Cambridge mayor’s move raises questions during Pride flag ceremony

Advocates and allies of the 2SLGBTQ+ community are outraged after a video circulated online of Cambridge’s mayor cutting off a speech from a teen at the city’s Pride event.

For the third year, Cambridge had competing events to launch the start of Pride Month. The group known as Grand River Pride, which organizes 2SLGBTQ+ events, shared on social media earlier this month why they would hoist up their own rainbow flag again, holding a celebration down the road from the one organized by the City of Cambridge.

A series of events over the years has caused some upset in the community. Last year, a controversial meme was reposted from Cambridge Councillor Adam Cooper’s account that was later investigated by the Integrity Commissioner and resulted in Cooper having to take sensitivity training. That situation is part of what sparked a rift between the city and members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

It was also mentioned during a speech earlier this week to mark the start of Pride month by 17-year-old Sophie Mills, a non-binary teenager living with their family in the city. They are also part of the Youth Advisory Committee in Cambridge, which is why they were asked to give a speech for the Pride event.

Sophie’s speech started with them speaking about their experience feeling excluded, dealing with transphobia at school and touching on being bullied. It was during the Pride celebration that Mills was cut short by the Mayor of Cambridge, Jan Liggett, who stood up to turn the microphone away.

“We are not going to allow you to continue; it is disrespect. Can you remove that part from your speech, please? He has already gone through what he needs to go through,” Liggett says in the video.

Sophie did finish their speech and helped raise the city’s Pride flag. Shortly after, they spoke at Grand River Pride’s competing event, where about 120 members of the community came together to create a rainbow flag of ribbons.

“After Sophie had their opportunity to say the words that they wanted to say at city hall and were robbed of that opportunity, after Sophie got the chance to speak, we all laughed together and did this project together,” said Bryan Causarano-Bolton, co-founder, Grand River Pride.

“The courage that it takes to get up in front of a whole bunch of people and share what Sophie was sharing, it was a super powerful speech that they were sharing. And to be censored like that, it’s just mind-boggling.”

---

---

Julia Mills, Sophie’s mom, posted the original video to social media. Mills said it shocked her to see Liggett’s behaviour that day.

“When they got home, they were concerned about how they may have potentially done harm or done something wrong. We reassured them, of course, that they had done nothing wrong; they had done what they were asked to do and were censored wrongfully,” said Mills.

“We assumed because they asked them to speak that they would allow them the platform that they’ve been given to talk about their experience.”

Mills added that people underestimate the power of using correct pronouns for the 2SLGBTQ+ community and the benefits it has for people like Sophie.

The City of Cambridge did not respond to questions before publication.

A history of tension between Cambridge and the community

This is not the first time Cambridge and 2SLGBTQ+ organizations have been at odds. The former Mayor of Cambridge, Kathryn McGarry, also the former Cambridge MPP, remembers issues around the rainbow crosswalk when she was mayor, preceding Jan Liggett.

“I think that Grand River Pride did the absolute right thing to post about why they were not attending the flag raising on city property and why they chose to host their own activity,” said McGarry.

She added that the Cambridge City Council has not supported the 2SLGTBQ+ community the way it should have. Members of Grand River Pride contacted McGarry for advice after Councillor Cooper’s controversial post last year.

“When people called to complain to me, I suggested that they call the integrity commissioner.”

McGarry said more sanctions need to be put on members who act outside of the code of conduct.

While on The Mike Farwell Show, Sophie Mills shared her experience from Monday’s flag raising ceremony at city hall, saying it was performative.

“It was upsetting for me because it was my first big public speaking and I was super excited about it. It hurt, I did not expect that. I did not expect that she would take a microphone, a voice away from a child she asked to speak,” said Mills. “It was scary, it sucked.”

Mills wants to see Councillor Adam Cooper account for his actions. Something, they add, never really happened.

“For an elected official to post that idea and not apologize, is completely ridiculous and disgusting.”

Mills on another note is happy to see the outpouring of community support for them while they navigate what to do next.

More Pride events are scheduled in Cambridge throughout the rest of the month to help celebrate. Find them through Grand River Pride’s website.