Tag Archives: University of Calgary

Victoria: Trans History Recap

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

We had a stimulating three days of exploring trans identity and trans history at the University of Victoria’s Moving Trans History Forward 2016 conference, March 17-20. Screen Shot 2016-03-31 at 10.41.55 AM The conference was a grounding in important dates, personalties, and terminology in the transgender community. It also touched on current issues such as the need for preservation of trans histories and the status of trans materials in larger queer collections such as at the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA).

Academics, community activists, artists and historians created a stimulating jam-packed event. And like at most conferences, some of the most interesting conversations were with the person you found yourself sitting beside at lunch. One highlight was learning about the Transvengers web comic. A collaborative project between trans youth and researchers at the University of Exeter, that saw the youth interact fantastically with sexologists from the past.

We were delighted to learn that there will be a trans history exhibition at the Nickle Galleries at the University of Calgary this June. Called Trans Trans, the show will explore the influence of Magnus Hirschfeld on Alfred Kinsey through images found in the Kinsey archive and others in popular culture. Trans Trans is curated by U of C history professor Annette Timm, and her academic partners, Michael Taylor (Portland, Oregon) and Rainer Herrn (Berlin, Germany).

We talked to trans activist, Rupert Raj, about his time in 1970’s Calgary, and his association with the Gender Identity clinic at the Foothills Hospital. Following the conference, we found sources in UVic’s Transgender Archives about the physicians who ran the clinic as well as more on the early days in Calgary of the Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Transsexuals (FACT).

Researchers: Kevin, Carter, Demetrios and Son at the UVic Trans Archives post-conference

{KA}

YYC Gay History Busting Out Everywhere

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Kevin Allen | Leave a comment

It seems you cannot swing a purse these days without hitting someone working with Calgary’s gay history – we think it’s fabulous…

Yesterday, we were interviewed for a queer history documentary project as part of the Fairy Tales Youth Queer Media Program. Tonight, we are at the University of Calgary as part of a public history discussion for the Bow River Graduate History Conference. Tomorrow, we are in East Village’s Loft 112 for the next chapter of It’s Getting Drafty In Here – hope to see you there!

The Calgary Gay History research collective is tossing around other programming ideas for this spring – stay tuned to this website for developments. You might be happy to note our Jane’s Walk is back in 2016. Please join us Saturday, May 7th at 10 AM for the Beltline Gay History Walk. If you have missed earlier iterations of the walk, then we hope you will be able to join us (hopefully it will not snow again on us as it did in 2014)!

May 2014 Jane’s Walk – we had an intrepid crew of 15 walkers, despite snow. Photo: Michael Wright

{KA}

Before GIRC. YYC gay support in the 70s.

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Kevin Allen | 4 comments

The Calgary Gay History project recently posted about the origins of Gay Information and Resources Calgary (GIRC). However there was an earlier, somewhat short-lived group, “A People’s Liberation Coalition” (PLC), which pre-dates GIRC.

Started in early January 1973, the PLC aimed to serve the local gay community by offering information and counselling: the peer support model which carries through to this day. Their office was located at the Old Y (now CommunityWise) in room 314, and they attempted to have office hours from 7-11 PM, seven days/week.

After its founding,the PLC announced their intention to sponsor “a mixed boogie” at a local community hall.

An Australian gay activist named Brian Lindberg who travelled through Western Canada later in 1973 described the movement in Calgary as going through a difficult period. He wrote:

The gay information centre was staffed by only a few people (one in particular) who continued to maintain the service even though little assistance could be obtained. Considering the population size of Calgary, I was surprised not to find a well organized gay liberation movement.

Some of the people involved, in PLC were activists, Windi Earthworm, My Lipton, Len Girivitz and Jeannie MacKay, who as a group were later responsible for GIRCs founding in 1975. We know that some of the PLC liberationists came from the University of Calgary. My Lipton, a lesbian feminist, was described in the student newspaper, The Gauntlet, as a “militant gay liberationist,” and was involved in the founding of a Gay Liberation Front chapter on campus in the Autumn of 1972.

Gay lib front meeting - first ad_announcement_Sept 1972

Little else is known at present about the PLC. At the Old Y they are not listed as one of the historic groups who had office space there. If you know more, contact us: here.

{KA}