{The Calgary Gay History Project is happy to share this national survey from the ArQuives! – Kevin}
The ArQuives is gearing up for an exciting new chapter, and we want you to be part of it! With support from Women and Gender Equality Canada, we launched Community Ties: Our Future Together, an initiative to strengthen our organization and expand our impact across Canada.
We’re at a pivotal moment for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities across Canada. With rising threats to queer and trans rights globally and locally, it’s more important than ever to protect, celebrate, and share our stories. The ArQuives is stepping up to meet this moment by imagining how we can best serve our communities for the next 50 years.
Community Conversations
As part of this work, in February and March 2025, we hosted intimate, community gatherings in 12 cities across Canada: Calgary, Edmonton, Fredericton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Saskatoon, St. John’s, Vancouver, Whitehorse, Winnipeg, and Yellowknife. With approximately 15 participants in each city, we hosted intimate and generative community discussions to best understand how The ArQuives can best support local interests. Each session included opportunities for relationship building, networking, a brief presentation on The ArQuives, and interactive ways of sharing feedback.
Taking the Community Conversations Online
Now, we’re hoping to reach more folks from around the country through our online national survey, community conversations, and one-on-one interviews that will be scheduled individually with participants.
We especially want to reach out to and hear from:
- LGBTQ2+ community members who already are or might be interested in our programming;
- Researchers, academics, and media who already or might use The ArQuives’ collections in their work; and
- Partner organizations, including libraries, archives, museums, arts and heritage organizations, cultural institutions, and other LGBTQ2+ organizations.
The ArQuives values diversity and is committed to addressing historical inequities within our organization. We would love to hear from LGBTQ2+ communities that have been systematically marginalized, including from rural communities and those who are Indigenous, women, trans, nonbinary, gender non-conforming, Black, people of colour, newcomers, and persons with disabilities. We’re hoping to have a wide range of conversations, including young adults and older members of our communities.
{KA}
Calgary Gay History 