The Calgary Gay History Project’s Kevin Allen is popping up at The Confluence on Thursday, August 21, in their Hot Dogs & Hot Takes on History series.
{Next week, we will profile history programming at Calgary Pride Week 2025—shout out to The Scene Magazine’s recent YYC queer history article: WHERE’S THE GAYBOURHOOD? by Alicia L’Archevêque.}
The Confluence writes: “Did queerness exist on the Prairies before Pride flags lined downtown streets? Absolutely. But colonial records rarely captured it. When they did, it was usually through a distorted lens of shame, scandal, or silence. Yet behind the Victorian façades of early Calgary, members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community were integral to the rapidly growing community, even as they faced significant disdain and persecution from the dominant (non-Indigenous) culture.
This August at Hot Dogs & Hot Takes on History, join local author and historian Kevin Allen from the Calgary Gay History Project for an eye-opening look at Calgary’s colonial era through a 2SLGBTQ+ lens. Kevin will take you through the intriguing story of Jean L’Heureux, a 19th-century Catholic linguist who was adopted into a Blackfoot community that accepted his queerness that faced rejection from settler society. Kevin will also discuss the coded language of queerness in the absence of words to name it, and how queer immigrants, outcasts, and ranchers helped form an underground network in the West.
Queerness isn’t new, and neither is the attempt to erase it. This conversation will uncover how queer identities, though policed and hidden, have always been present, and how reclaiming these stories builds bridges between marginalized communities today. Come for the hot dogs, stay for the radical rethinking of Calgary’s past.”
Get your tickets here, and buy a hot dog with sea salt chips for $5 at the event {yum!}
About the Guests
Kevin Allen (Panelist)
Kevin Allen is a fourth-generation Calgarian who has been documenting and profiling queer people and events for over 30 years. Kevin started the Calgary Gay History Project in 2012 to uncover and preserve stories from Calgary’s 2SLGBTQ+ past (www.calgarygayhistory.ca). The Project has achieved national recognition, leading to the award-winning documentary film “Gross Indecency: The Everett Klippert Story” and the best-selling book “Our Past Matters: Stories of Gay Calgary.” Additionally, Kevin works as a senior election administrator for both Elections Canada and Elections Alberta.
Jennifer Thompson (Moderator)
With a passion for supporting social justice causes, equity-seeking communities and Calgary’s arts scene, Jennifer Thompson is transforming The Confluence into an arts and culture hub that makes space for diverse voices and perspectives.
Thompson has worked across the public, not-for-profit sector in both the United States and Canada. She has led complex corporate initiatives in multiple roles with The City of Calgary, most notably as head of the Arts and Culture Division.
Thompson currently sits on the board of directors for Music Mile. She has previously served as a board member for Student Legal Assistance and Sled Island, and she was a long-standing volunteer for the Calgary Folk Music Festival. She has a Bachelor of Science from Wilmington University, a Master of Business from the University of Calgary and a professional designation in Governance and Public Policy from the University of Victoria.
{KA}
Calgary Gay History 