With the second annual Halton Pride Parade just around the corner, 2SLGBTQIA+ group PRISM Halton is readying the ground for the march down Main Street with a Rainbow Relay.
This year’s inaugural Rainbow Relay will see contestants go forth into the downtown Milton core on Saturday, May 25 to complete a series of fun challenges styled after The Amazing Race. The games and riddles of the relay will serve a dual purpose: to fundraise for the July Pride Parade in Milton and to showcase the local 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
“Visibility is key for our community, especially in this climate. There is a lot of hate. There is a lot of misinformation,” PRISM Halton founder Melanie Tremills told MiltonToday.
Tremills recalled walking up to a group of people milling about during last year’s parade. When she asked them if they wanted to be in it, “they were in tears.”
“When we did the Pride Parade for the first time last year, it was a big thing for us to do,” Tremills added. “What they (the invitees) said to me was, ‘we never knew there was a community out there until today.’ Just that fact, that's exactly why we do what we do.”
An event such as the Rainbow Relay is very much in keeping with the group's ethos. That spirit involves, according to the website, “elevating and empowering the visibility of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community while fostering diversity and inclusion in the Halton region.”
“If there was something for me -- a community-based group, some events for me to participate in, or even just someone to talk to when I was younger -- it wouldn't have taken me 18, 19 years to come out,” relay organizer Brookelynn Dean said in speaking about her experiences.
“I'm glad that we're out in the community. We're opening up to show that visibility so kids who are like me are able to express themselves more freely and feel safe to do so."
The downtown-wide event will integrate the local landscape, allowing relayers to take in the various landmarks of the area. Each solo participant or team will be given a riddle to start that will test their local knowledge. The answers to the brainteasers will tell them where to go next. Completing the challenge at each station -- which are located outside local businesses -- will give them a new riddle. And so on and so forth until all games have been completed.
“It'll be different puzzles, different games, riddles, that kind of thing. There's not going to be running or no super athleticism,” Dean said. The top team will win tickets to the Blue Jays' Pride Night game.
Participants will meet in front of St. Paul’s United Church’s at 1 p.m. Tickets are $15 per person, $25 for teams of two, $35 for three and $45 for a team of four. Those who want to take part in the fun can e-transfer their fee to [email protected].
Paraders will step off for Halton Pride on July 14 at 2 p.m. For more information, visit PRISMHalton.com.