Years ago the first “coming out” step for Pride on the Coast was the inclusive Pride Dance at the Roberts Creek Hall. That was then. Now the event has grown into a month-long show of work at the Arts Centre in Sechelt (with a reception on June 22) and other week-long events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) visibility.
Author Andrea Routley is organizing Read Out Loud on Thursday, June 23 at 7:30 p.m. It’s an evening of queer literature, with readings from some of Canada’s most dynamic authors – Michael V. Smith, Nicola Harwood and local author Anna Nobile – for a suggested donation of $5 plus. All ages are welcome and it’s at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre, Sechelt.
“I first heard of Michael V. Smith several years ago,” Routley said, “when I read one of his short stories as part of a course on short-fiction technique at the University of Victoria. The story was called What We Wanted, and it had a huge impact on me. It was a gay story, about a gay boy and his complicated feelings for another boy, mixed with fear, curiosity, anger, love – it captured a queer experience in a way that I had rarely encountered, and made me realize just how few queer stories I had read.”
It made Routley examine her own habits as a writer and the way she wrote around queerness, avoiding the subject of romantic love altogether, for example. “It changed what I wrote, and inspired me to launch Plenitude magazine in 2012, Canada’s queer literary magazine.”
Routley said that when Vancouver’s Nicola Harwood read a story about her experience foster-parenting a transgender teenager, “she had me laughing and then crying and then laughing.” Harwood’s memoir, Flight Instructions for the Commitment Impaired, was published by the Coast’s Caitlin Press to great reviews. Also reading will be event co-organizer Anna Nobile and a high school student, Al Verhulst.
Smith also presents a writing workshop on June 24 for new and experienced writers. Every Ball Bounces Twice: Writing Workshop explores the relationship between structure and imagery with the critically acclaimed novelist, poet and memoirist. One bursary is available for a youth under 25. Contact [email protected] to register.
On Friday, June 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Heritage Playhouse, the Queer Projections film series that promotes LGBTQ visibility and encourages communication and connections will present a film. Appropriate Behavior centres on the romantic confusion of Shirin, a headstrong young Iranian-American woman adrift in the urban hip scene. Written, directed and starring Desiree Akhavan, it premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2014.
For Shirin, being part of a perfect Persian family isn’t easy. Acceptance eludes her from all sides: her family doesn’t know she’s bisexual, and her ex-girlfriend Maxine can’t understand why she doesn’t tell them. Following a family announcement of her brother’s betrothal to a parentally approved Iranian prize catch, Shirin embarks on a private rebellion involving a series of pansexual escapades. See outonthecoast.ca for more.
And on Saturday, June 25, from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Pride on the Coast returns to its roots, the popular annual Pride Dance with DJs, drinks and a kissing booth. Tickets are $20 or sliding scale at the door. Advance tickets are available at MELOmania, Strait Coffee, Gaia’s Fair Trade Gifts and 420 Hemp Shop. The dance is for ages 19 plus at the Roberts Creek Community Hall. You can read more at www.sunshinecoastpride.com
