Kevin Allen launched his book Our Past Matters: Stories of Gay Calgary as the first historian in residence at the Central Library on November 22, 2018. Five years on, Kevin returns to the library to share stories of queer history he learned after the book was published. This special event, celebrating the book’s success, is happening at the Memorial Park Library on November 22, 2023, from 6-7 PM. Tickets are free (but limited); register here.
Kevin Allen in 2023: photo Kelly Hofer
Discover new stories of AIDS activists, enterprising community choirs, and the surprising queer history of the Memorial Park Library. Learn how infamous Calgary bus driver Everett Klippert, who spent most of the 1960s in jail for being gay, retroactively had his criminal charges reversed.
Queer history is more important than ever as we face contemporary challenges to our human rights victories. Kevin’s rallying cry is our past matters!
Bonus: A limited edition hard-cover copy of Our Past Matters will be given away as a door prize!
Our film Gross Indecency: The Everett Klippert Story premiered in 2018. That year, it won the Best of Alberta award at the Calgary International Film Festival and since has had an active online presence (YouTube).
Historian Kevin Allen is grateful that the short film helped elevate Everett’s story into public consciousness, particularly the role his court case played in the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. Since the film launched, there has been a steady stream of people reaching out to the Calgary Gay History Project (particularly educators), who have brought the film into their high school classes and university conferences.
The film’s director, Laura O’Grady from Snapshot Studios, remarked: “What struck me when we were filming Gross Indecency was the power of allies. It became clear that it was Everett’s cis Christian sister who fought for her brother. If it wasn’t for her courage and perseverance the case would probably never have made the Supreme Court, and Everett would have spent his entire adult life in prison. Human rights are hard earned and easily lost. As Canadians who value our way of life, we must always be vigilant and protect those who cannot stand or advocate for themselves.”
Many people who see the film comment on the touching human story at the film’s heart. Furthermore, Calgarians resonate with a tale that takes place in their city. Curiously, distant relatives of Everett have discovered the film and felt a strange connection to that gentle man from across the generations.
One of the most powerful outcomes of the research and the film was meeting Ottawa-based lawyer Brian Crane, who defended Everett at the Supreme Court in 1967. Amazingly, he is still practicing law today (in his 90s).
In early 2020, the Klippert family applied to the Parole Board of Canada for an expungement of their uncle’s criminal record. Mr. Crane assisted the family with the application pro bono. It’s remarkable that Mr. Crane’s career spanned these two ends of Everett’s story.
The expungement order was granted on November 18, 2020, which means Everett was deemed never to have been a criminal. His family is deeply satisfied with the outcome.
Kevin Allen and Brian Crane in conversation as part of Calgary Pride’s 2020 History Program
We are thankful we got to participate in the making of Gross Indecency. Our sincere gratitude goes out to Laura O’Grady, the driving force behind this beautiful film.
At this month’s Alberta Book Publishing gala, Bucking Conservatism: Alternative Stories of Alberta from the 1960s and 1970s was awarded the Regional Book of the Year prize. 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.”
Leon Crane Bear is Siksika and a treaty Indian, as well as a graduate of the University of Lethbridge. Larry Hannant is a Canadian historian specializing in twentieth-century political dissent. Karissa Robyn Patton is a historian of gender, sexuality, health, and activism, and is a Canada Research Chair postdoctoral fellow at Vancouver Island University.
Reviews
[A] beautiful mosaic of activist history for many reasons. It’s an intersectional collection that takes for granted the links between social justice struggles. It’s well-written, well-organized and insightful. [. . .] Groups embarking on future projects will benefit from the robust list of references that marks each piece. [. . .] Bucking Conservatism offers a blueprint, a model, for others who want to continue this work, in whatever time period.
—Joe Kadi, Alberta Views
With such a breadth of subjects, there really is something for every reader in the book. This is a book I can imagine picking up off the shelf again and again and looking at for ideas and inspiration.
—Belinda Crowson, Canadian Journal of History
Congratulations, Leon, Larry and Karissa! We’re very pleased for you. Thank you for the invitation to participate.
Calgary Gay History 