Three LGBTQ2+ Women who Shaped Calgary’s Queer Community
For much of the last century, the triumphs and tragedies of LGBTQ2+ communities in Alberta and around the world have been presented through the lens of gay men. The devastation of AIDS/HIV in the 80s and 90s, the famous trials (like that of Everett Klippert in 1969) and the hateful words of William “Bible Bill” Aberhart, Alberta’s Premier in the 1940s, focused almost exclusively on this sector of the community. But, despite that media-fuelled facade, for as long as the community has existed in Calgary (and everywhere else), gay women have been its backbone. Calgary is home to some amazing women activists who have supported and grown queer Calgary into the powerhouse of justice, creativity, and community that it is today. Here are three of them that you should get to know.
CREDIT: CBC
Lois Szabo
One year after the historic Klippert decision, Lois Szabo, one of the pillars of Calgary's queer community, became one of the first LGBTQ2+ women to sign incorporation documents with the Government of Alberta and open a queer-run social space. Club Carousel and Lois Szabo herself have become synonymous with the long, fraught history of the queer community—as well as the fortitude with which the community continues to evolve. Aside from assisting in making Club Carousel a safe, inclusive, LGBTQ2+ hang-out in Calgary in the 1970s, Ms. Szabo was involved in the lesbian softball league (2 teams) in 1960s Calgary that turned the Cecil Hotel into a LGBTQ2+ hang-out. In 2017, at the tender age of 81, Ms. Szabo was chosen as the Calgary Pride Parade Grand Marshal, boogying at the front of the parade “in purple tights accompanied by the Calgary Lesbian Seniors of the Kerby Centre.” (CalgaryGayHistory.ca)
CREDIT: DiscoverBrave.com
Carolyn Anderson
In the early 1980s, Social Worker Carolyn Anderson noticed a “dearth of books” on sexual abuse and recovery in the Calgary area. As a result, she began to buy up such books and sell them from her car to colleagues and interested parties. She called her mobile bookstore “A Woman's Place Bookstore” (tongue planted firmly in cheek.) Sales continued this way until enough interest spurred Ms. Anderson and business partner Jacquie Stutt to open the A Woman's Place storefront in 1983. Throughout the next decade, the store became infamous as a site of Canada Customs censorship, to the point that Ms. Anderson would routinely drive down to Montana and smuggle literature back to the store across the border. The back room of the shop, often mistaken for an office, was where all of the gay and lesbian literature and music was displayed. For those who were anxious about the public nature of many of Calgary's queer bars, A Woman's Place was a welcome respite from the isolation that afflicted many queer Calgarians throughout the decade. A Woman's Place persisted for over 30 years, before finally closing down in the mid-2000s.
CREDIT: Calgary Gay History.com
Nancy Miller
In 2016, the Calgary Chinook Fund awarded its “Hero Award” to two recipients: Nancy Miller and Richard Gregory. The two were, and are, front-line queer rights activists. Ms. Miller, specifically, is often associated with the very first Calgary Pride Parade in 1990. Pride events had been organized for a couple of years before the first parade, mostly through CLAGPAG (Calgary Lesbian and Gay Political Action Guild). The first parade was not the joyful, colourful event we see today; those marching in the parade wore black Lone Ranger masks to conceal their identities, as many in public service feared losing their jobs as a result of their sexual identity. Aside from Pride, Nancy Miller has been an advocate and activist in Calgary for over 40 years, pushing forward changes in reproductive rights and social justice. Ms. Miller has also been foundational in the Take Back the Night marches, co-founded The Lesbian Information Line and continues to write and work for “progressive candidates, non-profits and small businesses.”
Sources:
Kevin Allen. Our Past Matters: Stories of Gay Calgary
Calgary Chinook Fund: http://calgarychinookfund.ca/heroes/2016-nancy-miller-and-richard-gregory/
Calgary Gay History Project: https://calgarygayhistory.ca/tag/nancy-miller/
Canadian Encyclopedia: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/everett-klippert-case