Legacy

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0:00:05.3Daniel MacIvor,: Hi, I'm Daniel MacIvor and this is Queer Joy,

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celebrating the champions and changemakers of the 2024 PTP Pink Awards.

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This episode, Legacy. The inaugural awards were held on November 7,

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2024, at the Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto, hosted by drag race

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royalty Queen Priyanka, with performances by brilliant queer artists including

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Katie Tupper and as documented in episode six, a moment for the ages

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rendition of Going to a Town by Rufus Wainwright and moving speeches by

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community champions like Elliot Page and Jeremy Dutcher. It was a night

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to remember, worthy of its own podcast even.

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Here is PTP CEO David Walberg speaking at the awards.

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We are very excited that we have as our guest tonight someone who

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has stood with our community through celebration and devastation, through

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thick and thin, better and worse, for decades. Since the 1980s,

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she has marched with us, she has fought with us, danced with us

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and has been the very definition of an ally. Please welcome now to

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say a few words, Toronto's mayor, her worship, Olivia Chow.

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What an honor to be here. I don't know. I'm lost for words.

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I'm so excited to be here. In some ways, though, I felt,

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Rufus, darkness. And it's time that when things are a bit dark and

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when that debate is going on in Alberta, when you're feeling that things

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are not going your way, that polarization, hatreds, that feeling of why

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can't I be who I am? When you're feeling that things are hard,

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think about history. Because, okay, there was always a feeling that if we

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come together as a community, there is hope. There are so much talent

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and love in this room. There's so much power in this room.

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I see Salah here. I see all these really generous people.

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It takes an ally like me that have been around for a long

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time to tell you that there is hope. As long as there is

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community, unity of purpose, then there is hope.

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Thank you for allowing me to share this moment with you.

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So celebrate. Have a great evening. Olivia Chow, everybody. Olivia, I love

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you for always coming to Woody's, the gay bars, and having a drink

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with the queens. Thank you. But here's my reminder to you to,

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you know, maybe let's not bulldoze those gay bars for condos, okay? 0:03:02.6Daniel

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MacIvor,: As we've maintained all through this podcast, Queer Joy is made

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up of equal parts heartbreak and protest. So Mayor Chow gets our heartbreak

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and joy in, and Priyanka brings the protest. Thank you, Queen.

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And something you may have missed in the mayor's comments. When she was

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speaking about the talent and love and power in the room,

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she said, I see Salah here. The Salah she speaks of is Salah

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Bachir. Salah was there to receive the inaugural Legacy Award. When the

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idea of the Legacy Award first came up, we talked about whether to

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honor a celebrity or an activist or a bon vivant or a philanthropist

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and finally decided that for our first Legacy Award, why not all of

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the above and all in one person? Salah came from the business world.

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He was the president of Cineplex Media and the publisher of Cineplex Magazine

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and through that company co founded the Scene Awards Program. You may very

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well own a little piece of Salah as one of the program's 11

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million members. Most notably, though, Salah has been a foundational member

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of the queer community since the 1980s. He has been an incredible patron

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of the arts and collector. As a philanthropist, most visibly, he raised

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the money to build the 2010 wing on the 519 Community Centre. 0:04:23.1Daniel

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MacIvor,: And recently he and his husband Jacob Yerex led a transformational

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fundraising effort on behalf of Toronto St. Joseph Health Centre and the

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newly renamed Bachir Yerex Community Renal Centre for dialysis patients.

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Salah has been unstoppable, though in recent years, complications from a

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kidney transplant and some serious mobility issues have forced him to step

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back a bit. Though it hasn't hindered his promotional adventures in support

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of his 2023 memoir, First to Leave the Party. Nor did it stop

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him from attending the Pink Awards to receive his honor. Here's Salah's

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speech. I'm overwhelmed. I'm thankful. I wish I could do a lot more.

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Would like to do a lot more. Thank you very much for everything

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and I'm so glad to be in such fabulous company.

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Love you all. Thank you. David Walberg, thank you. Extra thank you.

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Michelle Mama, I want to do my documentary now.

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And when they go low, step on them. 0:05:33.3Daniel MacIvor,: If you don't

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know Michelle Mama, who Salah shouts out in his speech, you soon will.

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She's an award winning producer, director and showrunner. And recently with

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Bill Taylor, co founder of the most fabulously named production company

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ever, Gay Agenda. I asked Michelle how she came to be implicated in

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Salah's speech. So I am doing a documentary on the lesbian icon Carol

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Pope and one of the people I interviewed for that documentary was Salah.

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And when I was interviewing him I kind of said, you know what,

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Salah, like you're like such a like Forrest Gump type character. You are

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so interesting. And I just read his book and it's just juicy. If

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you like name dropping, I thought Carol was a good name dropper but

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my God. And he has a very interesting story. In some ways it's

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the Canadian dream. An immigrant who came here with his parents when he

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was 10 and made this and basically created an empire. You know,

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created an empire. And then on top of that, which is,

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I think the more important part, created a legacy of change. I was

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a little snot nosed, 20 something, running around, going to parties on Church

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Street and I would hear about these fancy galas that God knows I

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could never afford to go to that Salah was throwing. And he was

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this myth, this incredible human being who was not only a huge success,

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I mean, this is how far we've come, Daniel. Somebody in the early

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2000s being a CEO and a corporate titan and also being an out

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gay man was still a big deal. It was such a big deal.

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It was like, whoa, he runs Cineplex and he's gay. He's one of

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us. It's like we had someone on the inside. That was the vibe.

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We had an inside man in Salah Bachir. Very few people I think

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these days understand, it's very easy to make money and fuck off.

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You can be a selfish, greedy CEO who we see it all the

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time, but Salah was predisposed to give back. I think that has to

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do with his background. Speaking as a brown person, we're not the same

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flavor of brown. He's Lebanese and I'm Zoroastrian Parsi. But there is something,

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I think that you have to say. It has to come from his

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family, his DNA, his background, the generosity of people in the Middle

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East generally. It's that energy, that warmth that

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he brings to everything that he does. And he's a lion. He's a

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fierce, fierce supporter of people. And that spirit that he has,

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I hope carries on to future generations. I hope that selflessness is an

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inspiration to others. It is to me. He's an inspiration to me for

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sure. 0:08:16.5Daniel MacIvor,: Earlier I said that Salah came from the

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business world, but that's not entirely true. I brought up with Michelle

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a famous story about how Salah as a young teen in Rexdale,

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Ontario, met the American labor activist and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez

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when Chavez was in the area protesting for farmers rights. Salah had been

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inspired to raise money for the cause, but only managed to put together

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what Salah considered to be an unimpressive $150, 50 of it coming from

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Salah's own father. When Salah apologetically presented Chavez with the

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money, the activists praised the young Saleh, telling him, It's 150 more

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than we had this morning. He was a kid, right? And that's a

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formative moment to go, oh, I can make change. I mean,

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I think you've identified like, kind of his hero origin story maybe right

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there, that moment where he was like, oh, I'm just a little dude,

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but I can affect change. 0:09:12.7Daniel MacIvor,: Where does that impulse

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come from? And maybe it's what you're talking about in terms of culturally,

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it's something. I think it comes from being from elsewhere. I think it

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comes from seeing, growing up in a part of the world where you

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are elbow to elbow with struggle and with poverty and with strife in

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countries that are in conflict, in war zones. And I think there's a,

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there is an energy around the gratitude of

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being in a new place and being accepted and being welcomed.

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And even if it's not conscious, I think there is, a thing of

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my life could have gone very differently. I could be there,

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I could be going through that, and I'm here and I'm grateful. That's

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the thing. When you live between two worlds, you're never... When you go

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home, you're, he's never going to be Lebanese enough. When he's here,

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he's never going to be Canadian enough. You live in the in between.

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But it can also be a superpower. It kind of creates almost this international

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passport energy, where he's the international James Bond wingman of all

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time or something. He gets joy from watching other people flourish and thrive

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and be in their element. And he's, another thing about people from the

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Middle East, they love music, entertainment, parties. If only I could have

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been at his dinner parties in the '80s, you know what I mean? He

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just is, it's not a boring ass party with monoculture. He's gonna have

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a rent boy, and he's gonna have Margaret Atwood, and he's gonna have

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Elizabeth Taylor and he's gonna have some crazy leather dykes. And I know.

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I've read the book, I know what his dinner parties were like.

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And it's like, wow. And then you add the queer element to it.

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So it wasn't just high, low in terms of class and strata.

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It was also like, queer and straight, and that affects change.

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That's the Trojan horse element of what Salah Bachir has done in his

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life is introduce people from different worlds and demystify those people

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to each other. And I think that is social lubrication of the finest,

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finest order. You can't get better than that. They. They broke the mold

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with Salah, frankly. And I think that sort of spirit,

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it's the best, honestly, he's the best example for an immigrant story. Here's

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this person with all of these qualities that are maybe not North American

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who comes here and makes everything better for other people. I hope that

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when Salah closes his eyes at night, he understands the impact he's made

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and understands how the echoes of it and the ripples of it will

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continue for generations. I will say this, and you can include it or

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not, because it really upset me. At the end of that event,

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he sort of said, oh, well, and I don't know if he said

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this to you too, but he was a little, I don't know,

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glum I guess is the word. And he said, nobody cares about me

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anymore now that I don't have money and now that I don't have

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status, or he said something very sort of dark like that to me,

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and I was really, like, shook. Because you would hope that at the

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end of this long, winding, beautiful, strange journey of his life,

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that he would feel a sense of satisfaction looking back and going, yeah,

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I did that. And I can rest, and I can be proud of

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it. And I just really hope he does know. I hope that he

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does realize his value and currency to people isn't what's in his bank

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account or what arts on his wall or what gorgeous property he hosts

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people in. It's in his heart and soul. It's who he is as

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a human. We are all lucky to just be in his orbit again. What

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you leave behind in the world and how you change and help people,

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I think is the only thing that matters. Honestly. That's legacy.

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That's the end of the day. All of these people who can look

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to him and go, my life changed because of you.

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That's it. That's a legacy. That's something to be so, so proud of. 0:13:29.5Daniel

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MacIvor,: When we come back, I talk to Salah. This is Queer Joy,

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and I'm Daniel MacIvor. The 2024 PTP Pink Awards was made possible by

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the generous support of our sponsors, and we are deeply Grateful for the

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generosity of our title sponsor, DECIEM The Abnormal Beauty Company. Thanks

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to Sarah Frumstein and the entire DECIEM team.

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Salah has been my close friend for over 25 years. The first time

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I met Salah, it was in his office. I was interviewing for a

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job. I was not even 25. I was trying to impress Mr. Bachir and

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the only thing that came out of my mouth was, I'm going to

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introduce you to some people. That's cute, right? Salah introduced me to

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like three mayors, including Olivia Chow, to a prime minister, to three

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Governor General, to Elton John, and the list goes on. And I knew

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the bartenders at Fly. We say that in the queer community,

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we choose our own family. I chose Salah and it was an honor

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to have Salah chose me as well. So, Salah, tonight, I thank you.

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We thank you. And please keep doing the excellent work that you've been

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doing for all these years. Merci. 0:15:06.4Daniel MacIvor,: Welcome back

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to Queer Joy. I'm Daniel MacIvor and that was Canada Media Fund's Vice

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President of communications and Promotions, Mathieu Chantelois introducing

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legacy award winner, Salah Bachir at the 2024 PTP Pink Awards.

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And this is my conversation with Salah. 0:15:22.9Daniel MacIvor,: Where

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are you, Salah? Where are you currently at this moment? I'm in Paris, Ontario.

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0:15:28.7Daniel MacIvor,: Thanks for doing this. Thank you. 0:15:31.5Daniel

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MacIvor,: How did this all start? Can you talk a little bit about,

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that's $150 more than we had this morning.

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Yeah, that's stuck with me my whole life.

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We were boycotting grapes outside in Rexdale, Rexdale Plaza, north suburb

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of Toronto. And I didn't collect very much money and I was going

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to go meet, see the Chavez that night. And

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my dad, who's a union man, was a union man with the local

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46, the welders and pipe fitters, and gave me $50 extra.

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And then I was sheepishly, went up, said to him, I only collected

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$150. But he explained that $150, how it would go, how would we

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spend. And it's $150 more than we had this morning. 0:16:23.7Daniel MacIvor,:

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How old were you at that time? 16 or 17. 0:16:28.7Daniel MacIvor,: So

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what motivated, what pushed you? What do you think? What was it?

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I've never been one to ignore something and then

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I'm not sure whether it's a tight knit village life that we had

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or whether it was just something that's in you that

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you need to do. As in some cases, you spend more money than

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you have doing. 0:16:50.8Daniel MacIvor,: You speak about this sort of general

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idea of we want to do this. I don't know that people generally

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want to do it. I think it's something very particular to you and

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people like you. Yeah. I mean, I'm surprised as I look back. And there's

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huge things that are done where money isn't raised and it's just spent

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on an evening of cocktails and people doing stuff. And then no one

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tells you where their money goes. So you can tell, we've raised $2

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million, but the expenses behind it. And I think that that's important to

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make sure that it gets to the people you're trying to get to.

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It does what it has to do. 0:17:29.5Daniel MacIvor,: If I were going

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to identify, and you may disagree with this, but I feel if I

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was going to give you, like three babies, I would say the 519,

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artists generally and the Renal Clinic. Am I missing anything that's super

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significant for you? AIDS, the AIDS Foundation, stuff in the Middle East.

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We've done a lot in the Middle East. Also poverty and whatever an

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area I'm in that I see, like, real need. I mean,

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for me, the 519 does everything. Because the 519 used to have a

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clothing exchange program, used to have a health bus years ago.

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Used to be the Hassle Free Clinic, used to be out of there.

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It is the hub, no matter what your politics are. Unless you're a

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fascist, I suppose. The Renal Clinic in healthcare, you know, because of

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my kidney transplants and stuff. I did a lot of my dialysis there.

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And so little things that I would see that, you know,

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when you're sitting on a bed for four hours and old TVs aren't

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working and you need to get little things and a generator when there

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was flooding in the area, when, you know, so you could keep going

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on dialysis. We did a gala saying, don't dress up, don't go out.

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Just give us money. And that worked. And many of those things were

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minor things, but major in a lot of ways.

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The art theme has become quite a bit very Canadian in a way. 0:18:55.4Daniel

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MacIvor,: It's stunning. What an amazing collection that you have. Thank

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you. 0:19:00.6Daniel MacIvor,: People like Kent Monkman, they're so important,

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but also mostly queer people. Yeah. 0:19:05.7Daniel MacIvor,: Do you remember

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what your first purchase? Your first... I usually just bought art that friends

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that needed money, I would buy art from and gift them or do

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something like that. You support as much as people as you can and

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become friends and you get involved in the process of getting to know

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them and to introduce their art to other people. 0:19:30.0Daniel MacIvor,:

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What are you proudest of? What am I proudest of? 0:19:39.0Daniel MacIvor,:

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That you've accomplished, that you've done. This is where you're editing,

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right? I'm proud that I was able to do what I did

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wherever I could. It wasn't just having a lot of money,

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writing a check, that I was an activist. I was on the streets,

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I was involved. It isn't about buildings and things named after me and

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that I was an activist all my life, in a way that when

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I could walk and go to demonstrations and participate in all aspects.

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And I'm proud that... I wish I could have done more.

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I wish I could still do more. 0:20:30.0Daniel MacIvor,: What's your advice

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to the community in terms of how do we come together as a

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united voice? People have to remember that 40 years ago you couldn't even

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mention the word hate. We've come a long way, but we may have

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stepped back a little bit. But it's still every cause to fight on

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and learn from those generations, the Larry Kramers and the ACT UP.

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And we are all part of a united front. We are all our

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allies. And then you have to have a united front for a common

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enemy. And then if you believe in community or in our community,

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then you can't then take our community and keep slicing it into slices

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of pie of community. I think the bigger picture, always keep your eye,

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as I said, that united front. The youth who are looking at us

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now, here in Paris, Ontario, there's drag nights, there's painted sidewalks.

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It's so active. And that's what we need to support the people who

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the Trump administration or whoever comes here, it's slowly taking away

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rights while we're bickering. And so I think being vigilant, and they can

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do their stuff but we can do a lot more of our stuff

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to get our agenda around. And in the end, I think the majority

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is on our side. That's why a united front is important. 0:21:57.6Daniel

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MacIvor,: It's the loud minority that seems to be taking all the oxygen,

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though. We tend to be quiet. Right? And I guess we have to

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get louder, maybe. Yeah, yeah. 0:22:07.2Daniel MacIvor,: Anyway, I won't

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keep you any longer, Salah. Thank you. That was great. And I'm going

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to talk to Michelle about you next week. You talking to Michelle about

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me? Why? 0:22:16.0Daniel MacIvor,: Well, because you called out. You said

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in your speech, at the end of the speech, you're like,

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oh, wait, wait, Michelle Mama, I'm ready for my documentary. So I'm gonna...

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I want to know. I want to hear about it. What was the

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word I had read about you, that it was a word that I...

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It was... Surprised me. Bashful. Bashful. I would never use that word to

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describe you. But then when I heard it, I thought, oh,

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yeah, maybe you are. You're shy in a way. Yeah. I think behind

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all of that, you don't want to lose yourself in other things. 0:22:56.1Daniel

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MacIvor,: Yeah. Anyway. All right, we'll leave it at that. I'll,

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hopefully we'll get to see you. Okay, great. 0:23:03.7Daniel MacIvor,: Okay.

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All right. Okay, thank you. Bye. 0:23:07.2Daniel MacIvor,: Okay, bye. 0:23:10.0Daniel

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MacIvor,: I left that bit on at the end because I wanted you

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to hear Salah's thank you. The sincerity of it, the smallness of it.

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This is the paradox at the heart of this powerful, bashful man.

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I don't think it's a new thing for Salah, but it feels more

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present, more tender. And maybe this is something of what Michelle noted

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as the glumness she felt in Salah after the Pink Awards ceremony.

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I wonder if it's directly related to someone coming face to face with

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the idea of their legacy. Because in fact, legacy is not something experienced

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by the conductor of that legacy. It's only something that exists in its

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effect. It's only really felt in the absence of the person to whom

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the legacy belongs. No, not belongs. It belongs to those left behind,

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really. It's another bit of heartbreak. But let's motivate that heartbreak

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to inspire its siblings, protest and joy. Let's look forward into another

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round of champions and changemakers and the PTP Pink Awards 2025.

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But first, a thank you to those who made the inaugural year such

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a success. Presenting sponsor DECIEM, award sponsor BMO and our tireless

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leaders, Jennifer McGuire and CEO David Walberg, Gina Hara, Andrew Chang,

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Mitchell Cheeseman, Lorilynn Barker, along with the whole PTP team, our

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hosts, Shannon Burns and Queen Priyanka, and from Kelly Green Company,

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the brilliant and unflappable Kelly Sudsbury and her fabulous wing person,

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Susie Adelson. 0:24:40.8Daniel MacIvor,: Queer Joy was written and narrated

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by me, Daniel MacIvor, produced by Pink Triangle Press and edited and mixed

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by Jamie Foulds at Soundpark Studios. And here's some joy to go out

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on, I'm a Star, Priyanka's downloadable single and a reminder to all these

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stars, and especially you, Salah. I'm Daniel MacIvor. Thanks for listening.

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So get on up. You're no zero. You are strong, somebody's hero. You're the

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one, keep it fun, never done, your story's just begun. Love me,

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hate me, underestimate me. Pin me, break me, appreciate me. I can take

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it off by the fall, baby, you will see.

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Baby, I'm a star.