All posts filed under: Activist Histories

The Library is Open! (Let’s Keep It That Way)

Activist Histories / Drag / Gay History / Lesbian History / Queer History / The Gays Did What Now? / Trans History

The Library is Open! (Let’s Keep It That Way) Was your non-committal New Year's Resolution to “read more”? Did you join a queer book club and silently sob at the price of the newest gay paperbacks? Are your internal organs begging you to take up a hobby with a somewhat lower stroke risk? The Toronto Public Library’s dedicated Pride Collection at the Yorkville branch is full of luxuriously queer books, DVDs, CDs, audio books, movies, ebooks, magazines, comics, maps, classes, groups, kids’ rooms, study spaces, conference rooms and anything else your little gay heart desires.

Is that a book in your pocket or are you just glad to see me? (it’s both) 

Activist Histories / Gay History / Queer History / The Gays Did What Now?

Glad Day Bookshop in Toronto is the world’s oldest queer bookstore. Founded in 1970 by Jearld Moldenhauer, it’s been run out of six physical locations and one sturdy backpack. Currently an accessible coffee shop, bar and bookstore, it’s been governed by a collective of 23 queer owners since 2012. Find out what makes Glad Day so glad to see you in this installment of The Gays Did What Now?

Back, Back, Back Again! A Snapshot of Sapphic Aquatica, the New (New) Pussy Palace

Activist Histories / Kink Cultures / Lesbian History / Pussy Palace Project / Queer History / The Gays Did What Now? / Trans History

The Pussy Palace is back! Sort of. In November 2022, the club that hosted the Pussy Palace relaunched the pre-pandemic women and trans bathhouse night called, uh...Sapphic Aquatica? Held in the same historic bathhouse as the Pussy Palace, the pansexual swinger’s club, Oasis Aqualounge, ran another monthly women and trans bathhouse event from 2012-2019. Thought to be yet another permanent pandemic casualty, the party is back, back, back again in yet another form with the same fishy name.

This is Halloween (On Church!)

Activist Histories / Drag / Gay History / Queer History / The Gays Did What Now? / Trans History

It’s Gay Christmas, y’all! For decades, Toronto’s Gay Village has transformed into a massive, costumed block party for Halloween. But why? Learn about the legendary Halloween Drag Balls in the city, the clock tower that we’ve all forgotten, and the deeply Trans history of the one night a year you can dress as your true self, and no one can ding you for it.

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 […]

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 […]