Tag Archives: human-rights

Humbled Again!

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

Thank you everyone who took the time to come to the Gay History presentation at the Calgary Public Library last Friday and the Jane’s Walk on Saturday.

We had over 100 people in attendance at the downtown library, keen to learn more about the project, and to share some stories themselves.

The Calgary Heritage Authority was kind enough to give me a historical brick, as a thank you, with a plaque commemorating the occasion.

Then, the next day the Jane’s Walk turned into a crowd. We started with about 60 people and added a few dozen along the way, making for our own kind of Historical Pride Parade.

It was a deliciously warm and sunny morning. Thank goodness the Calgary Foundation lent us a portable microphone and speaker, otherwise the walk could never have been so big! People were able to share some of their own stories along the way of the 12 sites we visited. It turned out to be a magical morning.

Special thanks to Del Rath, part of the research team, who lugged the speaker around on the walk, and to Terry MacKenzie for these candid photographs.

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Posted in Gay history

Tagged Calgary, Calgary Heritage Authority, calgary public library, gay, Gay history, history, human-rights, Jane's Walk, queer

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.