Queer Potluck creates space for chosen family this Easter
Queer Centre vice president meika johnson (left) and president Jojo Jaeger (right) are part of the team hosting a Queer Potluck this Easter. Photo provided by Queer Centre Comox Valley.
This Easter Sunday, Queer Centre Comox Valley is inviting people of all ages to gather with chosen family for a Queer Potluck at Foundry in Courtenay.
meika johnson, vice president on the board of directors, said that the Queer Centre was born six months ago from a desire to create community that is resilient and intergenerational; a space to build relationships, where people can lean on and support each other through times of hardship, and also celebrate the great times.
“Queer Centre Comox Valley is a new non-profit that me and my friends started because we are queer people that want community resources and wanna provide those resources to other people in the community. So we were like, ‘why don't we do that? We know what we want and we wanna help people get what they need,’” they said.
johnson said the choice to host an event celebrating Easter was to provide an open space for people who would otherwise be spending the holiday alone, whether that be because they don’t have family locally, or because their families do not accept them.
“It's hard being queer when you don't necessarily have family, or your family's far away, or they don't support you. But here we can choose to support each other and be in good community and welcome each other with open arms and big hearts,” they said.
The choice to make the event a potluck was both practical and symbolic.
“Food is very central in the way we show up for people; we need to nourish our bodies and our spirits and our minds, and when we can do that with food and community and friendship, we get to support all aspects of ourselves,” johnson said.
johnson also shared that while the Queer Centre is working hard toward opening a physical location for the community centre, resources are limited. Calling on the community to come together and share their food with each other lightens the load on the non-profit and the organizers, and also creates a space for people to share their own traditional foods, whether that be personal, familial or cultural.
“And it's really hard to show up in community when people aren't being fed,” they said, “and we don't have a lot of resources to feed people yet. So we're asking people in the community to show up and support each other with food and love.”
johnson said that while their queerness has always been accepted by their family, that family is quite scattered, so johnson grew up surrounded by people they were choosing to be with: chosen family.
“Community organizing and hanging out with my peers has always been very central to my wellbeing and my ability to connect with [others]. And basically, like, I wouldn't be alive if I didn't have community and chosen family. So I wanna be able to pay that forward and continue creating spaces for other queer people to step into that too, that safety net and that wellbeing and celebration that I have experienced,” they said.
johnson said that being able to create a space for others to share that same experience is a powerful tool for connection and solidarity in the face of rising hostility toward queer and trans existence.
“It's really important in the Comox Valley to be able to host free intergenerational queer events because there's so many queer people of different generations in this area that are not able to connect or don't know that there's places for connection. So we're hoping to be able to bring a lot of different types of people together to support each other, to form resilient, intergenerational community,” johnson said. “And I'm quite afraid of the political landscape of the world that's happening right now. And I feel very reassured when I'm able to lean on my friends and be seen and supported and be like, oh yeah, you think that this is messed up too. It's not just me like, let's have each other's back. Let's share a meal. Let's do some art and we can resist fascism together.”
The Comox Valley Queer Centre has a growing list of events and activities coming up this Spring and Summer, from the Queer Potluck this Easter weekend to the Pride Parade this Summer, and many weekly, bimonthly, and monthly gatherings for different activities in between.
“Folks can get involved with Queer Centre by visiting our website, QueerCentre.ca. We have a calendar of community events that are happening, and if people wanna show up and bring themselves, that's amazing, we'd love that. If people want to volunteer, there's lots of events that we need support with. As well as there's a Discord group that's the Comox Valley Queer Discord Group people can sign up for and stay current with events and socializing that's happening,” johnson said. “And what we really need is money. If people with money would financially support Queer Centre, we would be able to continue doing events in a sustainable way that supports community and isn't such a financial burden on the people who are organizing the events.”
The Queer Potluck on Easter Sunday will be hosted at Foundry Comox Valley, beginning at 10 a.m., with food starting at noon. The drop-in event is free for all ages and open to everyone, whether they are queer, straight, allies, families, youth, seniors, or beyond.
According to johnson, “everyone who's kind and respectful is welcome. You can bring your friends, you can bring absolutely nothing, just yourself and a good attitude.”
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada. Reporting done in the Comox Valley is done in partnership with CVOX.