Well, that sucked. Last weekend was Divers/Cite in Montreal, and other than the fact that the Ottawa boys out numbered the Montreal "citoyen" 4:1 nobody could tell anything special was even happening in the city. No shout outs from DJs, no special costumes being worn by twinks, no strippers hanging out in the streets in their underwear... In short, as a good friend of mine would say, "That party would have been a waste of an E."
In fact, it was very reminiscent of Canada Day here in the Capital - droves of people walking back and forth across the same stretch of cordoned off streets, no particular activities or events driving them. There were however parties at Stereo that cost $70 at the door to attend.
Divers/Cite had two main stages which put on various shows and dances. That's great - but none of them started on time, in fact the Tea Dance on Sunday started 2 hours late, and was scarcely populated at best.
There's a major, major problem with Divers/Cite. So much so the locals we chatted with had taken to referring to the festival as the "fake pride." Divers/Cite cut the parade two years ago (which has been resurrected, thank god, by a rival Pride Society), canned any information booths, dismissed any community lobbyists, and in general kept the festival far, far away from the gay village businesses: obviously an attempt to punish business owners for not supporting the project. Where were the events for guys that didn't want to club? Where were the family oriented parties? Where were the lesbians?
All of this should sound eerily familiar to Ottawa fags. This is EXACTLY what happened to the Ottawa Pride Society when their leadership decided they knew what was best for the community, rejected any constructive criticism, and then demonized the traditional corporate sponsors of the event. It has been 3 years now and our parade is still lacking - the committee itself estimates it will take up to 10 years to rebuild itself to its former glory.
In its effort to broaden its base and become a "celebration of diversity" rather than a GLBT parade Divers/Cite has abandoned its core. It's hard to stand for something when you're too busy standing for everything - you quickly lose all credibility. As former Prime Minister Paul Martin would attest: when everything is a priority, nothing is.
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