The Emo Ambush

Today, I have a story to tell you.

This is the story of a protest that I attended back in June 2020, during the height of the pandemic. I was living in Fort Frances, ON at that time, and my partner Logan had recently moved in with me. The pandemic summer was upon us, and the social distancing orders made for a quiet summer as most people were sheltering in place. Fortunately, Fort Frances is a small, rural town and we did not have any immediate threat of catching Covid as the cases were low-to-nonexistent, however another threatening situation started to emerge.

Borderland Pride, our local pride organization in Fort Frances, began to launch their pride events in June. They dispersed rainbow yard signs that said “Pride Lives Here,” which were incredibly popular and quickly spread throughout the region, and they petitioned the surrounding townships and reserves to raise rainbow flags to show their support of the LGBTQ community. Most of the region was happy to join in the festivities. Except one.

In a small town, Pride is different.

I had come from a big city, where Pride is a party filled with rainbow flags, parades and bubbles. But in small, rural communities there is less acceptance of the LGBTQ community, and pride – and often, your very existence as an LGBTQ person -- is a political statement. It is an unwelcome challenge to the status quo. It hearkens back to the old day of “don't ask, don't tell” and the LGBTQ Purge.

One township, Emo ON, refused to sign the pride proclamation and refused to raise their rainbow flag. The news of this quickly gained traction in both Emo and Fort, and online the hostility and homophobia against the LGBTQ community started to spiral out of control. Newspaper articles that slandered Borderland Pride and pride started popping up in the local newspapers as “opinion pieces.” Soon, the rainbow yard signs started getting vandalized.

My friends and Borderland Pride started to joke that we should bring Pride to Emo, even if they refused to welcome in. And thus the idea for the Emo Ambush was born.

The Emo Ambush was a peaceful protest that was organized by Borderland Pride in June, 2020. It was meant to be a caravan of vehicles, not quite a parade but almost, so that the attendees were still socially distanced. Leading up to the event, my friends and I were nervous. There were a LOT of threats being made online, and vandalism right up until the day before the parade, so we were thinking “What are we getting ourselves in to?” Will this end up being violent?

The day of the protest, I was up at Caliper Lake camping with friends and we made the trip down to Emo at the gathering in a parking lot. Logan raced to meet us right after he got off work, because he planned to show up in full drag. All my coworkers showed up to show support too, but we couldn't show anything with the company logos, because the atmosphere was so volatile and political that the company was worried about being associated with the protest.

To our surprise, there was a HUGE crowd gathered at the parking lot! People had come from far and wide – some driving from towns 4+ hours away – to attend the Emo Ambush! It was estimated that there were 50 vehicles participating in the Ambush that day. It was so touching to see how many people came out in support of Pride, especially since it was such a small ass town in the middle of nowhere. People drove down from all the surrounded communities to show their love and support of the LGBTQ community, and to stand up to the bigoted town councilors and the homophobic vandals and say, “We matter.”

Before the caravan set out, there was some good old fashioned fun and celebration to be had. Borderland Pride awarded prizes for different categories and costumes. Signs and decorations for vehicles were readied. Logan was officially crowned the “Emo Queen” (and has been proud of it ever since.) Then we drove around Emo with our rainbows on and tunes blasting!

The Emo Ambush was fantastically long and the streets of that tiny town were clogged for a good chunk of the day. Over 50 vehicles weaved slowly through the main streets of the town. Lots of citizens from Emo came out to enjoy the parade as we passed by their front lawns, and it was heartwarming to see that so many people in Emo supported Pride, despite the decisions of their town council. I was so happy to be surrounded by my wonderful LGBTQ community in Fort Frances and beyond.

Fortunately, the Ambush concluded without major incident. There was a group of people passing our religious paraphernalia along our route, and at one point a woman was standing in the street reading from a large bible like some sort of apocalyptic harbinger of doom, but that was all.

There was one moment at the end of the Emo Ambush that will always stick with me.

When the protest was over, we circled back to the parking lot so that we could clean up and get back in our vehicles, and as the protesters rapidly dispersed, the sense of nervousness and fear settled back in. There was a group of people there, not associated with our protest. We watched as the people approached a group of younger, visibly LGBTQ kids that had been part of the protest. Even from afar it was obvious that the kids were uncomfortable, so we stayed there and waited until they had safely loaded up their car. Then the bible lady appeared and started approaching people as well. We were ready to jump out and help the kids if it seemed like they were in trouble, but luckily they packed up quickly and left.

This is the moment. This is the moment that has happened at EVERY Pride event that I have attended – which is a hell of a lot – it is something that brings you back down to Earth from your happy rainbow mood like a slap in the face. The events themselves are full of love, acceptance and celebration of life, but once it ends... The rainbow flags are taken down as fast as possible. The Pride shirts and beads and makeup are stripped off. You let go of your partner's hand. You get the hell out of there before the safety in numbers is gone.

I will never stop fighting for LGBTQ rights until the day I attend a Pride event and this does not happen at the end.

There is a lot hate and vitriol in the news lately. It has been steadily increasing for the past few years, growing thunderously loud in the USA and creeping into the Canadian rhetoric. With Pride season coming up, it is growing louder than ever this year.

I hope that my fellow LGBTQ (and especially transgender) people stay safe. Don't feel afraid to reach out to your community and your loved ones for support, because it's damn hard to keep your spirits up when we are being attacked at every turn. If you have a transgender person in your life, make sure you hug them and make it known that you support them. And if you are an LGBTQ person or an ally who has the luxury to be loud and proud, you are needed more then ever to fight.

The Emo Ambush was covered by National and International news media. Feel free to read more:

CTV News: Ontario town rejects Pride resolution, local LGBTQ group throws party anyway
HUFFPOST: Emo, Ontario Hosts Pride Convoy Despite Council Vote Against Recognizing Pride
Pink News: Town officials refused to recognise Pride Month because it didn’t include ‘Straight Pride’.
The Pentiction Herald: Council members oppose declaration of equality in support of LGBTQ2+ community