Pride for me has always centred on the Alterna-Queer space next to Buddies, a space still dedicated to misfits and outsiders. Just a little outside the main hustle and bustle, the vibe a little different, a little rougher, and oh so much queerer. In his book Stroll, Shawn Micallef writes “[like] all borders that don’t exist anymore, we cross…without thinking, only occasionally noticing something that reminds us it was there.” Pride has that feeling these days, of crossing the boundary out of the straight world that has created a space for us, back into our queer past where we inhabited the margins. I’m old enough to remember what it was like when all queers were forced to live on the outside – unseen, unheard, unrecognized, often mis-seen, mis-heard and mis-recognized. And I’m deeply grateful to live in the here and now, where I can cross that boundary, back into comfort, acceptance and safety. But Pride exists as a presently lived reality, not just a remembered testament, for all of those who can’t always cross that boundary, from outsider to acceptance. At the Alterna-Queer stage, I see myself, the outsider that I was, reaching forward to my present, as a bridge and a beacon.