Tag Archives: human-rights

#weareorlando YYC Memorial

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

I was in Victoria’s Butchart Gardens Sunday, when I got the news of the attack on the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Michael Platt from the Calgary Sun was calling and looking for a comment from the Calgary Gay History Project: connecting the massacre to so many crimes we have already faced in the LGBTQ community.

The contrast was intense. So many pretty flowers in such a bucolic setting combined with the grim, terrible news of a large tragedy unfolding. After the call, my husband and I just sat there on a bench for a few minutes in silence.

To be honest, I am still processing the news. At times sad, at times defiant, I am particularly piqued by the notion that the sight of two men kissing set the murderous rampage in motion.

However I am heartened to see the strong reaction from the LGBTQ community as well as the support from our allies. Nolan Hill, who volunteers for the history project, was quick to help organize a well-attended vigil at Olympic Plaza on Sunday evening. Steve Gin & Lisa Murphy Lamb spearheaded an artistic response: KISS for Orlando through Loft 112. The City of Calgary lit the Langevin Bridge and Calgary Tower in pride colours.

langevin bridge

Calgary Outlink, our city’s LGBTQ community hub, with a large coalition of partners, are hosting a memorial service on Wednesday, June 22nd in the Jack Singer Concert Hall Lobby at Arts Commons. The We are Orlando – YYC Memorial begins at 6 PM and will be a remembrance of all of the victims of Orlando.

YYC Memorial
This memorial is an opportunity for our city to grieve collectively for the lives taken in Orlando. This service is not based on any particular faith. Followers of any faith, or those who do not follow any faith – everyone – is welcome to attend.

My hope is that the Orlando shooting will have a transformative effect on society, shining the spotlight on homophobia and transphobia, wherever it occurs – in our city, in our country, in the USA and in the 70+ countries where homosexuality is illegal and/or carries the death penalty). I also encourage Calgarians to think about how they can support the LGBTQ organizations and services we have here in our city, so that we can maintain and advance our hard-fought human rights victories, as well as foster trust and understanding in the hearts and minds of others.

{KA}

The homes of Everett Klippert

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

A few weeks ago the Calgary Gay History Project spent an afternoon with Donald Klippert, exploring the city landscape and the history of the Klippert family. Donald’s Uncle Everett became infamous in the 1960s with his high-profile incarcerations which led to the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada in 1969.

Together in a Car2Go we orbited the older communities of Calgary and saw the houses (some still standing) where Everett grew up. It was interesting to anchor Everett’s story in the actual streets of the city and added depth to our understanding of his life.

Everett was born in 1926 in Kindersley, Saskatchewan but his family moved to Calgary when he was 2 years old. Their first house was on the North Hill, but the family moved around frequently in those first years, always staying on the north side of town. Hillhurst, Bridgeland and Crescent Heights were their neighbourhoods; there they lived, worked and attended church.

Here is a photo essay of the Klippert family homes in Calgary from 1930-1947.

The Klippert Family Home from 1930-1932 in Hillhurst.

The Klipperts rented this home in 1933. Everett’s mother died in May of this year, while living in this recognizable 14th Street house.

The Klippert family bought this Crescent Heights house and lived here from 1934-1942.

The Klippert family standing in the front yard of their Bridgeland house. They lived here from 1943-1947 (Everett is pictured on the far right with the Bridgeland School behind him.)

{KA}

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Posted in Gay history

Tagged bisexual, Bridgeland, Calgary, Crescent Heights, Everett Klippert, gay, Gay history, Hillhurst, history, human-rights, lesbian, queer, transgender

Gay History @ Congress

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

Congress, a huge academic conference, is coming to the University of Calgary from May 28th – June 3rd. There will be approximately 8000 delegates representing 70 scholarly associations in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

The Calgary Gay History Project is participating in a couple of ways.

Calgary professor Dr. Nancy Janovicek and the Canadian Historical Association have invited us to run campus gay history walks during Congress. We have developed a 50-minute tour which will takes delegates, and members of the public to key sites of queer culture and politics on campus. We will explore how students organized to challenge homophobia and fought to make the university a place of tolerance. This tour is co-sponsored by the Faculty of Arts, Department of History, and the Q Centre.

The walks will take place, Monday, May 30th, Tuesday, May 31st, and Wednesday, June 1st at noon leaving from the Q Centre at MacEwan Hall Room 210 on the U of C campus.

We are also in the program for the Sexuality Studies Association on May 31st. Working with Third Street Theatre and playwright Natalie Meisner, we will be presenting a play reading and panel discussion about: 69: Legislating Love & The Everett Klippert Story. Klippert’s famous 1967 court case has been in the news recently, as the Prime Minister considers a posthumous pardon for the man whose court case led to the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada. The panel will feature Natalie Meisner, Jonathan Brower, Tereasa Maillie and Kevin Allen representing both the artistic and research driven aspects of the project.

There are two film screenings at Congress exploring international aspects of the LGBTQ struggle for human rights. Nancy Nicol, a documentary filmmaker and scholar, is presenting two films: And Still We Rise (2015, 70 min.) co-directed with Richard Lusimbo, and No Easy Walk To Freedom (2014, 91 min.) created with the Naz Foundation India Trust in Delhi. Click the links for screening times and tickets info (tickets are free).

We will leave you this week with some photos from our recent Gay History Jane’s Walk, thanks to Ashley Bedet from The New Gallery. Let’s hope the weather is as nice next week for the walks at the U of C!