HALIFAX – As the city prepares to kick off its annual Pride festival, some celebrants are taking a look at the past in the form of a panel discussion that will focus on the events of the 1990s through the eyes of famed fiddler, and Nova Scotia native, Ashley MacIsaac’s early paramours.
Panel organisor Steve Blankenship explained “In truth, Ashley MacIsaac wasn’t a particularly prominent figure in the local LGBTQ+ community, but, he dominated headlines in the 90s, because he was, evidently, the only gay person the Canadian media had ever heard of”.
“So, as we prepare to exit the first quarter of this century, we thought it was important to look back, and study that really strange period when a charismatic young Caper cut a path of debauched destruction through the city”.
“This promises to be a night of shared experiences and gentle humour” said panel member Isaac Gaines of Bedford. “I anticipate there will be many a guffaw from both the group on stage and those in the audience as we recount those moments where you’d wake up to a splitting hangover and a couple of tickets to a show at the Rebecca Cohn on your nightstand”.
He added “But besides the obvious ‘the morning after’ stories, we’ll also have plenty ‘later that day’ tales, like the time you received a voicemail from a rather flustered agent asking you to please return the priceless Stradivarius that they have reason to believe is in your bathtub”.
“We won’t just be talking about the peak of his success,” noted Elliot Sousa of Antigonish, “I’m looking forward to talking about the period before he was publicly out, and the occurrences of what we call ‘The Look'”. He continued, “It refers to the experience of hanging out in the Student Union Building and hearing a couple of straight girls gushing about the cute, kilt-wearing, fiddle player, and you’d catch the eye of another gay dude across the room and share an amused glance”.
Although they are expecting a full house, Blankenship insists it’s not too late to get in the gate. “Prices are set at $40 apiece, with a 50% discount to anyone who can recite the lyrics of ‘Sleepy Maggie'”.
He further notes that the event isn’t just targeted at middle-aged nostalgia. “This is very much about sending a positive message to young people. A lot of them are fearing for the future. It’s important to remind them that, in the face of bathroom laws, enforced deadnaming in schools, and cynically-motivated hyperbolic outrage about ‘grooming’, they will still have plenty of opportunities to let loose and create some memories at which they will eventually chuckle and ask themselves ‘What the hell was I thinking?'”.
