Paneling Pride Vs. Prejudice

I was pretty nervous - I had just watched a very well-done and moving documentary about reluctant gay activist Delwin Vriend called Pride Vs. Prejudice that we had screened at our church for PIE Day, and I was about to introduce a very prestigious panel. I was very gratified when the three panelists laughed at my introductory joke: "A lawyer, a professor, a playwright, a senator, a member of the order of Canada and a drag performer all walk into a church….and it's only three people!"

Kris Wells, Darrin Hagen, Doug Stollery and Yours Truly

The panelists in question were writer, director, and composer Darrin Hagen (familiar to many Edmontonians as a member of  Guys in Disguise), the co-counsel on Vriend v Alberta, Douglas Stollery, and Impact Producer Kristopher Wells.

The Affirming Ministry Team at St. Albert United Church had asked for permission to screen the film as part of PIE Day, an opportunity to support the 2SLGBTQIA+ community with acts that are Public, Intentional and Explicit. Senator Wells, having spoken at our tenth Affirimiversary back in October, kindly arranged for us to not only show the movie but suggested a brief panel might be a useful educational experience as well.

When we met earlier in the week to talk about the event, some of us were concerned about bigoted individuals perhaps coming in to make a ruckus or disrupt things, but Darrin said he was honestly more concerned about the "I have more of a comment than a question..." people monopolizing the time. In the end we agreed that as moderator I would ask them each a questions or two and try to keep the session around 15-20 minutes.

The film itself is incredible and I highly recommend checking it out when you get a chance. It will undoubtedly end up on some screening service or another after its time on the film festival circuit wraps up, but I fully intend to purchase the BluRay at the earliest opportunity. They are taking the film to festival in Poland shortly, but the film's website also lists screenings like ours if you want to see it sooner.

Even as someone who remembered the headlines from the case at the time, hearing from the people directly involved with the case and its aftermath was absolutely fascinating; hearing Delwin Vriend himself recall being fired from his position at King's College right here in Edmonton for nothing more than being gay is chilling. Hearing how he was denied a hearing by the Alberta Human Rights Commission is infuriating and seeing how passionate lawyers working pro bono took his case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1998 is empowering.

Reading about the case and the decision gives you an impression of its importance, but not the struggles and personal impacts along the way:

• Learning that Justice McClung of the Alberta Court of Appeals turned his back on counsel Sheila Greckol while she was making her argument, in a brutal and flagrant display of disrespect.
• Hearing that someone had placed religious pamphlets condemning homosexuality on every seat in the chamber of the Supreme Court before the lawyers.
• Watching former city councillor Michael Phair get emotional as he talks about the death threats he received following the decision, while regressive activists were trying to pressure the PC provincial government and Premier Ralph Klein to invoke the notwithstanding clause. 

A good documentary not only provides clarity, it also produces insight. The best of them provoke an emotional connection to the subject matter or people involved, and at our screening you could hear laughs, applause and tearful sniffles as the story played out over 80 minutes.

Afterwards I got to engage the panel briefly, and I dearly wish I could remember their responses verbatim, but I was just too wound up and excited.

I asked Darrin about his directorial decision to juxtapose the historical clips and modern day interviews of those involved with shots from a queer history bus tour of Edmonton (led in part by none other than Michael Phair) and he confessed it arose in part out of his need (and distaste, apparently!) for shooting 'B-roll' for such projects. Seeing Vriend share parts of his story with people on that bus really underscored the sense of history behind it.

Doug graciously redirected my question about the challenges of working on such a high-profile case as one of the few 'out' lawyers at the time to how much more impacted other people had been, including Phair and Vriend himself. He also talked about the current US President's decision to blacklist legal firms who had represented people he considered enemies (removing their security clearances without cause, among other things), making it riskier to be perceived as being in opposition to him, and making it more difficult for them to get quality legal representation.

But he also took the opportunity to thank the United Church of Canada for seeking intervenor status on the case so that when other faith-based groups tried to assert that 'religions' were not in favour of making sexuality a discernible and protectable human right, the UCC could stand up as the largest protestant denomination of the time and make it clear that this was simply not true.

Finally. Dr. Wells spoke about the timeliness of revisiting the Vriend decision, not only terms of  its 25th anniversary when production started and the 20th anniversary of gay marriage in Canada, but also in light of the recent backsliding for the rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, particularly in Alberta. Gay and trans youth have had many supports including gender affirming care moved out of reach, and earlier this week, the unionized City of Edmonton employees announced they had been told to remove Pride flags from Edmonton Public Library properties in a commitment to 'neutrality.'

The senator also tied the need for increased education and activism to our current trade war and annexation situation, generating vocal support and applause when he said, "I never want to see us as the 51st state of anything, do you?"

Well over a hundred people came to our screening, most of whom were not regular attendees at our church, which was gratifying to see. We also had a free will offering with proceeds going to St. Albert Pride in the Park, which will hopefully help them increase its impact this summer after some organizational challenges last year. 

Everyone I spoke to was impressed and moved by the film, with many people asking where they could watch it again; when I find out, I will be sure to post it here.

Before leaving I made sure to let all the panelists know how much we, and particularly I, were that they were able to attend - these are very busy people - and to be such gracious guests! I especially thanked Doug, who, when we were discussing possible panel questions had expressed a preference for one, but gave me a two paragraph explanation for the other just so I would have it.

It is gratifying and reassuring to know that individuals committed to justice and equality and education still exist, and that there are others who can help bring their stories into the public eye.

And gosh, if someone sees Pride Vs. Prejudice and decdes to dramatize it so that even more people can learn about it - so much the better!