Ehlers continues equal rights advocacy at Pride Toronto

In the wake of her award of ‘extraordinary ally’ at last year’s International Pride Awards, Drag Night co-chief executive and Equal Namibia board member Lize Ehlers recently returned from Pride Toronto.

Having engaged in a series of round-table discussions, meetings and events aimed at advancing equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex and other (LGBTQI+) people around the world, Ehlers flew the Namibian flag high as an international ally ambassador.

Ehlers’ Canadian trip was facilitated by Pride Toronto executive director Kojo Modeste and executive director of Dignity Network Canada, Doug Kerr. Highlights from her engagement include discussing safety, ally-ship and the importance of showing up.

“I had the honour of speaking about safety – not only as a physical right, but as a sacred, intergenerational responsibility,” says Ehlers, who also performed a song at the event.

“When I performed ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’, I felt the ancestors move through the room. That song was my offering – a call to remember our roots, our elders, our wisdom keepers,” she says.

“That’s why I am called ‘DJ Rise Elders’, because I carry their voices, their struggles, their resilience in everything I do. Our elders are the architects of our freedom. To honour them is to protect them. To care for them is to sustain the spirit of our movement.”

Ehlers also shared insights from a human rights round table hosted by Pride Toronto and the European Union.

“As a panellist, I had the honour of speaking about ally-ship and the radical, ongoing power of showing up – not just in moments of celebration, but especially in times of silence, struggle, and systemic injustice,” she says.

“To sit alongside such fierce advocates and change makers reminded me that human rights work is collective, complex, and absolutely necessary.”

While Toronto Pride is one of the largest pride celebrations in the world, filled with networking opportunities, discussions and media engagements, it is also a colourful display of queer culture, drag artistry and a place of community building and connection.

As an international ally ambassador, Ehlers was invited to march in front of the pride parade and wore custom MN Creations with hair by Windhoek’s IAM Hair & Beauty.

“I ululated until my voice was gone,” she says.

“Representing Namibia at Pride Toronto has been life-changing. The trans march and opening ceremony moved me in ways I can’t fully describe. I was surrounded by thousands of beautiful beings – all marching for love, dignity, and inclusion. This is what solidarity looks like.”

For Ehlers, a full circle moment was reuniting with Drag Night Namibia founding venue partners Hanan Paikin and Johnathan Fong at Pride Toronto.

Paikin and Fong live in Canada but were the owners of Windhoek’s Café Prestige, which was Drag Night’s first home in 2021.

Reflecting on the experience as a whole, Ehlers says she has expanded her understanding of LGBTQI+ visibility and its potential for change.

“Coming back from Canada, one thing that stood out to me is the intentional infrastructure around inclusion – they don’t just talk about diversity, they fund it, platform it, and protect it in policy,” she says.

“Everywhere I walked, I saw pride – every store, every sidewalk. I was gobsmacked! I’ve learnt that visibility alone isn’t enough; it must be matched with real systems of care, safety, and opportunity.”

As Equal Namibia prepares to challenge Namibia’s Marriage Act, which was recently amended to define marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman, effectively prohibiting the recognition of same-sex marriages, Ehlers is proud to announce the organisation’s partnership with Freedom to Marry Global.

“We’re proud to be partnering with Freedom to Marry Global to equip campaigners with the tools they need to fight for marriage equality with clarity and courage,” she says.

“All allies and queer activists are welcome to join our upcoming online training and can sign up at freedomtomarryglobal.org/training.”

Honoured as an ‘extraordinary ally’ and taking Namibia’s fight for LGBTQI+ equality beyond borders, Ehlers offers some advice for ally-ship in one’s daily life.

“Being an ally means being present, proactive, and consistent. It means standing up when it’s uncomfortable, educating myself instead of expecting others to do it for me, and using my privilege to protect my queer family, friends and colleagues,” she says.

“Ally-ship is a verb – it’s what you do. In Namibia, being an active ally might mean listening more, hiring queer people, creating platforms for LGBTQI+ voices, and pushing back on policies and practices that exclude the community,” she says.

“And, if anything, spread love speech, instead of hate speech. This is my biggest wish.”

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com

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