Montreal-based journalist Shawn Dearn has released the second season of his award-winning podcast, Queer Legends: The True Story of Canada’s LGBT Purge. Impeccably researched, it tells the story of the LGBT Purge in Canada from World War I until today. “The Purge” was the Government of Canada’s effort to eliminate queers from the military and public service, which the Government apologized for in 2017. The story of the purge is significant queer history in its own right, but it also parallels the community’s ongoing struggle to achieve equality.
Kevin Allen from the Calgary Gay History Project is featured in episode 3. He discusses Calgary bus driver Everett Klippert and his pivotal role in Canadian history.
Queer Legends was sponsored by the LGBT Purge Fund, which notably has also commissioned Thunderhead a national queer history monument in Ottawa. The Purge Fund is programming events across the country. Rumour has it that there will be a pop-up event in Calgary sometime in August. We’ll keep you posted when we find out more.
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Calgary Gay History 