Arts & Entertainment
Couple told to stop hugging at amusement park’s ‘Gay Day’
PFLAG Canada responds by cancelling event
A gay couple’s day at the amusement park turned sour after they were asked to stop showing affection in public.
Brandon Hamilton and Barrett Morrison were visiting Canada’s Wonderland in Toronto on PFLAG Canada’s Gay Day for Pride month in June. According to BuzzFeed Canada, the couple was standing in line for the waterpark when a staff member told them there was a complaint about the couple hugging.
The couple “told off” the employee and called the complaint offensive. The employee agreed the complaint was out of line and apologized.
“We don’t necessarily blame the kid who approached us,” Hamilton told BuzzFeed. “I think he was just relaying a message [from a woman in line] and didn’t think about what he was saying.”
“It’s so offensive and absurd that anyone would consider that not family friendly. It’s just flat-out homophobia,” Morrison continued.
Hamilton and Morrison were frustrated the park’s employees weren’t better trained for the situation. The couple contacted Wonderland and asked for the staff to receive better nondiscrimination training. They also asked for Gay Day to become an official park-wide event.
Wonderland’s general manager Norm Pirtovshek apologized for the incident but insisted staff already received “extensive training” on discrimination. Pirtovshek also said the park would not make Gay Day an official park event because all groups should be treated equally.
In a statement posted on Facebook, PFLAG Canada says it offered to give Wonderland free diversity training, but the park did not respond. PFLAG Canada says the lack of response led to the decision to cancel Gay Day at the park.
“Some have said we should keep doing Gay Day at Wonderland to increase visibility and stand up against oppression, but the only thing the park saw in us was a dollar sign. We need a true community partner and LGBTQ ally,” another PFLAG Canada Facebook post reads.
Toronto’s PFLAG president Anne Crieghton spoke with the Toronto Star and called the ordeal “discouraging and devastating.”
“Staff need to go under some sort of sensitivity training so that they understand that this is Canada and people are allowed to openly show affection,” Creighton told the Toronto Star. “That customers didn’t like seeing two men hug is their problem. It doesn’t require park enforcement.”
The D.C. Front Runners held the 14th annual 5K Pride Run at Congressional Cemetery on Saturday, June 6.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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Books
‘Mighty Real’ explores history of LGBTQ music
From Judas Priest to Whitney, something for every taste
‘Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969-2000’
By Barry Walters
c.2026, Viking
$35/496 pages
Step, step, tap, back step.
Shimmy in a circle, left hand waving over your head, shake your tail feathers, repeat to the beat. Once there was a time when you could do any dance in your sleep, but it’s been a while. So read “Mighty Real” by Barry Walters, and see if your toes don’t tap.
Fifty-seven years after Stonewall, and here we are: LGBTQ musicians still face scrutiny for their sexuality because, says Walters, music isn’t created for gay listeners. No problem: LGBTQ artists and writers have often penned lyrics carefully in order to say what can’t be said, “coding” songs for gay audiences that straight (and ignorant) listeners can dance to and enjoy with apparent obliviousness.
Walters offers “just a few” examples.
Lou Reed sang about trans people in the late ‘60s and offered a rallying song for the Gay Liberation Front in 1972, the latter of which felt like a message to a then-11-year-old Walters. Janis Joplin claimed she was straight, but she had several girlfriends. Motown singers often offered sometimes-ambiguous lyrics.
John Lennon’s hand placement on the back cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band made Walters begin to understand that he was different from other boys.
David Bowie is on his list, of course, as is Bette Midler, Elton John, Donna Summer, and Queen. You’ll find Judas Priest here, Green Day, and punk music. The Village People are included in this book, also Grace Jones, Duran Duran, and Cher, Whitney, Melissa, Latifah, and the lyrics from several blockbuster movies.
Two of Prince’s band members were lesbians, and they heavily influenced his albums. Diana Ross’s “I’m Coming Out” cemented her position in LGBTQ culture, and Michael Jackson’s inclusion here takes much careful consideration.
Read about Olivia Newton-John and the B52s. And then there’s Sylvester, for whom Walters has a soft spot in his heart. Sylvester’s death still makes Walters cry.
In his preface, author and music writer Barry Walters points out that music is what you make it and that it’s interpreted differently by each individual. To that end, this book naturally consists of preferential history and personal opinions about singers, bands, albums, and songs.
Agree or disagree. That’s where much of the appeal lies in “Mighty Real.”
Here, Walters wraps his memories around his choices, giving readers room for their own views, memories, and list making. Music-loving readers might also be surprised to note who’s not on Walters’ list – there aren’t many country performers here, for example, and the overall list focuses entirely on music from roughly 1968 to the year 2000, mostly on the kinds of songs you’ll want at the club or party. Again, discuss, and curate your own playlist.
This is a hefty book, but the chapters are browse-able and generally short enough to read in under five minutes. It’s nostalgic, yet also serious in the history it presents. This is the kind of book you want to leave near your album collection, or wherever you get your tunes. But finding “Mighty Real” is your first step.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington performed “Soul Divas” at the Lincoln Theatre over the weekend. The show featured songs popularized by Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, Whitney Houston and more.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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