CELEBRATING A HISTORY OF DIVERSITY: LESBIAN AND GAY LIFE IN SASKATCHEWAN, 1971 - 2005 A SELECTED ANNOTATED CHRONOLOGY CELEBRATING A HISTORY OF DIVERSITY: LESBIAN AND GAY LIFE IN SASKATCHEWAN, 1971 - 2005 A SELECTED ANNOTATED CHRONOLOGY By Neil Richards Published by the Avenue Community Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity Inc. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Printed copies of this document may be obtained from: The Avenue Community Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity Inc. (Formerly Gay & Lesbian Health Services) Mailing Address: P.O. Box 8581. Saskatoon, SK S7K 6K7 Office Address: 203 - 220 3rd Avenue South. Saskatoon, SK Telephone: (306) 665-1224 Toll-free: 1-800-358-1833 Fax: (306) 665-1280 E-Mail: [email protected] Internet: www.avenuecommunitycentre.ca This document is also available on the website: Saskatchewan Resources for Sexual Diversity http://library.usask.ca/spcoll/srsd/chronology/ Questions or comments may be directed to the compiler: Neil Richards Mailing Address: Suite 204-521 Main Street, Saskatoon, SK S7N 0C2 Telephone (306) 652-3735 E-Mail: [email protected] Copyright © 2005 Neil Richards. Printed by Linda’s Printing Place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Richards, Neil, 1949- Celebrating a history of diversity : lesbian and gay life in Saskatchewan, 1971-2005 : a selected annotated chronology / by Neil Richards. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-9738960-0-0 1. Lesbians--Saskatchewan--History. 2. Gay men--Saskatchewan--History. I. Avenue Community Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity II. Title. HQ76.3.C32S27 2005 306.76’6’09712409045 C2005-905102-7 Dedication “The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it.” ~ Oscar Wilde For all those who inspired, joined and recorded this journey to a more inclusive province. Table of Contents Acknowledgments ..............................................................................................................................................i Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... ii Chronology of Events .....................................................................................................................................1 1960s .......................................................................................................................................................1 1970s .......................................................................................................................................................1 1980s ....................................................................................................................................................12 1990s ....................................................................................................................................................30 2000s ....................................................................................................................................................56 Saskatchewan Bibliography .........................................................................................................................73 Nonfiction ...........................................................................................................................................73 Fiction .................................................................................................................................................75 Useful Canadian Background ........................................................................................................ 76 Notes on Sources ............................................................................................................................................77 Abbreviations and Acronyms ......................................................................................................................78 Acknowledgments This chronology, commissioned by The Avenue Community Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity Inc. (formerly Gay & Lesbian Health Services) was researched and written by Neil Richards. The author wishes to acknowledge the generous assistance of the following individuals, institutions and organizations: . Saskatchewan Culture, Youth and Recreation for financial support through the Community Initiatives Fund; . The Avenue Community Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity Inc. for its sponsorship, publication and distribution of the work; . Cheryl Avery, Bob Challis and Dr. Valerie Korinek for contributions to the successful grant application; . Donald W. McLeod, whose Lesbian and Gay Liberation in Canada: A Selected Annotated Chronology, 1964-1975 was the inspiration and model; . Alex Spence, whose detailed index Perceptions: The First Twenty-Five Years, 1983-2004, proved invaluable; . The staffs of the Saskatchewan Archives Board (Saskatoon Office), the University of Saskatchewan Archives, and the University of Saskatchewan Library Special Collections Department for access to research materials; . The University of Saskatchewan Library and librarians Janet Catterall and Linda Fritz for adding the document to the library website Saskatchewan Resources for Sexual Diversity, and for support with proofreading; . Cheryl Avery, Rita Chillak, Bruce Garman, Patrick Hayes, Gens Hellquist and Jean Hillabold for their careful reading of draft texts and for many helpful suggestions; . Luke Sather of Arundel Designs for typesetting and design. Celebrating a History of Diversity i Introduction “No social movement can survive without two important elements: an intellectual framework and a collective memory…We are what has happened to us, and therefore the record of experience is essential in the process of becoming, and in the establishment of identity.” ~ Peter Millard, from the introduction to the 1998 Doug Wilson Award program. This chronology, or aide-memoire, covers the period from the establishment of the province’s first gay and lesbian organizations in 1971 to the summer of 2005. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Two-Spirit (LGBTT) community is part of the diversity upon which Saskatchewan was built, a diversity that continues to strengthen the fabric of provincial life. Until recently LGBTT people have been a mute and largely invisible minority, and like many minorities they have faced discrimination, silencing, and pressures to hide or deny their true stories. Given the silence about sexual orientation traditionally maintained in Saskatchewan schools and the media’s disinterest in sexual diversity stories that lack conflict, it is not surprising to discover a general unawareness of the historical struggles, accomplishments and contributions of local LGBTT people. Saskatchewan poet Patrick Lane once remarked that here in the heartland of the Canadian West we often think ourselves to be outside history and beyond the sweep of events. Saskatchewan residents would be wrong to think that changes in laws and attitudes towards sexual and gender minorities are the result only of organizations, activism and media attention from beyond our borders. Members of the LGBTT community also share as well in this ignorance or indifference to their local heritage. Younger and newer members of our community have often not heard the names of those pioneers who dared to dream of change and who established the organizations and institutions that now maintain and enrich our community. There is little awareness of the campaigns over the past thirty years that achieved today’s greater visibility and acceptance. Those without an appreciation of the long and bitter struggles behind today’s freedoms may underestimate their fragility and vulnerability to attack. Oral history seems particularly limited as a means of transmitting heritage information within queer communities. The LGBTT community differs from other communities in which parents and extended family members are an important resource for community history. Particularly difficult in smaller LGBTT communities such as exist in Saskatchewan is the real paucity of elders mentoring or transmitting forward community memory. Many of Saskatchewan’s early participants in the struggle for gay and lesbian liberation have died, including far too many lost to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s. Adding to these losses is a longstanding out- migration of lesbians and gays to larger centres to the West and East. Many of our best sources of community memory would now be found in Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto. Celebrating a History of Diversity ii Introduction This chronology honors the efforts of the many individuals who against formidable opposition established a safer and a more just, tolerant and accepting place for them right here in Saskatchewan. Although the province’s LGBTT people have naturally been influenced by national and international events and by the global media, they have never been just passive consumers or simple imitators of a more urban queer culture. This chronology hopefully demonstrates that the development of the province’s LGBTT community has been impacted by distinctive Saskatchewan factors, including its rural-urban demographic, its social conservatism and its tradition of progressive politics. The compiler has been a participant in not a few of the listed events. In writing this timeline I have tried not to begin with my own memory and opinions but to rely as much as possible on printed documentary sources,