Category Archives: Press Release

Join the Conversation: Community Ties with The ArQuives

Posted on February 20, 2025 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

{The Calgary Gay History Project is pleased to promote the ArQuives’ Community Ties: Our Future Together conversation in Calgary on Thursday, March 6th!}

The ArQuives: Canada’s LGBTQ2+ Archives is gearing up for an exciting new chapter and we want you to be part of it! We are starting a national conversation about how The ArQuives can best serve communities across Canada over the next 50 years. In February and March, we are hosting intimate, in-person gatherings in 12 cities: Calgary, Edmonton, Fredericton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Saskatoon, St. John’s, Vancouver, Whitehorse, Winnipeg, and Yellowknife. Bilingual facilitators will conduct sessions in Ottawa, Montreal, and Fredericton to serve Francophone participants in those cities. If you prefer a one-on-one conversation in French, please let us know and we will arrange that with you directly.

In each city, we’re gathering 15 LGBTQ2+ community members to share challenges, hopes and dreams related to how we Keep Our Stories Alive. There will be a short presentation and friendly facilitation by The ArQuives, and there will be an opportunity to participate in collaborating to make a zine that captures what makes your community great! Snacks and drinks will be provided.

While we’re in your city, we especially want to reach out to and meet:

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.

We have developed an RSVP form for potential participants with a brief questionnaire designed to help us prepare for each session. Please share this link with others in your community, especially those from historically marginalized communities.

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 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.

There is limited space, and honoraria are available for community members for whom attending is not part of their professional duties. If you cannot attend in person, there will be other ways to participate, including a national survey.

Thanks for your assistance and collaboration! Your insights will be crucial in building a stronger, more connected future for The ArQuives and the communities we serve.

If you have any questions or want to chat more about the project, please reach out to Nico Mara-McKay at projectcoordinator@arquives.ca.

{KA}

Our Past Matters @ Heritage Park

Posted on February 14, 2025 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

Mark your calendars for a free Calgary Gay History Project lecture on March 12th. Heritage Park invited research lead Kevin Allen as part of its Culturally Speaking lecture series. {Note: the amazing Suzette Mayr is booked for Feb 26th: Uncovering the Lives of Sleeping Car Porters.}

Lectures begin at 7 PM: people are asked to RSVP online: here.

Kevin will present an eye-opening look at the social and political moments that have shaped Calgary’s 2SLGBTQ+ community. Through fascinating stories and local history, you’re guaranteed to learn something new {There is even queer history—recently discovered—related to Heritage Park itself. Please join us!}

{KA}

Flashback at CUFF.Docs

Posted on November 7, 2024 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

The Calgary Underground Film Festival loves queer history! This year, their documentary festival running November 20-24, is featuring the Canadian Premiere of Flashback about the legendary gay bar in Edmonton that existed between 1974 and 1991.

Flashback is the story of a defiant disco dance culture of sweat and sex and drugs and fashion. Despite community hostility to queer people, Flashback became a sensation on the international club circuit facing police raids, threats of violence and the scourge of AIDS. Flashback is a ghost. However, it comes alive again in the memories of the people who were there and the legends they left behind.

Cool kids in the feature documentary *Flashback*

In Calgary, the Parkside Continental was the analog of Edmonton’s Flashback—they are of the same vintage—and there was frequent to-ing and fro-ing between the two cities for those looking to dance with a different crowd.

Flashback features more than 30 interviews recounting the story of the beloved gay bar: a tribute to a place where young people could just be themselves. A soundtrack with two new disco recordings (recorded at Calgary’s National Music Centre) and archival photographs and footage takes us back inside the famous venue and blends with re-enactments shot with today’s club kids in Edmonton’s last remaining gay bar, Evolution Wonderlounge.

All this is framed by the rediscovery, restoration and resurrection of the club’s iconic neon sign. The blue glow of the old Flashback sign now shines from a wall of the Neon Sign Museum in Edmonton, and its journey to restored glory is documented in the film. Flashback is a TELUS original feature documentary film shot in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Calgary Gay History Project is pleased to be a community partner for the screening. Learn more about our Province’s queer history and join us for Flashback on Saturday, November 23, with Calgary director Peter Hays in attendance!

{KA}