Gay rights activist windi earthworm died in 1993, but his music remains. A handful of recorded public performances give us access to his colourful personality and deeply-felt political convictions.
windi earthworm in 1970’s Calgary at his Thomson Brothers Block Apartment: photo Rex Leonard
On the memorial website: “There’s a Fire Truck on My Ceiling: Windi Earthworm Remembered,” one can download three albums worth of music and spoken word performances. windi whoops, trills, and yowls in his songs; his compositions are energetic and attention-grabbing.
An active participant in the politics of the day, windi’s compositions are combative, inspired, and filled with stories of repression from state actors who have targeted “the earthworm” as enemy. windi’s cross-dressing made him both a memorable and transgressive street musician—he had a following in every city he blew into, including 1970s Calgary. windi had a keen sense of injustice, which fuelled most of his lyrics.
Lover’s Laughter by windi earthworm
His friend, Rex Leonard, remembers windi as a complete extravert seeking cultural influence through his music. Rex mused as much as windi was an anti-establishment activist, he also was in awe of the rock scene and one day hoped to be a star: “I’m not Boy George,” windi quips in a performance in Montreal, “I’m Boy Worm.” windi has particular animus for the glam rocker, David Bowie, who he feels betrayed by. “Is it true you’re not gay, what’s a matter Bowie—don’t it pay?” he sings.
In 2014, an episode of Montreal’s CKUT Queer Corps radio show featured interviews, news clips, and the music of windi earthworm. Now a podcast on Soundcloud, the episode illuminates windi’s impact on Montreal and his legacy there.
We can take inspiration from Calgary activist windi earthworm {he preferred lowercase letters when spelling his name}, who was fighting a similar battle 45 years ago. Back then, an American beauty pageant winner and entertainer named Anita Bryant went on an anti-gay rights tour across North America. In 1977, her campaign coined “Save Our Children,” led to the repeal of a homosexual anti-discrimination ordinance in Dade County, Florida.
She said during the campaign, “For several years I have been praying for God to revive America. And when word came that there was an ordinance in Miami that would allow known homosexuals to teach my children—God help us as a nation to stand in these dark days. There are many evil things that would claim—under the disguise of discrimination and under civil rights—would claim the civil rights of our children.”
Calgarians rallied to Edmonton in 1978 and stopped drinking OJ!
Bryant, who lived in a 27-room waterfront villa on Miami Beach, was then making $500,000 annually in singing engagements. In a televised interview, she was asked: “Anita, you are a person with a rather sizeable investment in your career, why are you taking this stand now and perhaps jeopardizing that?” She replied: “According to the word of God it is an abomination to practice homosexuality … Our pastor said he would even burn a school before he would allow [children there] to be taught by homosexuals, and we feel as strongly.”
Galvanized by her win, she travelled across the U.S. and Canada and was able to roll back human rights gains in a several other American states in addition to getting legislated a ban on gay adoption in Florida (this ban was only overturned in 2008).
Her orange juice connection is this. From 1969 on, Bryant had been the spokesperson for the Florida Citrus Commission. She was featured internationally in commercials, singing and smiling with the well-known tagline “Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.”
The gay community fought back against “Save Our Children.” They initiated a boycott of orange juice, publicly denounced her initiatives, and in one case threw something at her: she was the first individual ever documented to get publicly “pied.” Afterwards, she quipped: “Well, at least it is a fruit pie.”
In 1978, Anita swung through Canada as part of Renaissance International’s Christian Liberation Crusade. She made a tour stop in Edmonton on April 29, 1978. Forty Calgary activists hurried north, joining activists there, to protest her cross-Canada tour.
windi earthworm and his activist friend, My Lipton, went independently of the loosely organized “Calgarians against Anita” delegation. They decided direct action was required to disrupt Bryant’s auditorium of 6000 supporters. My remembered: “We got in under the guise that we were students doing a study about the spaces people meet in. We scoped out the stage and decided on our spot. I helped windi chain and lock himself.”
My then went into the seats to find a spot to generate a call and response disturbance with windi, but she turned back when she noticed audience members hassling him. She asked windi if he was OK. He replied, “Yeah, except these really kind Christian folk are ready to hang me [by the chain around his neck].”
windi earthworm in the May 1, 1978 edition of The Albertan
Bryant eventually appeared at the Northlands Coliseum under heavy police escort. windi screamed: “You have me in shackles, Anita!” She replied, “I love you and I know enough to tell you the truth so you will not go to eternal damnation.” windi called back, “You love me so much you want me in prison.” The heckling continued intermittently throughout the event, and windi and My were detained briefly afterward for questioning by police.
Meanwhile, the Coalition to Answer Anita Bryant (CAAB), which included feminist and labour groups, fired up the 300 protesters who marched to the Legislature: the most substantial pro-gay demonstration that Alberta had ever seen to that point. The Body Politic reported, “Bryant hits Canada; Canada hits back.”
Bryant’s crusade cost her dearly. By 1980, she was divorced, the Florida Citrus Commission had let her contract lapse, and her career as an entertainer tanked. Ironically, many gay activists noted that Anita did more for their cause than anyone who had come before her. The Globe and Mail cheekily concluded: “Closet doors open on Anita.”
During February here, the chinook winds blow… In honour of this blustery month, the Calgary Gay History Project focuses on activist and musician Windi Earthworm (b. 1950) and his impact on our city. This week, we will update Windi’s story from Our Past Matters. Then, over the next few weeks, we will explore more about the activist’s life—details that have blown in since the book was published in 2018.
Windi Earthworm circa 1979. Photo: François Couture from kersplebedab.com
Windi Earthworm, an American gay artist and activist, moved to Calgary in 1973. He was notable for his gender non-conforming dress and street music. He also was a dedicated agitator who had the conviction of his beliefs. For example, Windi chained himself to a marble pillar in the Palliser Hotel during a Progressive Conservative party convention in 1976 to protest the absence of legislation protecting homosexuals from discrimination.
Windi grew up in Seattle and was filled with wanderlust. In the summer of 1973, he swept into Banff and got a job at the youth hostel. He began a relationship with his coworker, Calgary artist John Evans, who at the end of the season invited Windi to move back with him to Calgary. They lived in an apartment in the Thomson Brothers Block on Eighth Avenue. Through mutual friends, Windi met People’s Liberation Coalition’s Myra “My” Lipton in 1974, and they made a powerful connection. Despite both being gay, My married Windi the next year, so he could remain in Canada. After the ceremony, they went for falafels with their marriage witnesses to celebrate. My later moved into the Thomson Brothers Block herself, where she and Windi saucily broke the wall between their two apartments, creating a new internal doorway.
Windi sent this wedding photo to his friend Rex Leonard in 1975.
Later, Windi and My were part of a four-person protest group who took guerrilla action against an anti-gay skit. The sketch was included in the nightly performance of a band called The Dandies in the Four Seasons Hotel’s Scotch Room. One evening in June, when the skit was about to be unleashed, Windi and his friends rushed the stage; My took over the microphone. They explained to the surprised audience why they were offended. As the hotel bouncers dragged them away, they asked the manager if she had ever been to a gay bar. When she replied, “no,” they told her they were going to invite all of their friends and turn the Scotch Room into a gay bar the following night if the performance was not changed. It was changed.
The success of their intervention made them critically aware that Calgary needed a gay activist group, particularly since the People’s Liberation Coalition had gone dormant. Gay Information Resources Calgary (GIRC) started shortly thereafter. The group’s first chairperson (on paper) was Windi Earthworm.
Activist Doug Young (1950-1994), in a 1980 interview, remembered Windi hanging out in the Kings Arms Tavern in the mid-70s, and always thought him a bit strange with his long blue jean skirts. He noted that Windi did not stay long at GIRC as the other people who helped set it up thought he was crazy and eventually squeezed him out.
Quebec Filmmaker Claude Ouellet recalled meeting Windi in 1976 when he was a young person hitchhiking across the country. Finding himself in Calgary, without money, he ended up meeting the troubadour on the Eighth Avenue Mall. Windi at that time was taking in street kids who needed shelter. Windi sheltered Claude and his friend for the night in his apartment. Claude thought the denim skirt and cross-dressing flare was courageous for Calgary in 1976.
Later in the 1980s, when both lived in Montreal, Claude made a documentary about Windi as a year-end film school project. At that time, Windi was central to that city’s Anglo-anarchist left. He often was hassled by the Montreal police, or worse, for being a strolling musician, despite being licensed to be. He was also seen occasionally in press coverage being dragged away from peace demonstrations.
Claude Ouellet’s documentary about Windi: “Ragged Clown.”
Described as a caring, unique, and challenging person, Windi died from AIDS-related causes on July 16, 1993, in Victoria under the care of My Lipton. Windi’s courage and artistry are remembered fondly on a memorial website: “There’s a Fire Truck on My Ceiling: Windi Earthworm Remembered.”
Calgary Gay History 