Tag Archives: Pride Calgary

Sign Up for YYC Gay History Walking Tours @ Pride

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

Gay History is important. We would like to give a shout out to Rich Hawkins, HuffPost Gay Voices, for his recent editorial, The Gay Community is Dying, Here’s Why it Needs to Live: a compelling explanation for why our past matters.

Calgarians understand this and came out in huge numbers for our history walking tour at Pride 2014 – but it created some logistical complications for us. Consequently, we did a rethink about our presentation and working with Pride Calgary have created an online ticketing system. You can sign up now, on a first-come, first-served basis, for the two scheduled history walks on offer. Tickets are free (donations are welcomed), and if we fill up these walks we will consider adding more to the Pride Week schedule.

Thursday, Sept. 3rd

7:00-8:30 pm Beltline Gay History Walking Tour

Join the Calgary Gay History Project’s Kevin Allen on a walk through the Beltline. We will travel to significant historical gathering spots for the gay community in this inner city neighbourhood, including Calgary’s first gay bar, from 1968, Club Carousel. Everyone welcome. Tickets: here.

Meet: CommunityWise (The Former Old Y) 223 12 Avenue SW

Saturday, Sept. 5th

2:00-3:30 pm Downtown Gay History Walking Tour

Downtown History Walk Join the Calgary Gay History Project’s Kevin Allen on a walk through the city centre. We will highlight significant political and social events that affected the gay community. On the way we will pass by several historical watering holes where gays and lesbians gathered. Everyone welcome. Tickets: here.

Meet: CommunityWise (The Former Old Y) 223 12 Avenue SW

We hope you join us walking in September!

{KA}

Getting Ready for Pride

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

I just got back from Victoria and Vancouver and had excellent interviews with half a dozen former Calgarians, about our community’s history. Thank you everyone who participated and gave their time to the project.

The Calgary Gay History Project met recently with Pride Calgary to talk about what history offerings will be happening for this year’s Pride Festival: August 28th – September 7th. We are considering a public panel discussion honouring Pride Calgary’s 25th anniversary in 2015.

We are going to be offering the Gay History Walk again, however, with a re-jig. This year it is going to be a free ticketed event – and we will lead more than one – just to keep the participant numbers reasonable and make for a better history walk experience. Last year’s turnout was phenomenal but a little overwhelming. Stay tuned to our website, facebook and twitter, for future ticket announcements.

Larger than a Calgary Pride Parade in the 90s perhaps?

Calgary Gay History Walk 2014 (100+ participants)

Finally, we will have a table at the Pride Festival on September 6th for everyone to come up, ask questions and learn more about our community’s history.

{KA}

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Posted in Gay history

Tagged bisexual, gay, Gay history, History Walk, lesbian, Pride Calgary, Pride Week, queer, transgender

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}