Calgary Gay History

A Queen’s Fury and other news…

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

A Queen's Fury

We have new summer reading material, thanks to Neil Richards who gave us a parting gift of a 1968 gay pulp novel, which was a duplicate in their archive. Everyone in Saskatoon during last week’s gay history research trip was exceedingly helpful, and the amount of Calgary materials in these archives are a testament to the closeness and cross-pollination between gay communities on the Prairies.

If you are in Calgary next weekend you should check out the Human RITES conference, an exploration of faith and identity, April 29-May 1. Conference organizer, Pam Rocker, explains that Human RITES was created because of the recognition that religion, in a broader sense, still actively marginalizes LGBTQ people. The conference goal is to create a space where people can discuss religion, identity and sexuality comfortably and respectfully.

Highlights include, an evening with Rae Spoon, singer/songwriter/author, workshops with writer/speaker Brandan Robertson and a reading of ‘oblivion’ by local playwright Jonathan Brower (he also is a researcher & collaborator with the Calgary Gay History Project).

Finally, we are looking forward to our upcoming Beltline Gay History Walk as part of Jane’s Walks in Calgary on May 7th. Mixing it up, we will have a travelling artist with us during the walk. Bogdan Cheta, will be presenting some of his work, a manifesto has come to light which was conceived at an artist residency in Calgary’s oldest artist-run centre, The New Gallery.

Art + History = Delicious Event.

{KA}

We are in Saskatoon next week!

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

Our planned trip last August to Saskatchewan had to be postponed, but we are finally travelling to Saskatoon April 13-16 to do research in the Neil Richards Collection of Sexual and Gender Diversity located at the University of Saskatchewan.

Not only will be looking for Calgary citations in the collection, but we will also be meeting with Mr. Richards to discuss best practices for setting up our Calgary gay history archive.

Prairie cities in Canada had a lot in common when it came to the gay liberation movement in the 1970s. Activists in Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg met as often as they could, to share information and bolster each other efforts at a time when there were not a lot of people doing this important work.

Calgary’s Gay Information and Resources Calgary (GIRC) hosted the 1979 Prairie Gay Rights Conference, May 19^th to 21^st{The Saskatchewan Gay Coalition hosted the 1978 conference in Saskatoon}. This annual conference over the Victoria Day weekend was preoccupied in 1979 with the imminent Federal Election, and Progressive Conservative (PC) leader and Albertan, Joe Clark’s stand on gay rights. Stan Schumacher, an independent candidate running in Calgary – Bow River alleged Joe Clark was soft on homosexuality. Post-election, a PC spokesperson explained to activists that the (now) Prime Minister’s position was not necessarily opposed to the inclusion of sexual orientation in federal human rights legislation. However wanting to get elected, that position was not made public!

Registration Information for 1979 Prairie Conference

Gay groups across the country during the 1979 election campaign agitated for a gay rights charter distributed by the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Rights Coalition but got little traction. However, a 27-year old Svend Robinson was elected that year in Burnaby; he would become the first openly gay Member of Parliament when he publicly revealed his sexual orientation in 1988.

Any former Calgarians or visitors to Calgary, who are now living in the Saskatoon area, and who have stories about our LGBTQ history are invited to contact Kevin – we are keen on interviewing you!

{KA}

Victoria: Trans History Recap

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

We had a stimulating three days of exploring trans identity and trans history at the University of Victoria’s Moving Trans History Forward 2016 conference, March 17-20. Screen Shot 2016-03-31 at 10.41.55 AM The conference was a grounding in important dates, personalties, and terminology in the transgender community. It also touched on current issues such as the need for preservation of trans histories and the status of trans materials in larger queer collections such as at the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA).

Academics, community activists, artists and historians created a stimulating jam-packed event. And like at most conferences, some of the most interesting conversations were with the person you found yourself sitting beside at lunch. One highlight was learning about the Transvengers web comic. A collaborative project between trans youth and researchers at the University of Exeter, that saw the youth interact fantastically with sexologists from the past.

We were delighted to learn that there will be a trans history exhibition at the Nickle Galleries at the University of Calgary this June. Called Trans Trans, the show will explore the influence of Magnus Hirschfeld on Alfred Kinsey through images found in the Kinsey archive and others in popular culture. Trans Trans is curated by U of C history professor Annette Timm, and her academic partners, Michael Taylor (Portland, Oregon) and Rainer Herrn (Berlin, Germany).

We talked to trans activist, Rupert Raj, about his time in 1970’s Calgary, and his association with the Gender Identity clinic at the Foothills Hospital. Following the conference, we found sources in UVic’s Transgender Archives about the physicians who ran the clinic as well as more on the early days in Calgary of the Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Transsexuals (FACT).