Tag Archives: Kevin Allen

Intl. Day of Pink ECHO Tour in YYC

Posted on October 9, 2025 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

It’s queer history month. The Day of Pink ECHO Tour is travelling across Canada, bringing together powerful storytellers, poets, activists, and community leaders to share the 2SLGBTQIA+ stories that once faced censorship—and still fight for space today.

The ECHO Tour lands in Calgary on Friday, October 17th, at 6:30 PM at the Central Library. Get your free tickets here.

As someone who’s been telling queer stories in Calgary for years, I’m honoured to share the stage with Libby Davies, Adrienne Rosen, and Boban Stojanović to reflect on 25 years of resistance, recognition, and change in Canadian queer history.

From courtrooms to bookstores, family tables to federal law, queer and trans voices have always resisted silence. This tour honours that resistance, marking 25 years since two defining moments in Canadian queer history:

The Supreme Court case Little Sisters Bookstore v. Canada
The passing of the Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act

But this tour is not just about the past—it’s about the stories still echoing now. Stories that shape who we are and where we go next.

It’s more than an event — it’s a space to listen, connect, and celebrate voices that have shaped our communities.

Hope to see you there!

—Kevin

{KA}

Colonial Calgary Was So Gay!

Posted on August 14, 2025 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

The Calgary Gay History Project’s Kevin Allen is popping up at The Confluence on Thursday, August 21, in their Hot Dogs & Hot Takes on History series.

{Next week, we will profile history programming at Calgary Pride Week 2025—shout out to The Scene Magazine’s recent YYC queer history article: WHERE’S THE GAYBOURHOOD? by Alicia L’Archevêque.}

The Confluence writes: “Did queerness exist on the Prairies before Pride flags lined downtown streets? Absolutely. But colonial records rarely captured it. When they did, it was usually through a distorted lens of shame, scandal, or silence. Yet behind the Victorian façades of early Calgary, members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community were integral to the rapidly growing community, even as they faced significant disdain and persecution from the dominant (non-Indigenous) culture.

This August at Hot Dogs & Hot Takes on History, join local author and historian Kevin Allen from the Calgary Gay History Project for an eye-opening look at Calgary’s colonial era through a 2SLGBTQ+ lens. Kevin will take you through the intriguing story of Jean L’Heureux, a 19th-century Catholic linguist who was adopted into a Blackfoot community that accepted his queerness that faced rejection from settler society. Kevin will also discuss the coded language of queerness in the absence of words to name it, and how queer immigrants, outcasts, and ranchers helped form an underground network in the West.

Queerness isn’t new, and neither is the attempt to erase it. This conversation will uncover how queer identities, though policed and hidden, have always been present, and how reclaiming these stories builds bridges between marginalized communities today. Come for the hot dogs, stay for the radical rethinking of Calgary’s past.”

Get your tickets here, and buy a hot dog with sea salt chips for $5 at the event {yum!}

About the Guests

Kevin Allen (Panelist)

Kevin Allen is a fourth-generation Calgarian who has been documenting and profiling queer people and events for over 30 years. Kevin started the Calgary Gay History Project in 2012 to uncover and preserve stories from Calgary’s 2SLGBTQ+ past (www.calgarygayhistory.ca). The Project has achieved national recognition, leading to the award-winning documentary film “Gross Indecency: The Everett Klippert Story” and the best-selling book “Our Past Matters: Stories of Gay Calgary.” Additionally, Kevin works as a senior election administrator for both Elections Canada and Elections Alberta.

Jennifer Thompson (Moderator)

With a passion for supporting social justice causes, equity-seeking communities and Calgary’s arts scene, Jennifer Thompson is transforming The Confluence into an arts and culture hub that makes space for diverse voices and perspectives.

Thompson has worked across the public, not-for-profit sector in both the United States and Canada. She has led complex corporate initiatives in multiple roles with The City of Calgary, most notably as head of the Arts and Culture Division.

Thompson currently sits on the board of directors for Music Mile. She has previously served as a board member for Student Legal Assistance and Sled Island, and she was a long-standing volunteer for the Calgary Folk Music Festival. She has a Bachelor of Science from Wilmington University, a Master of Business from the University of Calgary and a professional designation in Governance and Public Policy from the University of Victoria.

{KA}

Writing Calgary: Shelf Life Event July 24

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

{Kevin Allen from the Calgary Gay History Project is delighted to participate in this event—please join us! At the same time, you can check out the newly installed gay history artifact at Shelf Life Books!}

Industry Night #8: Writing Calgary: Local Interest Literature

Thursday, Jul 24th, 2025 at 7:00 PM

Join Shelf Life Books for Industry Night #8, our series of panel discussions on writing, publishing, and all things books! Each event will feature several panellists and an expert moderator/host.

The theme for Industry Night #8 is Writing Calgary: Local Interest Literature. The panellists will be Charles Agopsowicz, Kevin Allen, Lori Beattie, and Dale Leckie. The moderator will be Jim Ellis.

In this event, our panel will discuss the planning, writing, and publishing that goes into these local landscape books, and share these exploration opportunities that exist in our city and surrounding areas. Whether you have an interest in the process of writing these books or just want to know more about our city and activities to do, either way, this event is for you. These authors will walk you through the process of writing, publishing and connecting with the community through local interest literature. The information shared will allow you to get out there and explore with newfound awareness.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Charles Agopsowicz | withthesetwohands is a Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Comic/Zine Creator, Musician, and Twitch Streamer in Calgary / Mohkinstsis Treaty 7 whose comix and zines focus mainly on Canadian history, labour history, challenging Canadian identity, and reconciliation. Charles taps into Canadian history for the subject matter of much of his work. He sees Canadian history as “something not just to learn about, but to learn from”, and seeks to inspire others to learn more and reflect upon Canada’s past and what it can inform us about our present and future.

Kevin Allen is a fourth-generation Calgarian who has been documenting and profiling queer people and events for 30+ years. Kevin started the Calgary Gay History Project in 2012 to uncover and preserve stories from Calgary’s 2SLGBTQ+ past (www.calgarygayhistory.ca). The Project has achieved national recognition and led to the award-winning documentary film: Gross Indecency: The Everett Klippert Story; and the best-selling book Our Past Matters: Stories of Gay Calgary. Additionally, Kevin works as a senior election administrator for both Elections Canada and Elections Alberta.

Lori Beattie is the face behind Fit Frog. She has been organizing and leading year-round Calgary walks, hikes, and snowshoe days since 1997. She is also the author of Calgary’s Best Walks, now in its 3rd edition, and Calgary’s Best Bike Rides, and features walking, biking, hiking, and connecting cities on foot and by bike in monthly articles in the Calgary Herald, her walk series on CBC Homestretch and many years as segment host on CTV Morning Live. She presents to groups on the pleasure of self-propelled urban exploration, being a tourist in your own city, building communities through walking, and making Calgary feel like home, one step, or pedal, at a time.

Dale Leckie, Ph.D., is a geologist who worked at the Geological Survey of Canada and after as chief geologist at Nexen, a large Canadian energy company. He has edited numerous books and published widely on the geology of western Canada. He is an adjunct professor in Earth, Energy, and Environment at the University of Calgary. Dale has written three bestsellers on the scenic geology and landscapes of Alberta. He lives in Calgary, AB.

Jim Ellis is a professor of English and Director of the Calgary Institute for the Humanities at the University of Calgary. He has edited a number of books with a Calgary focus (Calgary, City of Animals; Water Rites; Intertwined Histories: Plants in their Social Contexts) and is the editor of the Calgary Atlas Project, a series of maps of lesser-known histories of Calgary.