HALIFAX – Nearly six months after his murder shocked residents of Halifax, the legacy of Raymond Taavel will be honoured with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Darren Lewis, Taavel’s partner of 10 years, learned Thursday afternoon the 49-year-old activist would receive the posthumous honour at a ceremony later this fall.
Lewis said he knew Taavel had been nominated, but the news was “a very, very happy surprise.”
Lewis admits it’s been “a long hard struggle” in the months since Taavel’s tragic death, but he said he hopes other advocates and activists realize that hardwork gets noticed.
“I think this particular marking of his work is something that will inspire others to continue… in the fashion that he did,” Lewis said.
Taavel was a well-respected gay rights, political and community activist. He was a driving force behind Halifax’s Pride committee in its formative years and his death stuck the LGBT community particularly hard.
But, Lewis describes Taavel as “an activist without anger,” and the overwhelming sentiment in the wake of his murder was that he wouldn’t want revenge.
Taavel was beaten to death outside a popular gay bar, Menz Bar, on Gottingen Street in the early hours of April 17.
Police charged 32-year-old Andre Noel Denny with second-degree murder.
Denny was out on a one-hour, unescorted pass from the East Coast Forensic Hospital, in Dartmouth, when he was arrested around the corner from where Taavel was killed.
“Everyone came together with love and compassion and trying to be understanding, even in the horrible mess that was,” he said of the immediate reaction to the murder. “It’s a testament to him.”
In the hours following his murder, a makeshift memorial spread along a fence in front of where police found his body, rainbow flags were hung from windows of homes and business around Halifax and a candlelight vigil that evening drew hundreds of people into the street.
“I’m so proud of our community,” Halifax MP Megan Leslie said on the phone Thursday evening, “for the fact that we didn’t lash out, that we didn’t get out pitch forks and demand to ‘hang him high’ so to speak. We came together and said this is complicated… and we need to figure out what to do next.”
Taavel and Leslie were friends and he also worked on her political campaign.
Her office is just steps away from where he died.
Leslie describes Taavel as “the guy who was at everything.”
“We need people in our community who are committed to spreading the word,” Leslie said, “who are committed to getting good ideas out, who are committed to ensuring people are engaged and that was the kind of person that Raymond was.”
“His life was an example to others,” she said.
Like all MPs across Canada, Leslie is able to present 30 Diamond Jubliee medals to “distribute to people they see fit.”
“It could just be 30 people I think are nifty,” she said on the phone, “But, my team and I wanted to do something a little more legitimate, so we actually struck a committee and did a call for nominations.”
She said several people asked for Taavel to be one of the recipients. Leslie wouldn’t reveal all of the honourees until they’ve had the chance to be notified, but she said they range in ages from 11 to 100 and come from all backgrounds.
Taavel will be the only person Leslie will present the medal to posthumously. The only way the honour can be handed out posthumously is if the recipient passed away this year.
She said he left a “tremendous legacy,” something that was evident in the way Halifax residents came together “around the tragedy of his death.”
The way the community reacted to his murder and how they mourned is a part of Taavel’s legacy, she said.
The award presentation will take place in November.
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