Sun interview shines on Kenneth Jackson

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/02/2015 (4104 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You’ve been involved in theatrical productions in town since Ken Nichols’ opera “Hilda Blake” in 2000, right?

Yeah. And that’s even before all the musical theatre stuff. So for about 15 years now, I guess.

Would you call it a hobby? Really, for the number of shows you do, it’s like a full-time job that you don’t get paid for!

It’s the hobby that has kind of become a fairly large chunk of my life and time and my enjoyment and my social time, too.

Why do you like it?

I think there’s definitely something about getting up on stage. My brother, Steven, would say he’s the introvert, I’m the extrovert. And creating these characters on stage — there’s something about hearing the reaction from an audience. It’s a high! And there’s also an aspect of giving something back to the community — helping them experience something, possibly for the first time.

You’ve done a bunch of shows in town.

I was trying to remember if “Mary Poppins” — that’s coming up in May — will be 24 or 25 shows I’ve done with George (Buri of 7 Ages Productions).

You’ve done quite a bit with Mecca, too, right?

Yes. And I enjoy doing shows with both companies. I think they both bring different things to the table, or I should probably say to the stage. And there’s a lot of really great people to work with. With the BU Chorale — I sang with them for 11 years even though I have no formal vocal training — and equally, with the theatre stuff, I’ve always said that I’m not trained, but I’m really lucky that I’ve worked with really talented people who I’ve learned a lot from. Whether it’s someone like a Peter Pochynok (former general manager and stage director of the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium) about work behind the scenes or Shirley Jo Paine with costuming and Sheri Wallman doing makeup. And then working with different directors, different musical directors, different vocal coaches — I think all those experiences just make you a better performer and give you a different outlook on whatever show you’re in.

The next one coming up for you is “Mary Poppins” performing three shows as Bert, right?

Well, “Jesus Christ Superstar” first, with Mecca in March. I’m playing Simon.

What do you do for a living now? Because you were curator of the B.J. Hales museum until it went into storage, and now you’re with the Brandon School Division?

Yup. After my time at the museum, I spent close to 20 years with Central United, both singing and then choir conducting there. I’ve retired from that. But I’m full-time with the school division — I’m an educational assistant at Meadows elementary. Which again was another job that I sort of fell into and I’m still doing it. And I love it.

What do you like about it?

I get the chance to work with some very unique children in the division. Some of them are special needs children and, for instance, the young boy that I work with now, he’s just an amazing kid. And even though he has so many challenges in life, he’s got all these great abilities and I like working with that. I also like seeing kids that remind me maybe a little bit of me growing up, who are maybe a little different, sometimes didn’t always fit in. I’ve got some kids this year who I think are wonderful because they’re not afraid to express themselves.

As in being quirky is OK.

Yeah — being quirky is OK. And I think that’s awesome. Also, at my school, I’ve been able to kind of help out — I’ve taught a drama cluster with a group of kids. I help do displays in conjunction with our school librarian. So it’s interesting how I’ve found other things that I’m interested in and have been able to incorporate them into the school where I work.

Being quirky and being different leads me directly into — and it shouldn’t be different and it shouldn’t be quirky, but some people are still uncomfortable with people who are gay. I didn’t know YOU were for year and years. In fact, I think even you weren’t sure for some time, yes?

It’s one of those things where you kind of look back and you go, ‘What were my reasons for not being comfortable — with not being sure enough and comfortable with who I was?’ I have to commend my parents in hindsight, because they ended up with two sons who were very different from a lot of the kids we grew up with.

Different in what way?

Well, we’re both gay. So that’s kind of interesting. My brother is the playwright in the family. So we even kind of went down the same road that way. He’s gone back to school now for arts administration.

And of course growing up in a rural community, even just knowledge of what made us different in general — when I was going through high school, I don’t think those resources were always there for us. And for myself, there was always sort of the self-denial.

Is that because it was a tough road and it’s, sadly, still not completely accepted? I have dozens of gay friends and I love them dearly, and I just don’t understand the vitriol that’s directed toward them from some folks.

We’re not there yet. But looking at my years here in Brandon, the distance that we’ve come is astronomical in some ways. I’ve been involved with Brandon Pride now for five years, and even something as simple as helping convince city hall to fly our flag once a year — that’s a little gesture but it’s a big gesture. And just seeing how Westman in general is starting to change their viewpoint about people who are in the LGBTTQQI community.

OK, help me here — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender …

Two-spirited, queer, questioning and intersex. Sometimes they call us The Rainbow Tribe. And another thing is having a group like Pride in Brandon — there’ve been some other groups in Brandon that I think have helped the progress — Gay Friends of Brandon, GLOBE — but I think a lot of these organizations especially helped that last Q, which is Questioning. We have kids in our school systems now who are still questioning and that’s why it’s so important to have things like gay-straight alliances in high schools and have staff members in our schools who are accepting and understanding of those students.

And you were questioning for a long time, too, right?

Yup. A long time.

Some people say things like, ‘Well, I don’t mind people being gay as long as they aren’t overt about it.’ I think that’s insane and insulting. How do you respond to people like that? And the adjunct question often is, ‘Why do they have to be so flamboyant about it in the Pride parades?’ I keep trying to draw parallels between the gay movement and feminism, because women are not equal yet either! We have to push 10 feet to gain two.

I think we still have a ways to go. You look at some of the different communities where these people might have come from. And in a lot of cases, I can actually respect that their opinions are theirs, and it’s taking them a while to get used to the fact that it isn’t the way it used to be — we don’t all live in the closet anymore.

And even within the LGBT community, we have questions about whether the parades should be as flamboyant as they are — whether they should be celebrations or should they be about winning human rights. So even in our own community, we have our own hurdles to overcome.

I will say, though, that for the last few years, we’ve been involved in putting an entry into the Travellers’ Day Parade. And it can be anything from a group of people marching, to my car dressed up like the Rainbow Vehicle. And I’ve been really, really pleased with the reception that I’ve gotten from events like that. So I am happy that those positive feelings are out there for us and we DO have a lot of support in the community.

But it’s still an uphill climb, right?

Yes. We’re seeing in the States that they’re still fighting over the right to marry, which is something we’ve had in Canada for quite a while now. So there are still battles to be fought and there is still a journey ahead of us in certain areas to have the same rights as all Canadians.

When did you get so comfortable with this? When did you come out?

Probably more than a decade ago. It was definitely kind of gradual. The people you’re most comfortable with, those are the people you kind of tell. And the humorous side of it is, there were a few people who knew all along — like while I was questioning, there were some other people who knew. And sometimes you don’t have to have that conversation at all. I know with my parents, I never did really have that talk with them. And part of me regrets that. But I did have to laugh — it was after my father had passed away, and I made a remark — I said to my stepmom that I wished he and I had talked more. And she just shrugged, and she said, ‘He knew, and he was fine.’

I still think I had one of the weirdest coming-out stories. I’d already started the process with some friends and I had gone on Facebook one day and a friend of mine had posted a status about Happy National Coming Out Day. And I thought, ‘This is kind of cool! There’s no reason I can’t use that as I’m just saying Happy National Coming Out Day. So I put that on my status and I go away for a while, and check my Facebook a little while later and I’m like, ‘Oh I have 20 likes.’ Take a look at who they are and think, ‘Well, that’s kind of cool.’ Leave it and come back a couple of hours later and I’ve got 50 likes.

And so I look at what I meant to type and what I actually typed into the status, and I had actually forgotten the word ‘National’ and I had just punched in ‘Happy Coming Out Day.’ And then my mind kind of goes ‘Oh. Oh! OH!! What did I actually mean by that?’ And then I think, ‘I’m totally over-thinking this. I’m blowing this out of proportion.’

We were in rehearsals for “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” with Mecca, and when I walked into the rehearsal, I felt that there was a different mood in the room. And I will say that our present mayor (Rick Chrest) was in that cast, and he didn’t even say anything. He saw me and all he did was he held out his arms and he came over and he gave me a hug. And I felt really awesome. And then I thought, ‘Holy crap! I just came out on Facebook!’ So I think it was probably one of the best mistakes I’ve ever made.

I think part of your question also was what made me come out. And at some point I think you have to make that decision about how you are going to live your life and what are you going to do to make your life enjoyable. And hiding in the shadows was not for me. It’s not me to not be myself and I think there was a part of me that wasn’t happy being in the closet hiding.

I have a friend who’s very out — always has been. And when he changed jobs, his co-workers gave him a card that said, ‘I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not.’ And I liked that sentiment so much that I have it tacked up beside my desk. Does that speak to you, too?

Definitely. You look at the number of what we consider the more famous people in our societies who haven’t had that option. Think about an Oscar Wilde, an Alan Turing — poets, scientists, writers, actors, everyday people on the street who could not come out because at that time, it was against the law. You could go to jail for this. And we still have countries where that’s the case. It looks, right now, in the States that even the idea of marriage is going to go back to the Supreme Court.

But we are very lucky in North America. You don’t go to jail for it anymore. Some of these countries around the world, your life is in danger if you are in The Rainbow Tribe.

I wanted to talk to you at this point in time to kind of turn Valentine’s Day on its ear this year. Is Valentine’s Day an occasion that’s embraced by the gay community? You probably complain about it as much as we do!

(laughs) Oh, yeah. And that’s one of those stereotypes on which we still have a lot of work to do. Yes, we have Pride, but we have Christmas, we have Valentine’s, we have New Year’s, too! We have Kwanzaa, we have Hanukkah. We’re the same as anybody else. We just love somebody of the same sex.

Is there someone special in your life?

Not at the present, no. So I HATE Valentine’s this year! (laughs) And yes — there are gay people who don’t like Valentine’s Day either.

Do you have plans for Valentine’s Day?

There are a couple of friends who are having birthdays that day, so I think that’ll be possibly an evening out for me, too. Don’t worry — I’m not going to be sitting at home with a Kleenex!

» Anyone wanting more information about Brandon Pride or SERC, the Sexuality Education Research Centre, can find both organizations on Facebook.