Six people became books for Muskoka Pride’s “Human Library Beyond the Cover: Queer Stories in Muskoka” at the Huntsville Public Library.
On Muskoka Pride’s website, it’s explained, “the human library is, in the true sense of the word, a library of people. This event allows readers to borrow human beings, serving as open books, to have conversations they would not usually have access to.”
The event was held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday with each question-and-answer session lasting 20 minutes.
One of the books was Connie MacNeil, a mom of five young people who identify as 2SLGBTQI+, who explains she was raised in a “very bigoted, racist family.”
“And I knew growing up that wasn’t right,” she adds.
MacNeil’s children range from 12 to 24 years old, and she says she makes sure they know they can talk to her about anything, adding their home will always be a safe space for them to share.
“There’s a lot I don’t know,” she continues. “There’s a lot I still don’t know. But I know that I just keep an open mind and open heart and I just listen to my children, and I let them lead.”
MacNeil points out every parent has dreams about what their child may grow up to be but, for her, she has one simple wish: for them to be themselves.
“I’m not always going to be around,” she says. “My job is to make sure my children can take care of themselves when I’m gone.”
Carl-Ann Chapman, a minister at Trinity United Church in Gravenhurst who identifies as 2SLGBTQI+, shared how she struggled to be a minister for many years prior to her coming out. However, she made friends, attended events like pride parades, and eventually was able to become her “authentic self.”
“Each step was a step that got me closer to feeling, ‘okay I can do this, I can come out, I can be myself,’ and as soon as I did that, I went, ‘okay I really am meant to be a minister,'” explains Chapman. “And be the kind of minister who welcomes everybody and shows that faith is about loving and accepting one another to be themselves.”
Chapman says being a minister who identifies as queer is an important step. “I think it opens doors to people who may want a place for their spiritual faith,” she continues.
While she has received plenty of support since coming out, she has lost friends, including some of her mentors who thought she was making a choice. “It’s not,” responds Chapman. “It’s who I am.”
Ella Frost also served as a book. She’s transgender, but only realized she was in 2020 when she was 42 years old.
She moved to Bracebridge a year prior to transitioning and met Celeste who has since become one of her closest friends. “She literally saved my life,” says Frost.
She explains how during a conversation the two were having about gender identity, Celeste told her about what it means to be transgender and about the North Simcoe Muskoka Trans Health Service in Orillia.
“I immediately knew,” says Frost. “It clicked.”
She details how within a few months she started hormone replacement therapy. Frost says July 1 marked her four-year transitioning anniversary.
Frost wishes she knew what she knew now when she was 10.
“Ever since I was young, I knew I was different, but I didn’t know how,” she explains. “We didn’t have the words or education to understand it.”
While she’s the happiest she’s ever been now, she says transitioning hasn’t been easy. Frost admits she’s lost a couple of friends, but has gained many more, especially since she’s started volunteering with Muskoka Pride.
“In a lot of ways things have gotten better, but turning on the news, you can see things have gotten a lot scarier and a lot worse,” adds Frost.
She says pride-related events – like the flag raising ceremonies Muskoka Pride does at each of the six municipalities in Muskoka – are small initiatives that go a long way. “Just seeing someone out publicly, or seeing it in a show, or a movie, was huge for me,” she continues.
Muskoka Pride wraps up its week of festivities on Sunday, July 28 with a festival and parade at Memorial Park in downtown Bracebridge. The event runs from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., with the parade starting around noon.
