The Calgary Gay History Project's Kevin Allen shares his research into an important and reluctant queer legend - Everett George Klippert. Klippert was the only Canadian ever declared a "dangerous sexual offender" by the Supreme Court of Canada and he was sentenced to life in prison for being incurably gay. Public and political outcry over the Klippert verdict helped lead to changes to Canada's criminal code in 1969 that (among other things) decriminalized homosexual acts, in private, between two consenting adults.  Despite the change in the law, Everett Klippert remained in prison for ano ..read more

Meet Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter, social justice activist and Member of the Order of Canada, Lorraine Segato in episode 17 of Queer Legends. As co-founder of The Parachute Club, Segato and her 1980s bandmates struck a chord with Canadians with their top 10 hit Rise Up, which helped inspire a generation of human rights and other activism during a pivotal time in Canadian history. Enjoy this fun, smart and candid conversation about The Parachute Club's impact and their accidental queer anthem. Cover photo: LorraineSegato.com ..read more

This Queer Legends Quickie introduces you to Sarah Worthman, founder of the Newfoundland and Labrador Queer Research Initiative. Worthman is investigating the persecution of 2SLGBTQ soldiers during the First World War by the Government of Canada and she has uncovered some amazing things. This story is the about a young, queer Canadian hero from Brandon, Manitoba - Private Frederick Lea Hardy. He enlisted as a teenager, was imprisoned for being caught with another soldier and later made the ultimate sacrifice for Canada at Vimy Ridge. Private Hardy is the only known gay or bisexual soldier to h ..read more

In this episode of Queer Legends: An Oral History Podcast we're looking back at the legendary people and moments of 2022! Featuring queer activists, artists and community historians on what will be remembered about the “queer that was.” My guests include: Public health expert Michael Kwag, journalist Mel Woods, historian and author Hugh Ryan, recently elected Ottawa city councillor Ariel Troster, iconic activist Fae Johnstone, drag queen Uma Gahd and Mufseen Miah of the UKs Queer Talk podcast and UK comedian Joe Lycett ..read more

Did you know? After the community protests against the violent 1990 raid of the queer loft party 'Sex Garage' (listen to episode 1 for details), Montreal police continued to harass protesters. Linda Dawn Hammond's photos put police brutality against 2SLGBTQ+ Montrealers in the headlines and that made her a police target afterwards. This episode's story seems lifted from a movie script, but Montreal police (or somebody) did this. It's among the many awful things Montreal police have done to to gay, lesbian, bi and transgender Montrealers - and apologised for in 2017 (listen to the Parc de Lespo ..read more

Did Canada already have its first gay Prime Minister? In Canada's capital, there's a romantic statue of Sir Galahad on Parliament Hill. It was created in 1905 by then future prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, in memory of a heroic act by his dearest friend. Former Member of Parliament, Bill Siksay, the first openly gay man to be elected to Canada's parliament (but not the first openly gay MP), spills some historical Tea about the late prime minister and a very curious - and likely queer - statue ..read more

Montréal, Québec recenlty hosted the 24th International AIDS Conference. It was more inclusive and 'hopeful' and a lot different than the fifth international AIDS conference in Montréal in 1989. In this episode it was a pleasure to speak with athiest-AIDS-activist turned Concordia University professor, Karen Herland, who takes you behind-the-scenes of the pre-internet activism and organizing that helped changed everything for people living with or affected by HIV and AIDS. NOTE: This is one of my favorite interviews. Herland is an inspirational storyteller and educator...and was an influential ..read more

Between the 1950s and mid-1990s, the Government of Canada used to hunt down, harass and fire LGBT members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP and the federal public service. A young military officer named Michelle Douglas challenged the military and helped bring that shameful policy and the “LGBT Purge” to an end with the help of Canada’s first openly gay MP, Svend Robinson. This is the story ..read more

Everyone remembers going to their first big Gay Pride event. However, if you're from a small town, Pride plays a more important role in creating safe spaces for Queers to connect and be themselves. In this episode, we explore LGBTQ2S Pride in the BC interior, Northern Saskatchewan, the Arctic and a tiny island off an island in Atlantic Canada ..read more

This episode was released on World AIDS Day 2021 and the 30th anniversary of Montreal AIDS activists creating Parc de l'espoir.  This is the conclusion to the story about Montreal residents who fought city bureaucrats to save 'Parc de l'espoir' from the bulldozers of a city "refresh" of the park. You'll hear from activists and gay village residents new-and-old, Montreal mayor Valerie Plante and one of the original architects of Parc de l'espoir. Hosted by: Award-winning broadcaster and communicator, Shawn Dearn. Cover art by Tim Singleton. Produced by Secret Agents ..read more