Category Archives: Press Release

History With a Drag Queen

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

The newly formed QriTical Research Hub at Mount Royal University is hosting History with a Drag Queen next Thursday, February 8th at MRU’s West Gate Social. Doors open at 6:30 PM.

This event will be a teach-in hosted by the fabulous Karla Marx!

Karla is a drag queen, burlesque artist, and comedian, using the art of drag to shed new light on the histories of fascism and the contemporary rise of global fascist politics.

Developed and embodied by Dr. Victoria Bucholtz (History Dep. MRU), Karla Marx is known for her comedic brilliance, riveting historical analysis, and cheeky approach to educating through entertainment.

Karla Marx is inviting you, the audience, to learn more about the ideologies and impacts of fascism, and to think critically and carefully about the role that “sexual anxiety” is playing in our current social and political landscape. Taking inspiration from Jason Stanley’s book, How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them (2018), fascist leaders often position themselves as the protectors of women and children against “dangerous homosexuals.” In the context of growing and loudening anti-2SLGBTQIA+ movements in Canada – often under the guise of “protecting the children” – this teach-in will offer individuals a chance to better understand the functioning of “sexual anxiety” in right-wing movements.

Check out her Instagram here: karla.marx

When? February 8th

Doors open at 6:30 pm
‘Class’ starts at 7:00 pm
Ends at 10:00 pm

Where? MRU’s West Gate Social

You can find more information about this event here: www.qriticalhub.com/events

The QriTical Research Hub is a connector and intellectual hub created by, with, and for 2SLGBTQIA+ MRU faculty, students, staff, and the broader community. Their goal is to create a space to engage with research, pedagogies, and social change mobilizations that challenge cisgender and heterosexual norms from an intersectional lens.

{KA}

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Posted in Gay history, Press Release

Tagged bisexual, drag, gay, history, History with a Drag Queen, Karla Marx, lesbian, Mount Royal University, MRU, QriTical, queer, transgender, Victoria Bucholtz

Kokomo City @ CUFF

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

We salute our friends at the Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF) for their ongoing commitment to queer content. Celebrating their 20th anniversary—the festival runs April 20-30, 2023—CUFF is presenting the Canadian Premier of Kokomo City.

Directed by two-time Grammy nominee D. Smith, Kokomo City presents the stories of four Black transgender sex workers in New York and Georgia.

Shot in striking black and white, the boldness of the facts of these women’s lives and the earthquaking frankness they share complicate this enterprise, colliding the everyday with cutting social commentary and the excavation of long-dormant truths. Accessible for any audience, unfiltered, unabashed, and unapologetic, Smith and her subjects smash the trendy standard for authenticity, offering a refreshing rawness and vulnerability unconcerned with purity and politeness.

D. Smith is a two-time Grammy-nominated songwriter-producer who produced and is featured on “Shoot Me Down” from Lil Wayne’s 8x platinum album Tha Carter III and wrote and produced the No. 1 Billboard dance single “Love Yourself” by Billy Porter. She made history as the first trans woman cast on a primetime unscripted TV show. This is Smith’s directorial feature film debut.

“As a Black and trans filmmaker, Smith refreshingly creates the space for [her subjects] to be provocative, raw and daringly glamorous in her taboo-breaking work filmed in gleaming black-and-white and edited with a fiery spirit.” – Harper’s Bazaar

“The principal participants … are an electric bunch, and the diversity of their testimonies propels this worthwhile project into refreshing, uninhibited territory.” – The Hollywood Reporter

Kokomo City screens twice: April 26 at 7 PM and April 29 at 1:30 PM. See you at the festival!

{KA}

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Posted in Gay history, Press Release

Tagged bisexual, CUFF, D. Smith, gay, Kokomo City, lesbian, queer, transgender

Save Our Backlot

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Kevin Allen | 6 comments

Calgary’s queer community is mobilizing to save the Backlot, a historic and cherished gay bar. The Backlot is one of the last remaining drinking establishments for the 2SLGBTQ+ community and a link to previous generations of queers.

*The Backlot’s historic neon sign that has served every incarnation of the bar.*

Lawyer and former politician David Khan has spearheaded a call to action, asking the community to intervene in the development approval process (UPDATED: submissions close February 28).

He writes:

I understand The Backlot Bar recently received notice of termination of its lease due to a project to redevelop the land into condos by its landlord and Truman Homes. I am very concerned about this proposed development and the damage it will do to Calgary’s 2SLGBTQ+ community, and I oppose this development.

The Backlot is one of only three queer spaces in the city. It has been a fixture of our community for 47 years, giving Calgary’s 2SLGBTQ+ community a safe space to gather and avoid the discrimination our community continues to face in mainstream society. Calgary has historically struggled to be inclusive and queer-friendly, as exemplified recently by the demonstrations and threats of violence against drag events in our city. The Backlot provides a safe and welcoming space for our community to socialize. Many non-profit organizations have used the venue to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for community projects.

The building in which The Backlot is located is also a building with deep historical roots and significance in Calgary. It was built by Thomas Underwood, a former Mayor of Calgary, as the Calgary Gas Company Workshop in 1907. It is one of the last remaining structures of its type (wood-framed, wood-clad commercial building) in Calgary from that era, and one of the oldest extant workshops associated with the oil and gas industries. It is cataloged in the City of Calgary Inventory of Evaluated Historic Resources.

The Backlot, like many businesses, struggled during the COVID pandemic. They have invested significantly in recent years to improve the building, including interior renovations and a completely revamped back patio space, staircase and second-floor patio space.

Mixed-use spaces are great, but residential use must be compatible with commercial use, especially in the downtown core. I am concerned this proposed development will not fit with the current businesses in this area (bars, restaurants, office space). If the development is approved, it must be designed so that a restaurant/bar with a patio space can operate in the same manner as it can in the current space.

The loss of The Backlot will seriously harm our community. I implore the City to reject this proposed development as it is currently conceived.

In addition, CTV Calgary reports: Backlot lease termination prompts movement to save decades-old Calgary queer space.

Social media pages “Save the Backlot Bar” on Facebook and Instagram will have the latest information about the campaign.