Buried Memory/Alarming Find in the U of C Archives

Younger folk here at Calgary Outlink have asked me what the environment was like for queers in Calgary when I was their age.  [For the record I am 42.]  I often reply that there was an element of danger being out, going to clubs, and in associating in general.  I remember nervously looking over my shoulder around the Beltline, and knew of people who had been bashed.

However, combing through the archives at the University of Calgary this morning, I found this poster in a 1992 file from the Gay and Lesbian Academics Students and Staff Society (GLASS) that gave me a jolt.

gay bashing

A U of C undergraduate student at the time, I have a distant memory of this event.  On June 17, 1992 this exact poster was found tacked to the door of  GLASS – the invitation to a gay bashing to be held at the same location at an upcoming rally for gay and lesbian rights.

In a press release the next day, Greg Lane, Co-chair for GLASS wrote, “Lesbians, gays and bisexuals live in a continual climate of potential violence.  I am deeply concerned about these tools of oppression.”  He noted that it was not the first time that GLASS had been targeted on campus.

In a move of solidarity, student politicians from the Students’ Unions of U of C, SAIT and Mount Royal College, all swiftly and publicly condemned the action of the unknown poster author, who to my knowledge was never caught, despite police involvement.

[Special thanks to Karen Buckley at the U of C Archives for research assistance.]

3 responses to “Buried Memory/Alarming Find in the U of C Archives

  1. Not sure “like” is an appropriate response. But thanks for doing this research. Maybe what we need is a “food for thought” button, or maybe an “OMG” button.

  2. I believe that there continue to be individuals in our society who are gay haters. We believe that this should not be but ignorance continues to be live and well.

  3. I was chased by people with baseball bats & broken bottles outside of the Parkside in the early 80’s

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