When Midland council talks about being ‘inclusive’ this month, they truly mean everybody.
A deputation by Jai Crouch was given at a recent committee of the whole meeting, requesting that crosswalks with the multi-coloured progressive flag be displayed at all four intersections of King Street and Elizabeth Street.
The corner hosting the Midland Public Library and the Midland Cultural Centre was referred to as the ‘cultural corners’ throughout the meeting by Crouch and members of council, and was the original location for Midland’s first rainbow crosswalk in 2019.
“I was in these chambers in 2019,” said Crouch, “and it was unanimous by our council that when the Big Dig was over, the crosswalk would be located at King and Elizabeth Street only for many of us in our community to find out in the middle of the night that a crosswalk was put elsewhere” at Bay Street and First Street in 2021.
Acting CAO Andy Campbell added that thermoplastic paint was used with the total cost amounting to $13,000. Additionally, Georgian Bay District Secondary School has also painted a rainbow crosswalk leading to their main doors as of last year.
As part of June being Pride Month, Crouch approached council again with the request for the cultural corners crosswalks, explaining that donors and contributors were anxious to provide financial support for the proposal.
“Currently, we have $12,000 committed and our goal is to raise $100,000 for the crosswalk with the hopes that we can install it next May of 2024, at approximately $40,000 to $45,000 for installation. The remaining money would sit in our Midland Pride fund,” said Crouch, “and it would go to maintaining the crosswalk, because it has to be maintained annually.
“We’d like to coincide it with the first inaugural Midland Pride Festival, to take place in June of 2024 at Little Lake Park,” Crouch pitched.
While the intent, according to Crouch, would be to place four progressive flag crossings – visually similar to the ones elsewhere in town – at the intersection, members of council were interested in bartering over one rainbow crosswalk with three others shared by other represented groups.
Crouch not only invited those groups but added that inclusive flags could be extended to represent the flags of Canada, Simcoe County and Midland itself, with each of the five other intersections downtown also having their own four-representation crosswalks. But he stressed that his focus would be on gaining approval of the cultural corners request as approved years earlier.
“I’ve been in this community for over 25 years,” Crouch shared, “and those who know me well know that I’ve been in situations where I’ve been beaten, I’ve been verbally abused, I’ve experienced extreme hatred, but I’ve never let it knock me down.
"I’ve kept on going, and I keep on going because there've been people who have come before me that didn’t have the opportunity to get back up because they’re resting in heaven because of being gay and because of being different," said Crouch.
Many on council voiced their support. Coun. Beth Prost wore a T-shirt displaying the progressive flag to represent the trans community (white, light blue, pink), people of colour (brown, black), and the six representations of life, healing, new ideas, prosperity, serenity, and spirit (the six rainbow colours).
“We do need to talk about how that’s really going to look,” said Prost. “It's the inclusion of everybody. It’s also the people who created this town, who built it. It’s multicultural, it’s Indigenous, it’s Métis, and the rainbow belongs there, too.”
Coun. Jamie-Lee Ball expressed love for the four-corner idea by Crouch, stating that it was on par with the downtown revitalization presentation by the Economic Development Corporation of North Simcoe earlier in the year.
She asked whether the proposed crosswalk would degrade as quickly as the one at First Street and Bay Street, but was informed that vandalism from being located on a side street was the reason for that aesthetic.
“We do have our haters, but I don’t really think they’re haters, I just think they need to be educated,” said Crouch. “The haters are instilling their fear on us. But we’re standing up. Testament: drag queen storytelling at the Midland library, we outnumbered the protesters; and in Penetang the same thing happened, the protesters were outnumbered by the local citizens.”
Admitting that council would be retiring for the summer with limited meetings until September and with a possible July date to be determined, Mayor Bill Gordon pressed Crouch for an ideal scenario for the proposal.
Crouch replied that approval for the crosswalks would allow “a green light so that we can start raising money,” while adding that he was intent on registering Midland Pride as a non-profit organization in short order.
Council accepted the deputation as information and was ready to move on, but a later notice of motion was given by Ball during a moment of confusion, instructing staff to look into the matter further. Coun. Catherine MacDonald added that she wished to see not just the rainbow but other cultures represented at the corner in the staff report.
Council meetings are held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.
