Tag Archives: human-rights

YYC Gay History on the West Coast: Voices Carry

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

January is proving a busy month for the Calgary Gay History Project. We would like to introduce two new volunteers on the project: Ayanna Smart and Nolan Hill. Ayanna is sleuthing through old issues of the Body Politic, mining them for Calgary references and Nolan is focusing on the queer history at CJSW radio, 90.9 FM.

I (Kevin) will be on the West Coast during the last week of January, in Victoria on January 26th and Vancouver, January 27-30th. The intent of the trip is to visit queer archives on the coast, such as the Univeristy of Victoria’s Transgender Archives as well as meet with former Calgarians who have resettled to lotus land, who can recall Calgary’s gay community from yesteryear.

If you know someone we should be meeting in either city, please contact the project so we can get in touch with them.

Over the holidays, mining my own personal history I was delighted to learn a queer history tidbit in one of my favourite 1980s new wave music videos: ’til tuesday’s Voices Carry.

The video delighted me as a 14-year old. But it would have delighted me more if it had a same-sex storyline. Apparently record executives shut down the female-female relationship plot line and recast it in a heterosexual mold. The song seems to make more sense now, in retrospect, with this new revelation.

Finally, I am on holidays for the month of February, but the other Calgary Gay History Project researchers are stepping up to do the weekly posts on the website in my absence – give them lots of positive regard!

{KA}

Calgary Gay History Project for 15 Year Olds

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

Earlier this year we were contacted by textbook publisher Nelson Education Ltd. They were working on a Grade 10 history publication, History Uncovered. The textbook, designed for the Ontario public school curriculum wanted to cite our article “Invisible: Queer Immigrants in the 1940s and 1950s” written by Calgary Gay History Project researcher Tereasa Maillie.

We said, “yes please!”

A few weeks ago our copies of the textbooks came in the mail, and we were delighted to learn there was a presence with regard to gay rights throughout the publication. History Uncovered reports on Everett Klippert and the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1969, same-sex marriage in 2005, as well as and the Delwin Vriend, Supreme Court verdict in 1998, which ‘read in’ sexual orientation as a protected ground in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

I recall a much different Grade 10 Social Studies class in 1985; we had no presence in the textbooks to speak of! How thrilling to see our project become part of school curriculum.

On the subject of gratitude, the Calgary Gay History Project wishes all of our readers and supporters happy holidays. We look forward to connecting with you again in 2015!

Just us, and not only them

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

Last Friday, we piloted a new gay history tour of the University of Calgary campus. Thanks to Professor Nancy Janovicek, who invited us to do the tour for her History Studies 300 class (and posted the below photos to Twitter). Although we salaciously began the tour in the infamous men’s cruising washroom from campus’ early days, we ended the tour in the newly designed Q Centre, a resource hub for the University’s LGBTQA population.

Kevin Allen in the infamous bathroom

Nolan Hill at the Q Centre

Nolan Hill, a U of C History student, who volunteers for the Calgary Gay History Project, concluded the walk with a Q Centre orientation. In addition, he is preparing for his own queer history presentation next week about CJSW.

Here is his pitch:

“CJSW 90.9 FM has been a beacon of alternative, independent and radical voices on Calgary airwaves for over 40 years. In the past 20 or so years, you might have heard the classic “First Dyke on Dynasty”, segments on lesbian life, features on butt plugs, and an hour of “Just us, and not always them”. Do you remember these?

Whether you do or you don’t, come to the Q Centre at the University of Calgary (MacEwan Student Centre 210) on Tuesday December 9th from 12-1 for a lunch and learn presentation. The presentation will be all about the history of LGBTQ programming at CJSW, led by Nolan Hill. Nolan will be giving an overview of some of his research on the topic. Be sure to check it out, and learn more about gay history on the airwaves of Calgary.”

{KA & NH}