SET THE RECORD

QUEER

The ArQuives collects, preserves, and shares the experiences of LGBTQ2+ people across Canada. Now, more than ever, our community is our strength.

Keep Our Stories Alive

The ArQuives aspires to be a significant resource and catalyst for those who strive for a future world where LGBTQ2+ people are accepted, valued, and celebrated. Our goal is to make LGBTQ2+ history accessible to communities through access to the collection and through dynamic programming. We strive for a world where our collective memory in Canada recognises the importance and impact of LGBTQ2+ history and celebrates it.

Set The Record Queer

Educational Resources

The misrepresentation of LGBTQ2+ communities and their histories is pervasive in mainstream historical narratives, including the idea that LGBTQ2+ identities are new. Such narratives undermine the impact that LGBTQ2+ communities have had and harm community connectivity. Misrepresentation propels miseducation and perpetuates the stigma already experienced by LGBTQ2+ communities. Our Education Resources were developed and crafted to support educators in incorporating queer and trans perspectives into Grade 9-12 English and History curricula.

2SLGBTQIA+ School Advocacy

2SLGBTQIA+ School Advocacy was developed as a companion resource to Become 2SLGBTQIA+ Literate after The ArQuives received feedback from educators wanting additional information on 2SLGBTQIA+ policy development.

2SLGBTQIA+ Stories

2SLGBTQIA+ Stories was first developed and piloted by The ArQuives in 2021 to support educators in incorporating queer and trans perspectives into Grade 9-12 English and History curricula.

Becoming 2SLGBTQIA+ Literate

Becoming 2SLGBTQIA+ Literate was developed and crafted to support educator learning, as educators bring queer and trans perspectives and history into classrooms.

Digital Exhibitions

A conspiracy of silence has robbed LGBTQ2+ people of their history. A sense of continuity, which derives from the knowledge of a shared heritage, is essential for the building of self-confidence in a community. This community building is a necessary tool in the struggle for social change. By gathering, preserving, and giving access to materials by and about LGBTQ2+, our library, archive, and artifact collection help tell the story of LGBTQ2+ communities in Canada. The ArQuives gives presentations, produces digital and physical exhibitions, and works to create new ways to give LGBTQ2+ communities and the general public access to this one of a kind collection. The ArQuives makes LGBTQ2+ history accessible and visible, allowing community members to find a sense of belonging in a shared history.

Pride and Remembrance Run

1996

The Pride and Remembrance Run was founded in 1996 as an annual fundraising event dedicated to supporting the LGBTQ+ community, with a specific focus on the historical and ongoing impact of HIV/AIDS in the community. This exhibition contains archival photographs, videos, textual records, news articles, t-shirts, posters, and oral histories documenting the history of the Pride and Remembrance Run.

Queering Family Photography

1970 – 2018

This exhibit explores the critical work that queer, trans, and two-spirited family photos do in documenting and creating queer modes of belonging, and how our emotional attachments to queer family photographs have also sustained LGBTQ2+ lives. Photo credit: Teo kissing her son, Matthew, Unknown photographer, Circa 2008, Toronto, Ontario, Gift of Teo Owang, Courtesy of the Family Camera Network and The ArQuives

Gendertrash: Transsexual Zine

1993 – 1995

gendertrash is a zine/periodical “devoted to the issues & concerns of transsexuals.” Its four issues were published by Mirha-Soleil Ross and Xanthra Phillippa MacKay in Toronto from 1993-1995. Created in collaboration with the LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory. The Collaboratory is directed by Dr. Elspeth Brown and funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Coming Up Aces: Asexual Voices in the Archives

1896 – 2017

This exhibition investigates The ArQuives’ materials on asexuality and asexual spectrum experiences. Reaching back as far as the Progressive Era (1896-1920) feminist movement and concluding with digitized issues of asexual spectrum zines from our collection, we examine queerplatonic relationships and asexual discourse throughout history.

25 Years of Youthline

1993 – 2018

LGBT YouthLine is a Toronto-based peer-support phone line that started in 1993 and reaches across Ontario. This exhibit outlines and celebrates YouthLine’s 25th year history, and the significant impact the organization has had on LGBTQ2+ youth in Ontario.

 

Jim Egan: Canada’s First Public LGBTQ Activist

1921 – 2000

James Egan was one of the earliest LGBTQ2+ rights activists in Canada. He is best known for his landmark Supreme Court Case, Egan v. Canada. Although he was defeated in this case, his fight for spousal benefits spurred the Supreme Court to add sexual orientation as prohibited grounds of discrimination to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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