Tag Archives: Calgary Pride

#BanConversionTherapy: a letter to the @cityofcalgary

Posted on May 22, 2020 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

Office of the Councillors
City of Calgary
PO Box 2100, Station M
Calgary, AB T2P 2M5

May 21, 2020

His Worship Mayor Naheed Nenshi
Calgary City Council and Administration:

We, the undersigned, applaud you for your brave and bold leadership shown on February 3^rd, 2020, when you unanimously voted for our city’s administration to craft a bylaw to protect LGBTQ2SIA+ Calgarians from the unscientific, fraudulent, and harmful practices of “conversion therapy”.

On May 13^th and 14^th, at the SPC meeting on Community and Protective Services, our city’s administration delivered a rigorously tested bylaw that aligns with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and protects vulnerable individuals from the abuses of so-called “sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression change efforts”. This bylaw has been prepared in full consultation with all stakeholders, supported by expert researchers, lawyers, and administrators to create the strongest bylaw possible to protect Calgarians.

Any attempts to amend this bylaw create exemptions and loopholes that are not only unethical, they are dangerous. Any changes made to this bylaw will place people’s lives at risk, effectively nullifying an intended prohibition on this harmful practice.

We are writing you as a coalition of Calgary’s diverse Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Two-Spirit, Intersex, Asexual communities to implore you to stand up for our rights, and for the lives of those most vulnerable to this unethical practice.

The Bylaw doesn’t need to be changed. We don’t need to be changed.

On Monday, May 25th, you will be given the opportunity to fulfill your commitment to end conversion therapy in Calgary. Please approve this bylaw as written – without amendments, without exemptions, and with the full support of your belief in the strength, dignity, and humanity of our LGBTQ2SIA+ communities.

Sincerely,

Pam Rocker, Director
Affirming Connections

Ian Watt, Board President
Apollo, The Western Cup

Kevin Allen, Historian, Author & Research Lead
Calgary Gay History Project

Shawn Loo, Board President
Calgary Men’s Chorus

Paul Meunier, Board President
Calgary Outlink

Shone Thistle, Board President
Calgary Pride

James Demers, Executive Director
Calgary Queer Arts Society

Pam Krause, President & CEO
Centre for Sexuality

Safa Rahman, Member
El-Tawhid Juma Circle

Boban Stojanovic, LGBTQ+ Program Manager
Centre for Newcomers

Kelly Ernst, President
End of the Rainbow Foundation

Kay Orr, Board President
Fellowship of Alberta Bears

Keith Murray, Affirming Coordinator
Hillhurst United Church

Leslie Hill, Executive Director
HIV Community Link

Nina Tron, Board President
Imperial Sovereign Court of the Chinook Arch

Michelle Robinson, Sahtu Dene, Co-chair
MMIWG2S Calgary Committee

Jane Perry, Artistic Director
One Voice Chorus

Jarom Moriyama-Bondar, Co-founder
Pride in Business

Jonathon Lloyd, Board Secretary
Prime Timers Calgary

Donna Thorsten, Manager
Rainbow Elders Calgary

Lindsay Peace, Co-founder
Skipping Stone Foundation

Gordon Sombrowski, Advisory Committee
The Chinook Lesbian and Gay Endowment Fund

Floyd Visser, Executive Director
The SHARP Foundation

A coalition of LGBTQ2SIA+ serving organizations listed in alphabetical order by organization. This letter can also be found on Calgary Pride’s website here: www.calgarypride.ca/banning-conversion-therapy

Local gay history is sprawling!

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

Happy Pride Calgary!

Today, Global Television airs Brave Beginnings of Calgary Pride and the Gay Rights Movement, as part of their Pride 2019 programming. A part of Club Carousel still exists! Thank you, Jill Croteau, for embracing yycgayhistory (and maybe saving that wall)…

Club Carousel Founder Lois Szabo back at 1207 1 St. SW!

Last week we wrote incorrect dates for this weekend. The upcoming Calgary Gay History Project events are:

Saturday, August 31st:

12:00-4:00 PM – Join author Kevin Allen for a book signing of Our Past Matters Stories of Gay Calgary at Chapters-Indigo Dalhousie or just stop by to say, “hi.”

Sunday, September 1st:

11:00 AM – 6:00 PM – Pride in the Park. After the parade, stop by the Calgary Gay History Project’s History Booth. Share your own stories and learn more about Calgary’s LGBTQ2 Past.

Jeremy Klaszus, editor and founder of The Sprawl, invited us to write an essay about gay history. We used the opportunity to mark the 50th anniversary of Bill C-150, the decriminalization of homosexuality coming into force, and the Calgarian who precipitated it, Everett Klippert. You can read it: here. After reading the essay, CBC Radio requested a live radio interview about the anniversary too.

Consider being a Sprawl supporter yourself – pop-up journalism may be a unique model for news, but the Sprawl has an impressive track record of insightful and meaningful local reportage. We love it.

Another highlight of the week was RISE. The audience at the Plaza Theatre was honoured and moved by the passionate recollections of two heroes from the gay rights movement, Ruth Coker Burks and Cleve Jones. Afterward one Calgarian exclaimed: “It was one of the most inspirational evenings I have ever attended.” I was very grateful to have MCed the event, which was manifested by Twisted Element’s Keon Brawn. Thank you, Keon, for showing the community such inspired leadership.

{KA}

1 Comment

Posted in Gay history

Tagged Bill C-150, bisexual, Calgary Pride, CBC, Cleve Jones, Club Carousel, Everett Klippert, gay, Global TV, Jeremy Klaszus, Jill Croteau, Keon Brawn, lesbian, Lois Szabo, queer, RISE, Ruth Coker Burks, Sprawl Calgary, transgender, Twisted Element

Pride in the City!

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

It has been a momentous couple of weeks for LGBTQ2 history in Calgary, Alberta.

On July 27, 2018, the Calgary Police Service formally apologized to Calgary’s gender and sexually diverse community. In their official statement, they cited their historic opposition to Bill C-150 and said: “after the law changed our organization struggled to embrace the new direction and evolve.”

Bill C-150, of course, was the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada and a subject of our new film: Gross Indecency: The Everett Klippert Story. The documentary short has racked up thousands of views since it launched on July 31. It also garnered some thoughtful media coverage. Thank you, everyone, for the flood of positive regard that has been filling my inbox and social media accounts.

On August 2, the Calgary Gay History Project along with Sage Theatre and playwright Natalie Meisner received a Calgary Heritage Authority Lion Award for the spring 2018 production of Legislating Love. We were very honoured.

Actors Matt McKinney & Kathy Zaborsky, Director Jason Mehmel, and Historians Kevin Allen & Tereasa Maillie accepting the Lion!

Calgary Pride is just around the corner. The Calgary Gay History Project has partnered with Calgary Outlink to present an Intergenerational Tea on Saturday, August 25 from 12:30 – 2:30 PM at Memorial Park Library, followed by a Beltline Gay History Walk from 2:30 – 4:00 PM. This event is free and part of Pride in Vic Park, a multi-generational, inclusive and educational event to celebrate Pride Week in Calgary. We are looking for a $300 donation to cover the event food (tax receipt available). Email me at calgarygayhistory@gmail.com if you are feeling generous.

And if you have more time than money, Calgary Pride needs to fill up their volunteer roster for their incredible ever-growing festival. You can sign up: here. All volunteers get swag!

Finally, we will have a history booth at Pride in the Park again this year on Sunday, September 2. After the parade, come over to talk to us about all things historical!

{KA}