Saint John Pride: Through My Lens

Published by CBC Communications

In 1989, at the age of 15, I came out as a gay male.

Saint John was very different back then. Queer was a word of hate and a Pride parade down King Street was unimaginable.

Fast forward some 30 years later, and now the word Queer is celebrated, King Street is a sea of rainbows and although there's still a long way to go, I no longer feel afraid or ashamed to be me.

When asked to capture the parade "Through My Lens," I wasn't overly sure how I was going to approach this.

Upon arrival though, it quickly became apparent, it was about the younger generation. There were so many young people.

The joy on their faces, the fight in their eyes, this is what I needed to capture.

So many of us grew up without that support and to see it so proudly on display at the parade was beautiful.

It was also then I realized that choice I made to come out so many years ago, despite the pain I still struggle with today, was worth it.

More of Saint John Pride through Scott McDade's lens

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Through My Lens is a community series that features the point-of-viewstoriesbehind photos from Atlantic Canada.For Pride celebrations this summer, we offer a peek through the lens of LGBTQ+ photographers andshare their East Coast Pride.