Tag Archives: bisexual

Holiday Reads from @YYCGayHistory

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Kevin Allen | 3 comments

Calgary-Gay-History-Project-adjacent author, Gordon Sombrowski, launched What Narcissus Saw this month. It is the second short story collection from the acclaimed Fernie/Calgary based writer. Holiday shoppers can find What Narcissus Saw at a handful of independent bookstores and online. His Calgary launch party at Loft112 was on Saturday, December 11th.

Athabasca University Press just released Bucking Conservatism: Alternative Stories of Alberta from the 1960s and 1970s edited by Leon Crane Bear, Larry Hannant, and Karissa Robyn Patton. Calgary Gay History Project researchers Nevena Ivanović and Kevin Allen contributed a chapter to the book with editor Larry Hannant called, Gay Liberation in Conservative Calgary. Bucking Conservatism was produced under a creative commons license and is free to read online or download.

Our Past Matters has had another stellar year. It is now a textbook in two University of Calgary courses—one in Social Work, the other in Gender & Sexuality Studies—despite not being an academic read! The Our Past Matters ebook also had a short run as an Amazon #1 Best Seller in its category.

Readers note: this is our last post for the calendar year. Thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm for local queer history. Consider these books as our good read recommendations for this holiday season. If you enjoy them, leave reviews on sites such as GoodReads and Amazon for other readers to discover.

Happy reading!

{KA}

3 Comments

Posted in Fiction, Gay history

Tagged bisexual, Bucking Conservatism, Calgary, gay, Gay history, Gordon Sombrowski, history, human-rights, Karissa Robyn Patton, Larry Hannant, Leon Crane Bear, lesbian, Nevena Ivanovic, Our Past Matters, queer, transgender, University of Calgary, What Narcissus Saw

UNDETECTABLE Launches

Posted on December 2, 2021 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

Yesterday marked the 33rd World Aids Day. And our new film, Undetectable, about HIV/AIDS launched.

Canada has the solution to end HIV infections and stop the world-wide AIDS epidemic. So why are people still dying of AIDS? The TELUS Original documentary Undetectable looks at the history, breaks down the roadblocks, and exposes the gatekeepers that have stopped the world from becoming HIV/AIDS free.

The film is free to watch on Facebook and YouTube. Please watch and share widely. The film is a call to action. AIDS is a pandemic we can defeat—so let’s get it done!

Undetectable was produced by Snapshot Studios with the assistance of the Government of Alberta, Alberta Media Fund and Calgary Arts Development, in collaboration with the Calgary Gay History Project.

{KA}

1 Comment

Posted in Gay history

Tagged AIDS, Alberta Media Fund, bisexual, Calgary Arts Development, gay, Gay history, Government of Alberta, HIV, human-rights, lesbian, queer, Snapshot Studios, Telus, transgender, Undetectable

It Was a Place to Meet People Like Me: Sport & YYC LGBTQ+ History

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

{Free public lecture at the University of Calgary on December 2nd at 7 PM, hosted by the Calgary Institute for the Humanities—see their press release below. – Kevin}

Please join us for a talk by Calgary Institute for the Humanities 2020-21 Resident Fellow William Bridel

“Our history is about the stories, lives, experiences, and thoughts of individuals who built their lives around their newfound and often hard-won identity. We cannot lose that”. Stephen Lock wrote those words in the October 1994 issue of Clue!, one of Calgary’s queer publications at the time. In 2018, LGBTQ+ historian Kevin Allen released Our Past Matters: Stories of Gay Calgary, noting that the project was “ultimately about memory, and recording these essential stories of our humanity.” In this talk I follow the lead of Lock and Allen, by using archival and interview materials to explore the place of sport in Calgary’s LGBTQ+ history, from the 1970s through to the early 2000s. From softball to volleyball, running to swimming, Apollo Friends in Sport, and the Gay Games, the retelling of these stories on their own and in conversation with one another, reveal that sport played a necessary but sometimes complicated role in individual empowerment, community-building, and the Pride movement.

Dr. William Bridel is Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. He specializes in sociocultural aspects of sport, physical activity, and the body. Current projects include investigations of LGBTQI2S+ inclusion in sport, as well as inclusion and safe sport policy. He is also interested in sport-related pain and injury, with a recent focus on athletes’ experiences of sport-related concussion.

This event will be simultaneously hosted in a live venue (University of Calgary, Taylor Institute Forum) and online on Zoom. All registrants will receive event details one week before the event and may decide to attend in either setting.

In-person attendees are required to follow all UCalgary COVID-19 event requirements: see event for details.

{KA}