All posts filed under: Trans History

ONSTAGE/OFFSTAGE: A Conversation with Curator Jordan King

Activist Histories / Public Exhibition / Public Humanities / Queer History / Trans History

An upcoming multi-media exhibition at the The ArQuives — Canada’s LGBTQ2+ archives — brings a new lens into the queer history of 20th century Canadian nightlife. Titled “ONSTAGE/OFFSTAGE,” the exhibition explores “the ways stage performance in nightclubs, cabarets, and drag venues offered opportunities for self-actualization for gender fluid, trans, and gender non-binary individuals in the second half of the 20th Century.” The curator, Jordan King, is a multi-disciplinary artist, performer, and writer who is currently […]

A Conversation with Dr. Alex Ketchum about her Directory of LGBTQ+ Archives

Archiving Oral History / Gay History / Lesbian History / Public Humanities / Trans History

Having a good sense of the LGBTQ+ archives and resources available in North America has been crucial in my scholarship. My doctoral project on the history of gay periodicals led me to a number of these repositories, which included both physical and online spaces. Yet the increasing number of queer archives and the occasional changes...

Dignified Lives: A Digital Archive for Preserving Trans Memory in Mexico

Activist Histories / Collaboratory News / Digitization / Trans History

The Mexican trans community recently launched a digital archive that will play an important role in reconstructing, documenting, and preserving the memory of this community. Named Archivo Memoria Trans México (Trans Memory Archive Mexico), this digital platform and its related social media will also play a significant role in bringing the community together, engaging trans Mexican folks in the process of writing their history in their own terms. In this regard, Archivo Memoria Trans México […]

NOW OPEN! The Pussy Palace: An Instagram Story

Collaboratory News / Lesbian History / Oral History / Pussy Palace Project / Queer History / Trans History

If you find yourself in Toronto’s East end this Pride season, drop by Gallery 1265 at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) to experience The Pussy Palace: An Instagram Story. Commissioned by UTSC’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office and the Positive Space Committee, this interactive, self-led exhibit blends digital art, narrative text, and interview soundbites from the Collaboratory’s Pussy Palace Oral History Project, immersing patrons in an “average night” at the Palace. The Pussy Palace […]

Pussy Palace Digital Exhibit: Coming Soon!

Collaboratory News / Lesbian History / Public Humanities / Pussy Palace Project / Queer History / Trans History

In 2021, the Collaboratory conducted the Pussy Palace Oral History Project (PPOHP), preserving 36 interviews with patrons, organizers, and allies of the Pussy Palace — an exclusive sex party and bathhouse event for queer women and trans people in Toronto. Interviews address not only the infamous, September 2000 police raid, but also radical sex/gender cultures in turn of the 21st century Toronto.  A desire to connect broader publics with this rich archive of oral testimony […]

The Collab at the QHC 2022

Academia / Collaboratory News / Pussy Palace Project / Trans History

If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair… Beginning this Sunday, the Committee on LGBT History, San Francisco State University, and the GLBT Historical Society host their second queer history conference, QHC 2022. From June 12-15, historians, K12 educators, and activists come together to share, discuss, and showcase the newest directions and developments in the histories of same-gender sexuality, trans identity, and gender-nonconformity. We are delighted to announce […]