Tag Archives: queer

Calgary Gay History Project News

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

It is a busy time in Calgary for queer events and happenings. You can catch the end of the Fairytales Queer Film Festival this weekend as well as Third Street Theatre’s Stars of the Stage and Screen Gala.

One Voice Chorus, whom we partnered earlier this year to present the Club Carousel Cabaret has a concert coming up featuring a local Gay-Straight Alliance – topical given recent history in Alberta! Rainbow Connections: A Pride Concert will be held on Sunday, June 7th at 3 PM.

Close on the heels of the Third Street Gala is Calgary’s Outlink’s Glitter Gala on June 13th. The Calgary Gay History Project has been invited to participate for a second year. Our researcher, Tereasa Maillie, will be exploring the history of YYC Pride in a short presentation.

We are planning a couple of research trips as well. Kevin Allen will be on the West Coast again (Victoria and Vancouver) from June 14-18 to gather more interviews for the project. If you or some one you know has a Calgary gay history to share, please contact us. We also are tentatively planning a trip to Saskatoon (and Regina?) in the first week of August, to check out the Neil Richards Collection of Sexual and Gender Diversity at the University of Saskatchewan. Again, if there are any former Calgarians in Saskatchewan whom you know, please have them get in touch with us.

Now that the Provincial election has concluded, stay tuned to the website for weekly history vignettes, and updates to the project.

Have a great summer!

{KA}

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

Were you at the Calgary Pride Rally in 1990?

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

The Calgary Gay History Project is looking for individuals who were present in the first Pride Rally held in Central Memorial Park back in 1990. This is the famous demonstration where some people wore lone ranger masks or paper bags over their heads. Organized by the fledgling Calgary Lesbian and Gay Political Action Guild (CLAGPAG), this event was the seed of future Pride celebrations and its organization Pride Calgary.

Calgary Gay History Walk in Memorial Park

We will be hosting a community remembering session in partnership with the Royal Alberta Museum. Museum curators will be in attendance in order to develop the context for our story in their new permanent exhibition for their museum currently being built in downtown Edmonton.

The meeting will be held from 10am – 2pm on Saturday, May 16th at CommunityWise, 223 12 ave SW. Please contact us if you would like to attend – we would love it if you would! Lunch will be provided.

{KA}