June is Delight Month, and Delight Week falls within the remaining week. In Toronto, the Delight and Remembrance Run, celebrating its thirtieth anniversary, is the one athletic occasion held yearly throughout Delight Week. Toronto’s Bernie Lee Thompson (he/they) is an 80-year-old trans non-binary runner who has earned greater than 600 medals since taking on operating and strolling 16 years in the past. They transitioned at age 72, demonstrating each resilience and the significance of visibility throughout the 2SLGBTQ+ group. Lee Thompson serves as an envoy for the run.
A runner’s starting
Lee Thompson started operating after their twin sister was identified with terminal colon most cancers. Motivated to take their very own well being extra severely, they turned to strolling and operating whereas dealing with the lack of each their brother and sister. When Lee Thompson was dwelling in Hamilton, they discovered help via the Steps to Well being program with Good Shepherd, the place they had been inspired to coach for his or her first race: the Hamilton Marathon Road2Hope 5K.
At the moment, Lee Thompson runs each race in honour of their late brother, sister and shut good friend, Glenda Cameron. Additionally they sit on the Good Shepherd Lived Expertise Advisory Council and credit score the group for its unwavering help as they transitioned.
“With the steering and help from Good Shepherd, I began to run,” Lee Thompson instructed Canadian Working. “I began racing and having enjoyable. I used to be shedding pounds, and that was the primary factor for me. Working has saved me wholesome each bodily and mentally. I by no means thought I’d be operating like this after I was 80.”
Neighborhood steering
Lee Thompson credit the 2SLGBTQ+ group with serving to them navigate their transition journey.
“The truth that I might be non-binary with no disgrace means all the pieces to me,” Lee Thompson mentioned. “Transitioning at 72 wasn’t simple, however I had numerous help from youthful trans and non-binary individuals after I was dwelling in Hamilton. To be with a group that’s so supportive and makes me really feel wanted, wished, accepted and revered for what I’ve to say means a lot.”
That help helped Thomspon change into a frontrunner and an lively member of the group. Though they’ve since moved again to Toronto, they proceed to serve on the Hamilton Trans Well being Advisory Committee.
In Toronto, Lee Thompson has discovered group via the Toronto Epic Choir for trans and non-binary singers. Additionally they lately participated in a digital storytelling workshop: 2SLGBTQ+ E/elders Share their Digital Tales of Growing old with Distinction, which was offered on the Lesbo-Queer Solidarities Symposium in Montreal on March 6 and seven.
Full circle at Delight run
When Lee Thompson first ran the Delight and Remembrance run in 2017, they competed as an Ontario masters runner and had been registered within the feminine class. This yr, because the race marks its thirtieth anniversary, they’ll compete within the non-binary class.
The occasion was established to honour family members misplaced to AIDS and to advocate for the rights of the 2SLGBTQ+ group, making its mission particularly significant to Lee Thompson.
“Working the race all these years later at 80 as my true and genuine self could be very transferring for me, very particular,” Lee Thompson mentioned. “Particularly contemplating the which means of the race, I’ve a historical past with the AIDS epidemic and was concerned in it.”
Throughout the disaster, Lee Thompson was concerned with Metropolitan Neighborhood Church of Toronto (MCC Toronto), a progressive Christian church rooted in 2SLGBTQ+ activism.
“Throughout the epidemic, I used to be a deacon with MCC Toronto and noticed numerous the individuals who misplaced family members to AIDS. I additionally misplaced individuals in my life,” Lee Thompson mentioned. “I’m now dwelling in the identical space of Toronto I did again within the 60s, and now I’m honoured as a delight ambassador, which is all the pieces to me, an actual full-circle second.”
