey, which asks students to describe their past experiences with the QSCC and what programming they would like to see, aims to make sure all identities may see their preferred programming and systems of support offered by the QSCC.
"The QSCC is one of the older services. It's been around for a number of years under different names and it really needs to match the quality of the rest of the peer support services that have sprung up now."
Miranda Clayton
Incoming Coordinator
Queer Students Community Centre
“It’s kind of a common issue in the queer and trans community that conversations become focused on one particular experience, but there isn’t very much use to run programming that only appeals, to say, [cisgender], white, male gays,” she said.
“The thing with the LGBTQ+ community is that it’s really diverse. A lot of people have very different needs. They want to see different things happen and they want to be supported in different ways,” Clayton added.
Although the survey is by no means complete, Clayton has already begun to receive a swath of responses and has already identified some major programming the QSCC will work to offer in the coming months.
Through Clayton’s preliminary research, she has found a growing need for support groups for bisexual students and programming for those who are currently questioning their sexual or gender identity.
According to the data Clayton has received so far, many students currently questioning their identities feel that the QSCC is only for those who know for sure, and others have identified that programming would have helped them arrive to a conclusion concerning their identity earlier had they explored it within the context of a service like the QSCC.
Clayton highlighted the importance of QSCC as a peer support service, especially with the rise of other peer support services such as Maccess and the Women and Gender Equity Network.
“The QSCC is one of the older services. It’s been around for a number of years under different names and it really needs to match the quality of the rest of the peer support services that have sprung up now,” she said.
In addition to adding new programming, Clayton also hopes to change some of the physical barriers students may have while trying to use the QSCC space. One of Clayton’s top priorities is cleaning up the space to ensure that it is accessible to those who use mobility devices.
“I actually have a friend who’s been out for a long time but couldn’t access to space because their wheelchair couldn’t fit into the space,” Clayton noted.
The QSCC space, which is located in the McMaster University Student Centre, room 221, is often considered isolated from the rest of the building.
Clayton plans on changing the basic layout of the space to make it more inviting by switching the main door and side door, which Clayton believes will make the space more welcoming for students. Clayton also plans on defrosting the glass of the windows in the QSCC space.
For anyone interested in contributing to Clayton’s survey, it will remain open for the coming weeks.
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[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="82" gal_title="Queering Intimacy"]
Experiences of intimacy, in so many of my own cases, were often wrought with the anxiety of underperforming or oversharing. It was with some relief that I finally arrived at my own queerness in my late teens and felt my world grow bigger. Finally, I had arrived somewhere where I could set my own pace and my own definitions. My understanding of intimacy changed radically.
Queerness eliminated so many of the rules I had understood myself to exist within, and, within the state of unrest, queerness allowed for a vast range of acts to fall under the umbrella of intimacy. At its core, intimacy is to explore, and perhaps share, parts of oneself. That connection, to oneself or to another, and most especially in the context of queerness, allows for the attainment of some small slice of liberation.
In spite of the inherent risks, and against the odds, there is power to be claimed in these acts of queer intimacy. I found power in screaming at my best friend’s drag show debut. I found power in kissing my friend on the street in broad daylight. I found power in cooking breakfast for my first girlfriend. I have found unparalleled intimacy and safety in so many of my relationships with other queer people.
In thinking about this photo essay, I thought about twin beds and toothbrushes in pairs, about picking up the bill and carrying the grocery bags. I thought about inhibitions and shyness, and about bravery both quiet and loud. I considered all those ridiculous and beautiful moments that are made free under the banner of queerness.
Queer intimacy, like all intimacy, can exist as a haven in which to shelter oneself. Queer intimacy is a place for growth that is both euphoric and aching. It is the capacity to say, “Here is what my chaos looks like. Will you celebrate it?” It is the capacity to be heard. Queer first loves, whether romantic, platonic or somewhere in between, have an element of unique shared vulnerability that I have found indispensable to my own growth as a young queer person. In taking these photographs of a queer couple, I did my best to capture this particular flavour of softness.
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Hamilton is the city in which I first discovered what a queer community could feel like. When I moved here for my undergraduate degree, I quickly learned how to assemble a makeshift community of queer friends that felt more like coming home than I could have ever predicted. Building a home is equal parts locating a physical space to claim as yours and finding a family to fill it.
I have had no difficulties with the latter. What Hamilton has failed to do, however, is represent the needs of its queer communities in the services and spaces it provides. There is an astounding lack of permanent queer nightlife in Hamilton, despite the clear need for more adequate spaces of our own. Although permanent queer spaces in Hamilton are sorely missed, queer people create communities by staking out places for ourselves.
When brick-and-mortar spaces hold nothing for us, finding sanctuary in each other is equally as important. I am thankful for all the LGBTQ2SIA+ people who have created a makeshift safe haven when a physical one didn’t exist. Hamilton needs to better reflect the members of its queer community, many of whom are building safer, more accessible spaces from the ground up on their own time.
Queer Pub Night is a monthly event run by Queer Outta Hamilton, operating one night a month at Gallagher’s Bar & Lounge, located on John Street South. The final Thursday of each month sees some of Hamilton’s LGBTQ2SIA+ folks in attendance.
Hamilton used to have gay bars. In the past, you could find yourself at the Werx, the Rainbow Lounge, M Bar, the Steel Lounge, the Windsor or the Embassy. For a variety of reasons, none of these spaces exist any longer. Queer Pub Night is now the only semi-regular queer bar environment in Hamilton.
It is important to remain mindful of which groups of people feel welcome in, or can access, spaces like these. Queer Pub Night is a predominantly white space. The fact that it is currently the only night of its kind in Hamilton fails our community severely. I am grateful for organizers working within groups like Speqtrum, McMaster Womanists, New Generation Youth Centre, McMaster’s Women and Gender Equity Network and The Tower, who work toward accessible safe(r) spaces for trans, queer and/or gender oppressed youth, and specifically spaces for Black and Indigenous young people. Those who can must elevate these projects and spaces by and for queer people of colour.
Seeing queer and trans elders in these spaces is especially significant because it is a reminder that queer and trans people actually survive, that we live long enough to see each other’s hair turn grey.
There is strength to be drawn from being in the midst of large gatherings of other people who share identities similar to your own. Seeing queer and trans elders in these spaces is especially significant because it is a reminder that queer and trans people actually survive, that we live long enough to see each other’s hair turn grey. As a white cis queer woman, I can see myself reflected in a lot of older queer folks at events like Queer Pub Night, but there are many people of other, more marginalized identities, who should be there but haven’t survived.
Trans femmes of colour and queer trans people of colour in general face much higher rates of violence. As a result, many young queer folks cannot see themselves in older generations of queer folks simply because of the mortality rate of people sharing their identity namely, the most marginalized and at-risk of our community.
The reality of queerness, of otherness, is that no place is truly safe. But the triumphant feeling of seeing whole spaces filled with people like you, of being able to let down some portion of your guard, of seeing that others like you have survived and continue surviving, is unparalleled.
I have drawn strength from every unambiguously queer space I’ve ever found sanctuary in. As someone who has decidedly failed at categorizing myself, queer spaces have been integral to the formation of my jumbled queer identity. Queer spaces have reminded me that I owe no justifications to anyone, or even to myself, of my labels, of whom I might love or of the boundaries I have drawn and am constantly redrawing.
I am lucky to have had these spaces to grow myself in, and luckier still that I felt safe enough to access them.
If Hamilton is to do better by its queer community, we need to raise up spaces that allow folks to express and explore their queerness. While Queer Pub Night is an important, and now integral, part of the community here, we need more than one night a month to gather and celebrate our queerness. Cultivating more queer spaces in the city will make Hamilton a safer place in which to survive and thrive as young queer folks and older queer folks and everything in between.
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By: Gabi Herman
As November sets in and the weather gets dreary and grey, the Queer Students Community Centre hopes to bring a rainbow of colour with this year’s MacPride festivities.
The QSCC office is tucked away in a back corner of MUSC to maintain student privacy, but MacPride is the QSCC’s week to be unabashedly public. Fourth-year Social Work student and QSCC coordinator Emily Smith says that the publicity of the annual event “brings a degree of community for people who haven’t found it yet.” MacPride also serves as a way for the university community at large to show support.
The festivities began on Monday with a MarioKart tournament and a coffee social, and each day has been busier than the one before. With 16 events, this is the biggest year in recent memory. Smith hopes that there is a turnout to match. “Last year we had about 250 people come, and this year we are hoping for more,” she added.
Interested students have had an array of events to choose from. Wednesday featured classic Pride events: the Pride march and rally, followed by the keynote address. Body positivity workshops, Trans Inclusion 101, a board game night and a drag show are some of the options on offer for the rest of the week. The “Let’s Talk Queer” event series is notable for the collaboration it has brought about. The QSCC, EngiQueers, and SHEC have created three events about LGBTQ+ issues related to sex, relationships, and the workplace.
In addition to creating connections between campus groups, organizers hope MacPride builds bridges between the queer community and students who are not normally involved in LGBTQ+ related activities. Smith said, “People shouldn’t see the word ‘queer’ and think ‘oh, this isn’t for me.’” Unless otherwise specified, events are open to allies and intended for anybody who is interested.
Real goals, concerns, and initiatives are interwoven with the festivities. The QSCC is involved with the “MSU Wants You” campaign, and hopes to improve representation of queer people in student government. The QSCC also provides a peer support service to help address mental health issues in the LGBTQ+ community.
Trans rights are also a priority for the QSCC. The MSU and the Presidential Advisory Committee for Building an Inclusive Community both have committees that are working to change single-stalled gendered washrooms to gender-neutral. The QSCC also provides resources to help students address concerns with university professors and officials misusing pronouns, using the wrong names and other manifestations of transphobia on a case-by-case basis. However, according to Smith, there have been barriers to addressing transphobia on a broad level. “Making that big systemic change is really difficult, because what we really want to push for is training … the university keeps telling us there’s not enough money,” she explained. However, due to recent demand, the QSCC is working on investing in trans inclusion training for its members and volunteers.
The atmosphere in one of MacPride’s first events, the Queer Coffee and Social, was a relaxed contrast to the busy rush of students in the Student Centre. Many of the students in the room were first time event attendees, many with a vision of what the QSCC could do for them. Students expressed desire for more newcomers’ events, excitement for the Pride march, and a hope to meet peers who understand their experiences. Dina Kovacevic, a fourth-year Communications and Health Studies student and a QSCC exec, was glad to feel “a community vibe on campus” for the queer community.
MacPride runs until the end of the week. The schedule can be found on the MSU QSCC webpage or on Facebook.
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By: Alex Wilson
The Stonewall Riots are such a significant part of my culture as a Queer person. They provided me with hope and resilience as I was learning how to navigate the heteronormative world we live in. They also gave me Pride, although a very different one from what we see celebrated today.
So you would think, when I heard a movie focusing on the events of Stonewall was coming out this September, I would be ecstatic. I mean really, the Gay and Lesbian section on Netflix is barren. But instead of excitement while watching the trailer I felt infuriated, disgusted, hurt and appalled.
The riots began in response to a particularly brutal police raid on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York. Rioting and civil disobedience continued through the following nights and a Christopher Street Liberation march was mobilized shortly after. These riots fundamentally changed Queer activism. They started new radical Queer rights organizations like the Gay Liberation Front, the Gay Activists Alliance as well as the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries and launched the modern Queer Rights movement. They also started a culture of Pride in the Queer community, as for the first time people were fighting back en-masse against systemic oppression. This activism was in stark contrast to the assimilative tactics being used before that night.
Stonewall embodied intersectionality. The patrons of the bar were predominantly trans folk, drag queens, self-proclaimed dykes, sex workers, queer runaways, and people of colour. All of these people faced multiple barriers of systemic oppression and Stonewall acted as a space for them to congregate and be themselves. To say that they were only rebelling against Queer oppression would be dangerously false. Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a lifelong trans-activist and patron of the bar that night, provided insight into the level of marginalization these folks faced when she told her account of the night.
“When you get in those kind of situations, the first thing you want to do is piss off whatever guard you’re fighting so much that they knock you completely out, then you’ll live another day. They won’t keep beating on you until you don’t live.” The leaders and primary instigators of the rebellion that night were almost all dykes, transwomen or drag queens of colour, that all experienced this degree of marginalization. Yet the film has whitewashed the story and replaced key female roles with those of males to the extent that the protagonist has been made a white-cis-gay male.
Stonewall grounds me in my radicalism, but it also reminds me how privileged I am and how divided the current Queer movement is. We face systemic marginalization and oppression. Granted, this will vary based on the intersection of our identities, but in this way we are different from the hetero-cisnormative culture around us. Stonewall empowers me. Stonewall has helped me be proud of who I am. But, Stonewall has been co-opted by this movie.
The reason behind the blatant transphobia and racism in this movie is what I find particularly offensive. Lesbians, transwomen and sex workers of colour: none of these identities make as compelling of an American Dream narrative as a white cis country boy. This movie is not only contributing to the continued oppression of these groups, but it is erasing them and their role in Queer history. Ignore the fact that without the incredible courage of the people at Stonewall that night Queer history might not even exist.
One of the most troubling aspects of this predicament is that it can easily be put into the larger context of division in the Queer community today. While 2015 especially has been an incredible year for Queer rights, not all Queer folk have been benefiting equally from these strides. Transwomen of colour still face disproportionately high levels of violence—18 transwomen have been murdered in the United States so far this year.
It is the responsibility of more privileged identities in the Queer community to continue to fight. Our movement is founded in the work of transwomen, sex workers and drag queens of colour, and we cannot forget or remove them from it. Stonewall erases these voices in order to commodify this turning point in Queer history. It is appalling and it is certainly not my Stonewall.
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Elise M.
The Silhouette
Queer, through definition, has been used to describe something as odd or strange in comparison to the norm (what is seen as natural in society). As we already know, in our society, heterosexuality is what is normative. This is where heteronormativity is derived. It is the assumption that we are all straight, because that is what is “normal” and how it should be.
Individuals who fall under the LGBTQ* umbrella, all exist outside of conventional norms in society through our desires alone. What I mean by that, is that our desires (or lack thereof) for another person are outside of what is considered normal.
This is where the “queer” identity comes from for many people. This is where our power comes from. Just with the existence of our desires, and our courage to follow them, we are challenging normativity. We are presenting something that is “odd” or “strange” in contrast to what is deemed as being “normal” in society. We have been ostracized, beaten, mocked and murdered for the mere existence of our desires. (And in many cases around the world, we still are.) Yet, we never stopped challenging people to question the norm, and look at how far we’ve come. Our desires are a powerful thing that can shake conventional norms.
When I talked about ‘queerness’, I’m not talking about gayness. I’m talking about something that challenges societal conventions. Polyamory/non-monogamy, asexuality, oral sex, anal penetration, BDSM have all been considered queer – many still are - under the norms held by society at large, regardless of whether or not they are performed by straight people or otherwise. None of these things are wrong, they’re just considered deviant.
So to ‘queerify’ space we need to create a space where presenting ideas of ‘deviancy‘ isn’t thought about as being ‘odd’. It should be normal to challenge conventions, and it should be celebrated. That is what I describe a queer space to be, and that is where the desire to queerify society stems from.
The concept of queering space can make people feel uncomfortable, however, this discomfort is not harmful. Under our normative society, individuals do feel discomfort and exclusion on the basis of what is deemed right and wrong. Individuals are shunned and mocked for not fitting in. We shouldn’t be encouraging each other to conform to societal “norms.” That is harmful.
Queer spaces don’t hold prejudices against deviance nor do they uphold societal norms - they are just asking you to be yourself.
C/O Delia Giandeini, Unsplash
Creative Heart Space Hamilton’s Pride initiative encourages community creativity and connections
The pandemic has forced us to be creative about how we come together and celebrate with our communities. Many organizations, including Hamilton Pride, have moved their events online, making the most of the virtual environment. For many of us, this has meant becoming very familiar with our balconies, porches and yards as we hold socially distanced conversations and gatherings with loved ones when we can. Knowing this and inspired by similar events across the world, Cadence Machry, founder of Creative Heart Space Hamilton, launched her Porch Pride initiative.
Founded in 2018 and located on Main Street East until September 2020, Creative Heart Space Hamilton is an arts and community centre. Prior to the pandemic, the space hosted many arts nights, classes and workshops and now has shifted focus to community projects, pop up events and the centre’s website and online store.
“Right now, Creative Heart Space is in a state of transition where I’m trying to figure out what is next. In September of 2020 we knew there’d be more lockdowns coming and couldn’t justify continuing the overhead costs for another six plus months so I decided to let go of the physical location and move everything online until we could safely reopen another location,” explained Machry.
Whether in person or online, giving back to the community and fostering new connections through creativity is at the heart of Machry’s business. From her Free Community Craft Kit Program during lockdowns to her “Wear With Pride” campaign, which also raises funds to support local 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations the care is apparent in every one of Creative Heart Space’s projects.
Inspired by similar events taking place in the United States throughout the pandemic, Machry launched her Porch Pride initiative in early June 2021. She encouraged community members to decorate their porches and neighbourhoods on June 26, 2021 to celebrate and show support for the Hamilton 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
“Porch Pride is very much for the people by the people. Anyone can participate and to the level that they are comfortable and able. There are no real rules — other than stay safe! There is no board of directors, there are no corporate sponsors and no fundraising. It is very “come as you are with what you’ve got” and open to people of all ages and abilities,” said Machry.
“Porch Pride is very much for the people by the people. Anyone can participate and to the level that they are comfortable and able. There are no real rules — other than stay safe! There is no board of directors, there are no corporate sponsors and no fundraising. It is very “come as you are with what you’ve got” and open to people of all ages and abilities.”
Cadence Machry, founder of Creative Heart Space Hamilton
If they felt comfortable, participating porches were encouraged to send photos and their street name to Machry to be added to the “rainbow map” which would be released the day of the event so community members could take a socially distant walking tour of their neighbourhood.
On the day of the event, there were porches across Hamilton participating in Porch Pride, with many listed on the rainbow map. A montage of photos and videos from the event will be shared over Creative Heart Space Hamilton’s social media.
Machry hopes the event will help remind people about how caring and creative the city of Hamilton can be.
“In light of what had happened at Hamilton Pride in 2019, I think a lot of people felt a sense of safety had been taken and then in 2020 we lost physical access to each other in our communities as everything went digital due to the pandemic. I hope Porch Pride helps restore some of that sense of safety and physical connection to community,” explained Machry.
Machry also encourages others to act on any ideas they might to make their community a brighter and better place.
“There is nothing special or exceptional about me that allows me to do these types of projects, just a bit of creativity and a commitment and that’s it. Everyone has the power within them to make something beautiful and I want them to know I believe they can,” said Machry.
C/O Delia Giandeini, Unsplash
Creative Heart Space Hamilton’s Pride initiative encourages community creativity and connections
The pandemic has forced us to be creative about how we come together and celebrate with our communities. Many organizations, including Hamilton Pride, have moved their events online, making the most of the virtual environment. For many of us, this has meant becoming very familiar with our balconies, porches and yards as we hold socially distanced conversations and gatherings with loved ones when we can. Knowing this and inspired by similar events across the world, Cadence Machry, founder of Creative Heart Space Hamilton, launched her Porch Pride initiative.
Founded in 2018 and located on Main Street East until September 2020, Creative Heart Space Hamilton is an arts and community centre. Prior to the pandemic, the space hosted many arts nights, classes and workshops and now has shifted focus to community projects, pop up events and the centre’s website and online store.
“Right now, Creative Heart Space is in a state of transition where I’m trying to figure out what is next. In September of 2020 we knew there’d be more lockdowns coming and couldn’t justify continuing the overhead costs for another six plus months so I decided to let go of the physical location and move everything online until we could safely reopen another location,” explained Machry.
Whether in person or online, giving back to the community and fostering new connections through creativity is at the heart of Machry’s business. From her Free Community Craft Kit Program during lockdowns to her “Wear With Pride” campaign, which also raises funds to support local 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations the care is apparent in every one of Creative Heart Space’s projects.
Inspired by similar events taking place in the United States throughout the pandemic, Machry launched her Porch Pride initiative in early June 2021. She encouraged community members to decorate their porches and neighbourhoods on June 26, 2021 to celebrate and show support for the Hamilton 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
“Porch Pride is very much for the people by the people. Anyone can participate and to the level that they are comfortable and able. There are no real rules — other than stay safe! There is no board of directors, there are no corporate sponsors and no fundraising. It is very “come as you are with what you’ve got” and open to people of all ages and abilities,” said Machry.
“Porch Pride is very much for the people by the people. Anyone can participate and to the level that they are comfortable and able. There are no real rules — other than stay safe! There is no board of directors, there are no corporate sponsors and no fundraising. It is very “come as you are with what you’ve got” and open to people of all ages and abilities.”
Cadence Machry, founder of Creative Heart Space Hamilton
If they felt comfortable, participating porches were encouraged to send photos and their street name to Machry to be added to the “rainbow map” which would be released the day of the event so community members could take a socially distant walking tour of their neighbourhood.
(https://www.instagram.com/p/CQlb86bnbgj/)
On the day of the event, there were porches across Hamilton participating in Porch Pride, with many listed on the rainbow map. A montage of photos and videos from the event will be shared over Creative Heart Space Hamilton’s social media.
Machry hopes the event will help remind people about how caring and creative the city of Hamilton can be.
“In light of what had happened at Hamilton Pride in 2019, I think a lot of people felt a sense of safety had been taken and then in 2020 we lost physical access to each other in our communities as everything went digital due to the pandemic. I hope Porch Pride helps restore some of that sense of safety and physical connection to community,” explained Machry.
Machry also encourages others to act on any ideas they might to make their community a brighter and better place.
“There is nothing special or exceptional about me that allows me to do these types of projects, just a bit of creativity and a commitment and that’s it. Everyone has the power within them to make something beautiful and I want them to know I believe they can,” said Machry.
