Tag Archives: history

2 Gay History Presentations this week – bring walking shoes!

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

On Friday May 3rd from 5:30 – 7:00 PM, please join me at the Castell Central Library (616 Macleod Trail SE) for an encore presentation of Calgary’s Secret Gay History. The presentation will be similar to the one I gave at CommunityWise on February 27th, but there will be some new material – as there have been new discoveries!

Come specifically to find out more about this:

The library is asking people to register in advance for this talk (free), in order to gauge numbers. As well there will be complimentary Wine & Cheese. This presentation is part of a series called Heritage Matters and is a co-production between the Calgary Public Library and the Calgary Heritage Authority.

Then on Saturday May 4th, at 10 AM, I am leading a Calgary Gay History Jane’s Walk. Expect the walk to take 90 minutes or so, and we will travel to significant historical gathering spots in the Beltline, beginning and ending at CommunityWise (the former Old Y, 233 12 Ave. SW).

Finally I need to do a few shout outs and thanks:

1) Terry MacKenzie from the Calgary Heritage Authority has been an incredible promoter and facebook provocateur for the project – thank you!

2) Third Street Theatre, Calgary’s new queer theatre company, is performing I Am My Own Wife, a historical play about German transvestite, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. The 2003 Pulitzer and Tony Award winning play has never been performed in Calgary, and Third Street does a bang-up job. There are only a few more shows…

3) Thank you Laura Lushington and Avenue Magazine for profiling the project this week.

4) Thank you Paul Karchut, Director of CBC’s Calgary Eyeopener, for the engaging interview (we did an abbreviated Jane’s Walk together today). The story can be heard online: here.

Hope to see you this weekend!

Orange Juice vs. Gay Rights

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

Back in the 70s, an American beauty pageant winner and minor pop-star named Anita Bryant, went on a crusade against gay rights across North America. In 1977, her campaign coined, “Save Our Children,” led to the repeal of an anti-discrimination ordinance in Dade County, Florida.

Galvanized by her win, she travelled across the U.S. and Canada and was able to roll back human rights gains in a number of other American states in addition to getting legislated a ban on gay adoption in Florida (this ban was only overturned in 2008). When Anita made a campaign stop in Alberta, Calgary activists hurried to Edmonton, joining activists there, to protest her cross-Canada tour.

The orange juice connection is this. From 1969 on, she had been the spokesperson for the Florida Citrus Commission. She was featured nationally in commercials singing and smiling with the well-known tagline “Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.”

The gay community fought back against “Save Our Children.” They initiated a boycott of orange juice, publicly denounced her initiatives, and in one case threw something at her: she was the first individual ever documented to get publicly “pied.” Afterwards she quipped, “well, at least it is a fruit pie.”

YouTube: Anita gets “pied” by gay activists.

Bryant’s campaign eventually resulted in a high personal cost to herself. By 1980, she was divorced, the Florida Citrus Commission had let her contract lapse, and her career as an entertainer never recovered.

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Posted in Gay history

Tagged Anita Bryant, Calgary, gay, Gay history, history, human-rights, orange juice, queer

Equal marriage, the sea change in 2013, and a song.

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

Although I had planned to post an article today about Calgary’s gay history, I could not help but get caught up in the sweeping changes across the world with respect to same sex marriage. Just yesterday, New Zealand, was the latest country to adopt same sex marriage (the 13th country in the world). The video of the New Zealand Parliament gallery breaking into song moved me incredibly. The bill sponsor, opposition MP, Louisa Wall, an out lesbian, told lawmakers the change was “our road toward healing.”

England, France, U.S. President Obama, even U.S. Republican Senators who had been vocally opposed to same-sex marriage are now changing sides. Despite significant and at times violent opposition, there is a sea change we are loving through – and I am elated. The critics opposed to same-sex marriage are using the same arguments as critics used in 1969 to protest decriminalization of homosexuality: particularly the perceived threat to children. Let us not forget also, that the equal marriage debate in Canada’s Parliament in 2005 – our recent past – was incredibly divisive and caustic, and nearly toppled Prime Minister Paul Martin’s minority government.

I anticipate that the number of jurisdictions changing their marriage laws to accommodate same sex marriage will sharply increase in 2013. A shout out to Joseph Atkins and his list of the top 100 marriage equality blogs. Also, thank you to the Human Rights Campaign and their viral use of a red and pink equal sign.