Tag Archives: Old Y

Pride Calgary’s Origins Remembered

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Kevin Allen | 2 comments

Over the past weekend, we had our community remembering session at CommunityWise (the Old Y) about the origins of Pride Calgary and that first pride rally in Central Memorial Park, organized by the Calgary Lesbian and Gay Political Action Guild (CLAGPAG) in 1990. Hosted by the Calgary Gay History Project and the Royal Alberta Museum, we had a great time getting people into the same room who had not seen each other in years (decades…).

Stephen Lock, Nancy Miller & Richard Gregory: 1990 Pride Rally Organizers

We saw the CBC news footage of the rally, talked about the role of wearing the lone ranger masks and paper bags, and got a real sense of the times. I learned, to my surprise, that the rally took place at the Boer War Memorial, and not on the steps of the library which I had previously thought. This is a good example of how history can be mis-remembered and then propagated as fact.

Thank you Linda, Mathew, Joey, Nancy, Pam, Stephen and Richard for participating in a terrific session. We look forward to developing this story further with our partner the Royal Alberta Museum!

{KA}

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Posted in Gay history

Tagged bisexual, CLAGPAG, gay, Gay history, human-rights, lesbian, Old Y, Pride, Pride Calgary, queer, transgender

Pop-Up Screening – Winter Kept Us Warm

Posted on April 18, 2015 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

Hello Calgary. You are invited to a special 50th Anniversary Screening of Winter Kept Us Warm: Saturday, April 25th at 7 PM at CommunityWise (the Old Y). Tickets are limited, as we will be in an intimate space, however the screen will be massive, using the latest projection technology courtesy of the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers. Drinks and popcorn will be served! Please join us.

Purchase your tickets online: $20 (includes a drink & popcorn): here. Contact us at calgarygayhistory@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like more details.

{KA}

Big August for the Calgary Gay History Project

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

Thanks to everyone who came out for the gay history walk last Saturday for Historic Calgary Week (which is still happening throughout this weekend)! Our next walk, in partnership with Calgary Outlink, will happen during Pride Week, on Wednesday, August 27th, at 7 PM starting at the Memorial Park Library. This is a new walk going to sites downtown instead of last year’s Beltline tour. A reception will follow at the Community Wise Resource Centre (223 12 Ave SW) with non-alcoholic drinks and refreshments for purchase.

Also, we would like to give a shout out to Terry MacKenzie and the Bankview Community Association for their Picnic 91 – A Queer Takeover Picnic of Buckmaster Park on Thursday, August 28th, marking the City’s first gay pride proclamation in 1991.

Watch for new social media developments with the Calgary Queer History project as well. We will be adding Twitter and renovating the website in August as the project seeks to branch out past the 50s and 60s.

We are also putting out a call for volunteers. The project to date has been lucky to work with, Del, Tereasa, Nevena, Jonathan and Leslie. Now that research lead, Kevin Allen, has left his job to pursue the project full time, we can take on more project volunteers. Specifically, we will be needing help during Pride Week. If you have some time and are interested please contact us at calgarygayhistory@gmail.com.

{KA}