Sarah Worthman, a historian and freelance researcher for the LGBT Purge Fund, released a stunning report last week about queer persecution in the First World War. Worthman writes: “There have been countless times throughout this research process where I have been told that “There may have been queer people in the First World War but the records of them simply do not exist.” Refusing to accept the historical record as silent, Worthman mined archives in Canada and the UK to find detailed records of queer sex, love, and expression within the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). The report is free ..read more

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 t ..read more

This week, we were interviewed about the increasing hate and incivility directed towards Calgary’s queer community—thanks to CBC’s Terri Trembath for considering hatred’s historical context! 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 ordi ..read more

Calgary’s queer community is mobilizing to save the Backlot, a historic and cherished gay bar. The Backlot is one of the last remaining drinking establishments for the 2SLGBTQ+ community and a link to previous generations of queers. The Backlot’s historic neon sign that has served every incarnation of the bar. Lawyer and former politician David Khan has spearheaded a call to action, asking the community to intervene in the development approval process (submissions close this Friday!) He writes: I understand The Backlot Bar recently received notice of termination of its lease due to a project ..read more

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-c ..read more

January, in Calgary, can be a cold month. Bringing some warmth and frolicking good times in January 1977 was “Winter Wonderland,” the Imperial Court of the Chinook Arch’s first Coronation Ball. The Calgary Gay History Project was fortunate to interview Dale Campbell this week. Active in the early years of Calgary’s court system—now called the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Chinook Arch (ISCCA)—he shared photos and memories of that first Coronation ball. {Note: the ISCCA is still going strong and will be hosting Coronation 47 this April at the Hyatt. Click here to read a short history of the s ..read more

Mark your calendars on Thursday, February 16th, for a stimulating gay history evening at Contemporary Calgary called Involve. This evening of discussion will feature New York Stonewall Uprising Activist Martin Boyce and Calgary’s Club Carousel Founder Lois Szabo, sharing their perspectives and experience of the 2SLGBTQ+ human rights movement. Free tickets can be found: here. Sponsored by local interior design studio, Lawrence, we caught up with designer Mitchell Brooks about Involve. Mitchell explains: “I heard Martin Boyce speak last spring in Calgary and found his personal stories and persp ..read more

Today is a holiday for many in the world. From my secular angle, Epiphany, or January 6th, represents the conclusion of the Christmas holidays. In 2015, I wrote: “I just looked up the meaning of epiphany and it means “manifestation” which I think will be the running theme for the Calgary Gay History Project.” The Calgary Gay History Project has done manifesting well. Check out our top ten list: here. In 2023, our manifestation priority is developing the Calgary queer archives. Since the Project was founded in 2012, we have been accepting donations of papers and artifacts ab ..read more

We are delighted that Calgary queer author Suzette Mayr has won the 2022 Giller Prize for her latest novel, The Sleeping Car Porter. It is the story of Baxter, a closeted gay Black man working as a porter on a Canadian passenger train in 1929.  Of the winning book, the jury wrote: “Suzette Mayr brings to life –believably, achingly, thrillingly –a whole world contained in a passenger train moving across the Canadian vastness, nearly one hundred years ago. As only occurs in the finest historical novels, every page in The Sleeping Car Porter feels alive and immediate –and ..read more

{A spooky treat—a guest article from Jarett Henderson, a former Calgarian and historian of Canada, gender and sexuality, and the British Empire – K.} Today, many queer folks celebrate Halloween as a topsy-turvy Gay Christmas of sorts: an opportunity to live loudly and proudly as one’s authentic self. For sixteen-year-old Walter McHugh in 1901, his Halloween night could not have been more different. That night Walter confessed to his rancher father that he had been having sex (for some time) with the Calgary lawyer J. B. Smith.  Walter’s Halloween night assertion set into motion a three-mo ..read more