2020-07-18 Elderberries March

picUnder the Halifax Pride arch at the Garrison Grounds. Photo by John R. Sylliboy

2020 Elderberries Secret Flash March

Due to COVID precautions, there was no parade as such in Halifax in 2020, but the Elderberries, Atlantic Canada's LGBT Elders Association called for a MARCH!!

The march had demands: "As members of the Elderberries we call on all levels of government to take action on the following four key policy areas that impact our health and wellbeing"

  1. We demand that the government of Nova Scotia take immediate action, in partnership with the National Housing Strategy and CMHC, to build additional affordable housing units for LGBT folk. Housing is recognized around the world as a key determinant of health and yet we see very little progress on the issue of safe, affordable and affirming housing for our LGBTQI2S populations in Nova Scotia.
  2. In the face of COVID-19, we demand that the government of Nova Scotia in partnership with the longterm care sector take immediate action on a province-wide policy to ensure all healthcare workers have completed formal training in LGBTQI2S cultural competency and are certified when working in longterm care settings.
  3. We demand that the government of Nova Scotia improve access to primary healthcare for transgender Nova Scotians. Current wait times for gender affirming treatments such as hormones or surgeries are unacceptably long and are causing undue physical and emotional harm to transgender populations.
  4. We demand the government of Nova Scotia to make access to new HIV testing technologies available now. All other regions of Canada have access to point-of-care-testing for HIV and yet none of the Atlantic provinces, including Nova Scotia, have access. From a health equity perspective, it is unacceptable that in 2020 the province of Nova Scotia does not offer a provincially funded HIV POCT program.


Here is the Facebook photo album of the event, with photos by StooMetz, PatrickMaubert, and others.