Tag Archives: human-rights

Queer History Project News

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

It has been all quiet on the website for a bit, so I wanted to give you an update about work that is going on behind the scenes for 2014.

Club Carousel Mascot

Firstly, we are working with Third Street Theatre to present the Club Carousel Cabaret, January 30th, as part of the 2014 High Performance Rodeo. Club Carousel was the first gay owned social club (and drinking place) in Calgary which began in 1968. It was the dawn of the community as we know it today – and it began while homosexuality was still a criminal offense (decriminalization happened in 1969 – read story: here). Third Street, Calgary’s Queer Theatre Company has a new show opening this week: UNSEX’d – check it out!

Running Oct 29th – Nov 2nd.

Secondly, we are specifically researching the University of Calgary’s role in our human rights movement, over the past 45 years. This will culminate in a new public presentation, January 16th at the U of C’s Institute for Gender Research. From Noon – 1 PM there will be a public lecture, and from 2-4 PM a panel discussion on queer history in general.

Professor Rebecca Sullivan, pictured here with co-op student Sasha Krioutchkova, has led the relaunch of the Institute for Gender Research. Photo by Riley Brandt

New history posts will begin in January, but as always please contact us, if you have artifacts you would like us to see, or stories you would like to tell!

[KA]

Pride Week Calgary Queer History Events

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

Pride Week is beginning, running August 23rd – September 2 (every year Pride gets a bit longer it seems). We do not have to wear masks anymore, politicians and high-profile Calgarians like to be associated with it; this being a municipal election year, I am curious as to how many civic aldermanic candidates we will see out.

This also marks the one year anniversary since we have launched the project. We would like to thank all of the readers, fans, and supporters who have helped along the way. We would also like to thank our elders who have taken the time to sit for interviews and share their stories of Calgary in the 50s and 60s.

You can find the Calgary Queer History crew at events throughout the week, but specifically, you are welcome to join us for the Beltline Gay History Walk on Wednesday, August 28th beginning at 7:30 (see poster below), as well we will be staffing a project info booth at the Pride Street Festival on September 1st – please come say, “hi.” Happy Pride!

[KA]

Placard-Waving Homosexuals Picket City Hall

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Kevin Allen | 4 comments

The City of Calgary for the longest time did not like Pride Parades. One of the earliest confrontations between City Hall and the gay community happened in 1980. Gay Information & Resources Calgary (GIRC) was hosting a national gay rights conference at the University of Calgary. These conferences in the 70s and 80s moved around the country as the gay rights movement gathered a critical collective mass. Calgary’s conference was the 8th annual event: at each conference, the organizers would stage a human rights parade.

However, City of Calgary Police Chief, Brian Sawyer, refused the permit for the parade citing that “confrontation was a possibility.” Organizers decided to march anyway.

Photo: Calgary Herald, June 30, 1980

40 of the conference delegates, marched silently for half an hour, ending at City Hall with their placards of protest. Bob Harris, a member of the GIRC collective, and conference chair, spoke at the protest. He said, “We do know how to conduct ourselves – we’re not running through the streets screaming and yelling.”

The delegates later moved to a rally in Centenary Park on St. George’s Island. One of the speakers at the rally was Alberta Federation of Labor representative Ken Neal who expressed his disappointment that the parade permit was denied. “Gays are constantly harassed,” he said, “we object to such unfair and discriminatory treatment.”

Protests, rallies and marches were springing up all over North America in this period and became an important platform for the gay rights movement, creating visibility for a relatively unknown community. GIRC was located in the Old Y Centre for Community Organizations; Calgary Outlink today is a direct descendent of that 70’s incorporated non-profit society.

[KA]