As a small community archives with a big focus, we often struggle to have representation in our collections from all parts of the country. Although we proudly collect materials from coast to coast, our Toronto address means that we ore often connect with our local activists, educators, healers, and cultural animators. That is about to change! Thanks to a three-year Ontario Trillium Foundation grant, The ArQuives can now direct unprecedented resources to community outreach, a program that I am proud to lead as the Volunteer + Community Outreach Coordinator. First stop: Ottawa. As a former Ottawan, I know just how much local organizations do to support both local and national LGBTQ+ folks. When the opportunity to travel home, I jumped on it. Before I knew it I had three presentations planned, a radio interview, and a few meetings. The ArQuives was officially on-the-road! 
This year, AIDS Committee of Ottawa is celebrating its 30th anniversary – such a legacy of activism and care. On November 17, I stopped by the offices to meet with staff, volunteers and clients, and to talk about how the history of HIV/AIDS in Canada has been preserved in the Archives. The ArQuives has been deeply marked by HIV/AIDS. In 1985, we lost our guiding spirit to AIDS; James Fraser who was our first professional archivist and we have named our library in his honour. From oral histories of people living with AIDS and personal accounts of AIDS activism, to safer sex posters to records from AIDS Action Now!, we have collected a tremendous documentary heritage related to HIV/AIDS. Though many people outside the LGBTQ+ communities live with HIV, and many within the LGBTQ+ communities do not know what is like to live with HIV, the two communities are linked. Our collections witness these histories. At the end of the presentation, the AIDS Committee of Ottawa gifted the Archives their book documenting Ottawa HIV/AIDS history, which we will add to the James Fraser Library. For more about the AIDS Committee of Ottawa’s ACO XXX legacy project go to: http://aco-xxx.com/ 
Next stop: Algonquin College, where earlier in the day, posters advertising Trans Day of Remembrance had been ripped down. My search of The ArQuives’s collections on Algonquin College informed me that the offices of the Queer Student Alliance had also been vandalized in 2014, and the community is still coming to terms with such homophobic and transphobic violence. It is therefore a critical time to reach out to the Queer Student Alliance and the coordinators were happy to host a presentation from The ArQuives. We talked about Ottawa’s LGBTQ+ history and the history found at Algonquin College. It was wonderful to go through the Archives to find some of Algonquin College’s LGBTQ+ history in our collections. In 1975 the College hosted Evergon presents Doris, a homoerotic art exhibition. In 1986, it helped organize the 2nd Annual Canadian AIDS Conference. History continues to be created with more recent struggles of the Algonquin GLBT, then Algonquin Pride, then Queer Student Alliance to try to build a place upon campus. We discussed how important it was for the group to keep its history and leave textual material, ephemera and more for those who come after. Kayla Spag, one of the QSA coordinators near the end said, “…I think I now realize how important what I do is, regardless of how many people come, that can be passed on for the future.” 
The third stop on the tour was Venus Envy Ottawa. Venus Envy is a community-based sex shop, with locations in Ottawa and Halifax. Unlike most sex shops, however, they provide space for educational workshops and are extremely imbedded into the culture of the LGBTQ+ community in Ottawa, including sponsoring LGBTQ+ community events and workshops. Venus Envy is also centrally located in downtown Ottawa, and has recently changed classification so that community members of all ages can attend workshops and events. The shop also acts as a central hub, and I was fortunate to meet with representatives from a number of different community organizations in attendance. The room was abuzz to talk about Ottawa’s LGBTQ+ history and how we archive that history. There were many different community members there, interested in all different topics. Perhaps the two that made my heart shine the most were the attendees who talked about how coming out and that learning their history was, for them, self-care. I was also touched that the group Queer & Trans Youth (QTY) decided to make my presentation their outing for the night. We talked about public cruising at the train station of the early 1900s; the rise of gay liberation in Ottawa with the Gays of Ottawa (GO) and the Lesbian Organization of Ottawa Now! (LOON); the creation of community supports in the 1980s, including Pink Triangle Services, the AIDS Committee of Ottawa and Bruce House; the political inclusion of the 1990s; and the explosion of community groups starting in the early 2000s. We had laughter, deep thought, and powerful discussions about the importance that Ottawa archives their history. Last stop on the tour was Carleton University. There I got to connect with members of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Centre, about how important it was to keep their history, even when it does not always reflect the inclusive work that they do today. I also had the pleasure to sit down with Sebastian from the Velvet Studio to discuss The ArQuives, the importance of archiving LGBTQ+ history and, the challenges archives may face in changing times. Listen to the interview November 26th on CKCU at 1pm or online at: http://velvetstudio.ca/ I was also able to connect to many other people and organizations in the city. So thank you Ottawa for welcoming The ArQuives. And get ready Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo – we will be coming your way this Spring! By: Jade Pichette, Volunteer + Community Outreach Coordinator
