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Regent Park Out Loud 2024: Celebrating Community, Diversity, and Advocacy
Written by: Lawrence Rodriguez
Lawrence Rodriguez is a youth journalist for FOCUS Media Art Centre
On Friday, June 14, 2024, a block party was held opposite the Daniels Spectrum Building on Regent Park Blvd. This block party, known as the Regent Park Out Loud, is the 2nd annual community-driven and led event aiming to bring together the community of Regent Park through social inclusion and cohesion with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Through this block party, members of the Regent Park community were able to set up and establish booths to provide various goods and services, such as food, art, games, karaoke, lounging, story-time, and performances. These dynamic events built ally-ship between neighbours, aimed to secure a welcoming and safe environment between all communities within Regent Park, supported and reinforced by the slogan: “Know your neighbours”.
Amidst this ongoing block party, Regent Park TV interviewed the founder of Regent Park Out Loud, Gail Lynch, a resident of Regent Park. Evident through the establishment of this community effort, Gail Lynch is a passionate advocate for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights and community visibility. She takes pride in her accomplishments as a community advocate for love and strength, and is proud to achieve a place in her community where she and others can proudly be their true self, being fully comfortable in their skin, and the freedom that comes with it. She reflects on how over the past 30 years, there has been a slow and gradual, yet ever-present positive change in the outlook of her community. She acknowledges the fact that she's grateful for the positive changes that the 2SLGBTQIA+ community has made so far, yet continues to fight for the change that still needs to come.
She states: “It's the reason why we do these events, because there's still a lot of change that needs to happen, and as we evolve as human beings, as we are introduced to different cultures, different ways of being, we have to recognize that this is still a battle. This is still a fight. So we're going to celebrate today, but the journey continues.”
Community-led events such as Regent Park Out Loud captures the essence of what makes Regent Park, Regent Park. Regent Park prides itself on its diversity, celebrating the full range of cultures and ways of being that are represented there. Regent Park Out Loud is just one of the many community events in Regent Park that makes it the amazing neighbourhood that it is.
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FOCUS Media Arts Centre (FOCUS) is a not-for-profit organization that was established in 1990 to counter negative media stereotypes of low income communities and provide relevant information to residents living in the Regent Park area and surrounding communities.
We seek to empower marginalized individuals and under represented communities to have a voice, through the use of professional training, mentorships and participatory based media practices that enable the sharing of stories, experiences and perspectives on relevant matters and issues. In brief our mandate is to empower marginalized individuals and under-serviced communities to have a voice and tell their own stories.
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