Calgary Gay History

Key of T Brings Trans Joy to YYC

Posted on September 17, 2026 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

{During Pride Week, we were honoured to be featured in a Calgary Herald Changemaker Profile. A heartfelt thank you to the Herald for shining a light on the importance of preserving Calgary’s queer history. And now on to another changemaker, Ari Agha. —Kevin}

There’s something wonderful about a room full of people singing together.

On Sunday, September 27, trans singer and activist Ari Agha (they/them) returns to Calgary with Key of T, a joyful, participatory show that blends queer storytelling, music, and community.

For Agha, it’s also something of a homecoming. They lived in Calgary for more than a decade before moving to Ottawa last year, and they’re looking forward to reconnecting with the queer and trans communities they knew here.

“Key of T undermines trans oppression with something both simple and radical: a loud, communal celebration of trans joy,” Agha says.

Agha has been touring Key of T for the past two years and describes the energy when a room fills with queer folks as “electric.”

Agha adds: “Key of T is a sing-along, and the sing-along format has roots in queer history, from the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt gatherings often featuring collective singing, to the tradition of gay men’s and lesbian choruses emerging in the late 1970s/80s. The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, founded 1978, is often cited as the first, formed partly in response to Harvey Milk’s assassination as a direct, public act of visibility and resistance.”

Come for the stories, stay for the songs—and perhaps make a little Calgary queer history together.

{KA}

I’m heartbroken over Harry…

Posted on September 10, 2026 by Kevin Allen | 3 comments

This week, Calgary lost one of its most accomplished storytellers with the death of Harry “the Historian” Sanders. For many, Harry brought Calgary’s past to life through his writing, research, walking tours, and countless conversations about the city he knew so well. For me, his loss is also personal. Harry was a colleague, a fellow researcher, and someone I shared a love of Calgary history with.

*Harry Sanders circa 1995, in the University of Calgary’s alumni magazine.*

Decades ago, Harry and I worked together at the Central Library, and although I came late to the history community, Harry welcomed me with open arms. Since the Calgary Gay History Project was founded in 2012, we’ve shared historical information, compared discoveries, and helped one another track down the details that turn an interesting story into an accurate one. Harry had an extraordinary store of knowledge, but what I especially appreciated was his generosity with it.

Dozens of times over the years, Harry came across pieces of Calgary’s gay history while pursuing his own research and made a point of passing them along to me. A newspaper clipping, a name, an event, an unexpected connection—if Harry bumped into something he thought would be useful to my research, he made sure I had it. Those exchanges meant a great deal to me. They also said something fundamental about Harry: history was never something to possess or guard. It was something to share.

That generosity extended far beyond his colleagues. Through his books, research, public appearances and walking tours, Harry had a wonderful ability to make local history engaging and accessible. Most recently, he became editor of Alberta History magazine, succeeding another legend of Alberta history, Hugh Dempsey. It was a fitting passing of the torch between two remarkable keepers of Alberta’s stories.

In a CBC memorial interview this week, Harry’s friend Bob van Wegan said his death leaves a “Harry-shaped crater” in Calgary’s historical community. Harry created an impressive body of work, but his legacy also lives on in countless smaller acts of generosity—the discoveries shared, the questions answered, the connections made, and the curiosity encouraged.

Harry was an extraordinary historian. His passion for history was inspiring. The stories he gave us will endure.

Calgary knows itself better because Harry Sanders cared so deeply. I feel fortunate to have been his colleague, and I will miss him greatly.

{KA}

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Tagged Alberta History, bisexual, Bob van Wegan, Calgary, Calgary Pride, CBC, Central Library, gay, Gay history, Harry Sanders, history, Hugh Dempsey, lesbian, queer, transgender

Thunderhead Launched!

Posted on September 3, 2026 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

{We’re delighted to share this guest post from former Calgary Gay History Project volunteer Matt Gillespie, who was our Calgary correspondent on the ground in Ottawa for the launch! Thanks so much for representing us and sharing the experience, Matt! — Kevin}

*The ribbon cutting, photo: Matt Gillespie*

On August 21, 2026, the 2SLGBTQI+ National Monument called Thunderhead was dedicated on the banks of the Ottawa River just below the National Archives and Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa. This monument came about because of injustices inflicted on citizens by their own government over a period of 40-plus years—now known as The LGBT Purge. Between the 1950s and mid-1990’s, the government of Canada systematically hunted, harassed and fired 2SLGBTQI+ members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP and the federal public service.

Carried out by the highest levels of government under the false pretense of national security, it was one of the largest human rights violations of any workforce in Canadian history.

Thousands of lives were devastated. It formally ended after the Government of Canada was taken to court in 1992. Later, survivors received a measure of justice when they won a class action lawsuit against the government in 2018. Funds from this settlement were used to build the monument and fund other projects across the country to remember and memorialize this event.

Many Purge survivors, including Calgary’s Nancy Miller, were in attendance. Others such as myself were invited as Purge Fund Grant recipients; in 2020, Unison Choruses Canada, which has its Head Office in the new Rainbow Room in Calgary, received funding for three choral works that tell the story of those who were victims of The Purge.

The mood at the dedication was one of relaxed celebration. On a beautiful, hot day in Ottawa, we were welcomed by Elder Claudette Commanda and serenaded by SoulBear, the Ottawa Queer Youth Choir, Calamine, and Jeremy Dutcher. In attendance were members of the queer caucus from the House of Commons and the Senate, the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada, who in 2017 delivered a formal apology in the House of Commons to the Purge survivors. Speeches by Ivan Coyote, former MP Svend Robinson, Canada’s first out queer MP, Rechie Valdez, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality, Michelle Douglas, the Executive Director of the LGBT Purge Fund, Martine Roy and Todd Ross, Co-Chairs of the LGBT Purge Fund and all purge survivors and finally Her Excellency the Right Honourable Louise Arbour, Governor General of Canada.

After the ceremony, many dignitaries and audience members joined an impromptu dance party at the foot of the monument, with the Governor General leading the way.