Dykes just want to have fun during Pride Week — and it’s safe to say that some social conservatives aren’t happy about that.
The annual Ottawa Dyke March takes place Aug 23 this year, which is the same day as a large-scale Christian fundamentalist youth rally.
The Ottawa event, called The Cry, will be a day of prayer, worship and marching. At around 4pm, attendees will gather and tape their mouths shut to symbolize what they call the “silent cry” of the unborn. The rally starts at 9:30am at Jacques Cartier Park, moves over to Parliament in the afternoon, and ends at around 11pm back at the park.
Oh, and there aren’t any meal breaks.
On The Cry’s website, event organizer Faytene Kryskow describes Canadian society as one of “gross moral decay, family breakdown, immorality, perversion, abortions, the highest suicide rates in Canadian history and general cultural demise,” blaming it on the sexual revolution, the women’s movement and the pro-choice movement, among others.
“It’s kind of funny that these two events are taking place on the same day, because the sort of ‘moral decay’ they’re talking about is exactly what we’re celebrating over at the Dyke March,” laughs Dyke March organizer Ariel Troster.
“We’ve turned the tide of public opinions with things like gay marriage and the Charter, and groups like this have lost a lot of ground — that’s why they’re becoming so aggressive.”
Kryskow writes that the rightwing Harper government is a “vision of virtue” that has been “advancing the cause of righteousness and justice on many fronts,” and that “a generation is catching a vision, from sea to sea, to influence every realm of society.”
The Cry is just one of the many events in a network of fundamentalist youth prayer groups across Canada and the United States, known for their overly emotional and enthusiastic forms of worship.
“Events like The Cry serve to reinforce people’s shame, and take advantage of vulnerable people, especially youth,” says Troster.
“It reinforces how important it is for people to actually come out to the Dyke March and make a public statement about how our community is not shame-worthy at all.”
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