Tag Archives: transgender

2014 in review & Edmonton Queer History Project

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Kevin Allen | 1 comment

Happy New Year! The WordPress.com stats helper generated a 2014 annual report for the Calgary Gay History Project website. This was a record year for us.

One excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 13,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Also I would like to warmly thank the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation. I received a letter on January 2nd with the good news of a research grant that will support the book project as well as travel to Victoria, Vancouver and Saskatoon to visit their queer archives.

Finally, I would like to give a shout out to our colleagues to the North who are working on the Edmonton Queer History Project, and an exciting initiative this month to harvest their stories and archival materials.

{KA}

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Posted in Gay history

Tagged Alberta Historical Resources Foundation, annual report, bisexual, edmonton queer history project, gay, Gay history, lesbian, transgender

Just us, and not only them

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

Last Friday, we piloted a new gay history tour of the University of Calgary campus. Thanks to Professor Nancy Janovicek, who invited us to do the tour for her History Studies 300 class (and posted the below photos to Twitter). Although we salaciously began the tour in the infamous men’s cruising washroom from campus’ early days, we ended the tour in the newly designed Q Centre, a resource hub for the University’s LGBTQA population.

Kevin Allen in the infamous bathroom

Nolan Hill at the Q Centre

Nolan Hill, a U of C History student, who volunteers for the Calgary Gay History Project, concluded the walk with a Q Centre orientation. In addition, he is preparing for his own queer history presentation next week about CJSW.

Here is his pitch:

“CJSW 90.9 FM has been a beacon of alternative, independent and radical voices on Calgary airwaves for over 40 years. In the past 20 or so years, you might have heard the classic “First Dyke on Dynasty”, segments on lesbian life, features on butt plugs, and an hour of “Just us, and not always them”. Do you remember these?

Whether you do or you don’t, come to the Q Centre at the University of Calgary (MacEwan Student Centre 210) on Tuesday December 9th from 12-1 for a lunch and learn presentation. The presentation will be all about the history of LGBTQ programming at CJSW, led by Nolan Hill. Nolan will be giving an overview of some of his research on the topic. Be sure to check it out, and learn more about gay history on the airwaves of Calgary.”

{KA & NH}

Calgary Gay History Project at Mount Royal

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

The Pride Centre of the Students’ Association of Mount Royal University is in the midst of their campus Pride Week and contacted the Calgary Gay History Project inviting us to speak – which we are delighted to do.

Please join us, tomorrow, (Friday October 17th) from Noon – 2: 00 PM, in the Gallery on the 2nd floor of Wyckham House. Tereasa Maillie from the Calgary Gay History Project will be representing.

Her lecture will explore the hidden social-cultural past of LGBTQ people in Calgary’s post-war period. In the 1950s and 60s, queers were widely deemed to be mentally ill and often treated as criminals by society. She will also explain how a growing social and political community with support from key institutions such as post-secondary institutions played a strategic role in queer emancipation. The discussion will center on the role of university campuses in advancing LGBTQ causes and supporting the queer community.

{KA}