VERNON BRIDGE, P.E.I. — A long-time bed and breakfast owner says the only way he’s ever known how to fight for gay rights is to face discrimination head on.
Jim Culbert, 69, who has run the Green Gay Bulls bed and breakfast in Vernon Bridge for the past eight years, is probably best known as the owner of the Rainbow Lodge a few houses down on the Trans-Canada Highway, the province’s first openly gay-friendly tourism establishment.
With Pride activities about to start ramping up in the next two weeks, Culbert sat down with The Guardian this past week to discuss how far things have come over the years.
From his recollection, people didn’t openly talk about being gay or lesbian when he first arrived.
“I came roaring into town (P.E.I.) in 1988 and put up the rainbow flag and then found out there were gay people on the Island," Culbert said. “The only thing that was publicly advertised at the time was the lesbian hotline in The Guardian."
He met a few people and they decided to start having dances at his house in Vernon Bridge. They quickly grew so popular the dances moved to various hotels in Charlottetown.
He eventually purchased a building just up the road from his house in Vernon Bridge and turned it into an upholstery business, subsequently turning it into the Rainbow Lodge bed and breakfast. That’s when he was exposed to the homophobia that was rampant in society at the time.
“I’ve had things thrown at the house. You could always tell somebody was going to do something. They’d be coming down that hill (into Vernon Bridge) and you could hear a car coming and then you could hear it slowing down so it was either going to stop in or you’d look up and somebody was mooning you or they were yelling, ‘faggot’, or, ‘queer’, or stuff like that. I got (hate) letters and (hate) calls."
He’s also had a knife held to his throat and been stalked, yet he never considered leaving or giving up. Instead, he became outspoken about gay rights and openly welcomed gay couples to stay at the lodge.
WATCH: Jim Culbert speaks about homophobia at UPEI in 2010:
Culbert keeps all of the mail he has received, good and bad, in a photo album, a reminder to him of what people can be like and how far things have come.
One case involving voicemails he received about 20 years ago stands out. Culbert received a series of homophobic phone calls from a group of teenagers. Each time, he phoned the RCMP who opened an investigation. Police got a hold of his phone records to see who was calling.
They eventually tracked down one young man who was leaving harassing messages. RCMP went to the teenagers’ parents home.
Culbert said he received a letter of apology from the young man but that wasn't enough. He wanted to educate the 15-year-old teenager. So, Culbert, through the boy’s parents, invited the young man over where Culbert had gathered with some friends.
“I wanted him to see that we weren’t people with horns. He went away; I went away and I think his parents went away feeling better."
That boy ended up working for Culbert, cutting his lawn.
Today, that teenager is now a businessman in Charlottetown and is married with two children.
He agreed to an interview with The Guardian on the condition his name not be used.
“Looking back on it now, it’s embarrassing that it even happened," the man said. “We thought we were being funny and weren’t thinking about the fact that somebody is going to pick up these voicemails and listen to these hurtful things that are said."
In the letter of apology he wrote to Culbert 10 years ago, the boy said he left the homophobic messages on a dare. In the interview the man did with The Guardian this past week, the man doesn't want to talk about why he did it, saying that there are no excuses that justify that kind of behaviour.
“People use words without thinking about what they really mean and I think that was a lot of it."
Thinking back on it now, the man said he never stopped to think that the person on the receiving end of the phone calls might be someone struggling with their sexuality or it might be someone whose family is giving them a hard time about their sexuality.
“If I’m piling on, things can escalate pretty quickly and put someone in a pretty precarious mental health situation," he said.
The man said he can appreciate how his parents must have felt when they found out about the harassing phone calls.
“My parents were pretty disappointed in me ... and, if it were my kids in that situation, I would be very, very disappointed."
The man said if there’s one message he can convey, it’s that words are powerful. There are often consequences for a person's actions, regardless of the intent.
Culbert said it wasn’t all bad. He also remembers those who have reached out in support.
“Another time, I got a letter from (a student at) Montague High School that said, ‘Dear Mr. Culbert, I’m sorry for all the things happening to you. I just want you to know not everybody in Prince Edward Island are like them. You’ve done a lot for the gay community on P.E.I.’."
“I’ve had things thrown at the house. You could always tell somebody was going to do something. They’d be coming down that hill (into Vernon Bridge) and you could hear a car coming and then you could hear it slowing down so it was either going to stop in or you’d look up and somebody was mooning you or they were yelling, ‘faggot’, or, ‘queer’, or stuff like that. I got (hate) letters and (hate) calls."
- Jim Culbert
In an effort to make P.E.I. a more gay-friendly destination, Culbert helped found the P.E.I. Gay Tourism Association, which operated as a volunteer organization for a decade before dissolving a few months ago due to a lack of volunteers.
Bill Kendrick, the former chairman of the association, said Culbert has been instrumental in the fight for equality on P.E.I.
“And, he’s been critical to the raising of awareness of the LGBTQ+ community on the Island," Kendrick said, adding that Culbert and others were also key to establishing the Abegweit Rainbow Collective as well as Pride P.E.I.
“I think, without Jim and his efforts, I don’t think we’d be anywhere close to where we are today."
Kendrick said not only did he openly welcome gay men and women to his bed and breakfast, he spoke publicly about equal rights.
“He gave confidence to others within the community to come out and engage in action."
Neither Kendrick or Culbert would suggest that things are absolutely perfect on P.E.I. today but both acknowledge strides have been made.
Many businesses now fly the rainbow flag or display the Pride colours. Pride flags are flown by many municipalities across the province, crosswalks in Charlottetown now display the rainbow colours, numerous Pride activities have taken place and Pride parades now draw thousands of spectators in Charlottetown, at least until the pandemic shut the door on that this year.
Culbert admits he didn’t think he’d see all of this when he moved here in 1988.
“I never thought it would happen but we just plugged away," Culbert said.
As for the name of his bed and breakfast, when he opened it eight years ago he wanted to name it Green Gay Bulls but the registry office in Charlottetown said he would have to run it first by the Lucy Maud Montgomery licensing authority, which gave him the green light.
Culbert said it reflects his continued efforts to be gay-friendly while also acknowledging a part of what has made the Island so famous. Culbert even ran it by Montgomery's daughter-in-law, Ruth Macdonald and her daughter Kate Macdonald-Butler. They loved it.
“Ruth would come down and visit me ... we used to have a laugh over this."
Culbert would have celebrated his 32nd year in the bed and breakfast industry this year but he chose not to open this year due to COVID-19.
