PORT HAWKESBURY - Former and current residents of the Strait of Canso who also belong to the LGBTQI community expressed optimism about the region's growing openness and acceptance, in the run-up to the Strait's first-ever Pride march. 

Taylor Linloff and Bryson Syliboy, Port Hawkesbury residents who organized the inaugural Strait Area Pride Rally on June 29, joined former Louisdale resident Jamus Dorey on the first-ever Pride Panel convened by Telile Community Television in nearby Arichat for the station's weekly news magazine series TELILE 24/7. 

Linloff, who initially conceived of the Port Hawkesbury rally and march eight days before it was staged, praised town officials for quickly embracing her idea. All three panelists declared that the arrival of such an event in the Strait Area was a watershed moment that they could not have conceived as taking place during their younger years.

Credit was given to Port Hawkesbury Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton, who presided over the official raising of the Pride Flag outside the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on June 5 and later defended her decision on social media following a complaint from a town resident. In a photo posted to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Chisholm-Beaton is seen wearing her Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) pin bearing the traditional Pride rainbow colours. 

"Hats off to Brenda," Dorey proclaimed, adding that the LGBTQI community needs straight allies to stand with them in public in order to gain true acceptance. 

Syliboy, a former resident of Shubenacadie First Nation who now promotes the LGTBQI community and Mi'kmaq language and culture on his social media channels, was enthusiastic about his participation in a committee that is now examining the role of the "Two Spirit" indigenous concept of LGBTQI within the Mi'kmaq nation. 

All three panelists expressed concern with the lingering opposition to LGBTQI people within several Christian denominations, particularly the Catholic Church. This struggle was particularly pronounced for Dorey, who co-founded the East Coast Music Award-nominated contemporary gospel group 4/4 The Lord but left Catholicism behind in 2005 for a variety of reasons that included harsh treatment of the LGBTQI community.

However, Dorey said that he and his teenage son Liam have since found a more accepting mindset among other churches within the Halifax Regional Municipality, and he urged LGBTQI community members who also consider themselves Christian to seek out houses of worship with a welcoming attitude.