Newsletter of the Canadian Gay Archives No. 1, May 1977
In this issue:
The Canadian Gay Archives is now in its fourth year. It literally grew out of the files of The Body Politic, a national gay liberation journal founded in Toronto in 1971. The newspaper was the recipient of a wide variety of material relating to gay men and lesbians in Canada and beyond its borders. While the paper had no further use for much of the material, its historic value was early recognised.
The idea of an "archives" was first suggested by Jearld Moldenhauer, a member of the newspaper collective. Files were gathered together, and the Canadian Gay Liberation Movement Archives was launched. Its formation was announced at the first national gay conference in Quebec City on October 6, 1973, and through an editorial in the Fall 1973 issue of The Body Politic.
The archives was first organised by Ron Dayman, who contacted gay groups across the country seeking additional material. Later, Edward Jackson took on the task. Continued expansion of the archives, however, indicated the need for a more formal organisation to ensure its success. In 1975, a collective of six people, separate from The Body Politic Collective, was formed. This marked the beginning of a new kind of autonomy for the archives, which continued to locate at the office of the paper, for reasons of economy and convenience.
A statement of purpose was drawn up by the new collective in December, and guidelines for the arrangement of the archives were decided upon. The name was changed to the Canadian Gay Archives, which seemed to better represent what the archives was attempting to do; to gather and preserve the history of gay men and lesbians in Canada, in addition to the gay liberation movement which had its beginnings in this country in 1969.
The collection is broken down into several distinct groups of material. The main file contains information on gay organisations in the form of minutes, correspondence, position papers, briefs, etc.; on individuals, on events involving gays, etc. Special collections include the files of The Body Politic which are transferred regularly to the archives; the University of Toronto Homophile Association, Canada's first gay liberation movement; and Gay Friends of Fredericton. Gay periodicals form another substantial block. Articles clipped from newspapers and other non-gay periodicals are kept separately as well. A small library exists, and the beginnings of an oral history tape collection and a photograph collection.
Priorities include locating material in danger of being lost as groups disappear or reorganise, and to provide finding aids for the material on hand.
"Part of the oppression of gay people lies in the denial of our history. The veiled allusions, isolated anecdotes and embarrassed admissions which occasionally crop up in standard works of history provide ample evidence of this mode of oppression, which functions by silence and distortion." -- Jim Steakley
A conspiracy of silence has robbed lesbians and gay men of their history. This is no less true in Canada than elsewhere. A sense of continuity which derives from the knowledge of a heritage is essential for the building of self confidence in a community. The gay community in Canada must take the responsibility of recording its more recent history, and must begin the serious research required to reconstruct the earlier history of gay people in this country.
Where does one begin to search out such history? The answer is simply everywhere. Gay people have always existed, and wherever there is recorded history, we may expect to find glimpses of them. It has often been the case that even where gay history has been uncovered by either non-gay or gay historians, it has been suppressed or ignored.
A recent case is illustrative of the kinds of things we may yet expect to uncover. Robert Bums, an historian with the Federal Government, made a remarkable discovery while researching a biographical sketch of George Markland for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
It had been known that Markland, Inspector General of Upper Canada and an important member of the Family Compact resigned his position in government in 1838, and disappeared into obscurity. The reason for his doing so was unclear. At the Public Archives of Canada, Mr. Bums found more than 100 pages of testimony resulting from an inquiry which preceded the resignation. This newly discovered information made it clear that Markland was forced to resign because of rumoured relationships he was having with a number of young men in Toronto. These documents shed considerable light on attitudes towards homosexuality in 19th century Canada.
Many other questions await answers. Who were the people behind the two early gay periodicals in Toronto? What was the Committee for Social Hygiene in Stittsville, Ontario, or the Association for Social Knowledge in Vancouver? Mary MacLean, Toronto born author and lesbian, published three autobiographies in the United States early in the century. Who was she? How prevalent was homosexuality and cross-dressing among Indians in what is now Canada? Did the Canadian press coverage of the Oscar Wilde trial or the Cleveland Street Scandal in Great Britain affect the passage of laws related to sex in Canada? What information is to be found in police and other legal records on deposit in various archives in Canada?
The archives has by far the most extensive collection of gay periodicals in Canada. Over 250 titles representing newspapers, journals, and newsletters from all over North America as well as Europe, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia are on file. The earliest date from the 1950's, when they commenced publication. Most have come into being after 1970. Already, some of these are quite rare.
A special interest is taken in Canadian periodicals. It is remarkable that such recent publications could have disappeared so soon. The usually small printings account in part for this. Surprisingly, local municipal and university libraries often do not have gay periodicals from their own area.
The two earliest Canadian gay publications which both appeared in Toronto in the mid 1960's were short-lived. Our holdings for both Gay International and Two are incomplete. Other early periodicals are: University of Toronto Homophile Association Newsletter (later Gay Okay) 1970, Open Doors (Vancouver) 1971, Club 70 News (Edmonton) 1971, University of Guelph Homophile Association Newsletter 1971, Gemini (Waterloo) 1971, Le Tiers (Montreal) 1971, Gay Canadian (Vancouver) 1972, Zodiac Friendship Society Newsletter (Saskatoon) 1972, and GAE Monitor (Halifax) 1973.
Articles clipped from national, regional and local newspapers across Canada now constitute an impressive collection within the archives. The more than 4000 clippings representing 120 Canadian newspapers date from 1960. They include articles about homosexuality, incidents involving gay men and lesbians, as well as book, movie and theatre reviews.
It had been the practise to place clippings under appropriate subject headings in the main file. When this expanded and the clippings became more numerous, difficulties arose. The irregular shapes and sizes made the clippings cumbersome to handle and store. Their fragile nature left them open to damage while in their folders. The continued arrival of more clippings made it difficult to identify duplicates readily.
In 1976, the collective decided to remove all clippings from the main file. This accomplished, duplicates were eliminated and those from foreign countries set aside. The task of arranging the Canadian material lay ahead.
With a view to having individual articles photocopied for researchers and the entire collection put on microfilm at some future date, it was decided to paste the clippings on loose leaf bond paper in chronological order. Presently, they are in three-ring binders, but can be stored easily in archival manuscript boxes. This arrangement allows for additions at any point in the collection.
Since access to the information in the clippings will almost always be by subject, an index has been started. Besides continued accessibility by subject through the new card index, the new arrangement allows the researcher a quick overview of the extent and kind of coverage gay men and lesbians have received in the Canadian media. It is also a useful arrangement for demonstrating the changing attitudes of the media and the general public toward homosexuality.
To date no Canadian Gay Bibliography exists though the material produced in this country during the last few years alone is substantial enough to warrant it. Presently we must rely on general gay bibliographies, usually printed in the United States, to list Canadian material. There are two difficulties with this situation. Because the Canadian material is not listed separately some time is required in locating it. Secondly, the general nature of these bibliographies does not allow for any comprehensive treatment of Canadian material.
We are aware of two major gay bibliographies originating in Canada. Both list a considerable number of Canadian items and are helpful. The Male Homosexual in Literature, published in Metuchen, New Jersey by Scarecrow Press in 1975 was assembled by Toronto's Ian Young. An earlier work, Homosexuality: a selected bibliography, was compiled by Umesh Sharma and Wilfrid Rudy of Waterloo-Lutheran University and printed in 1970.
Now in preparation is a comprehensive Canadian gay bibliography which will include material produced prior to 1977. In addition to more widely distributed works smaller items such as pamphlets, briefs, position papers and monographs will be included. Along with various periodicals will be listed the newsletters of gay groups with an indication of the dates of publication and their location. The Archives has proved to be a good source for much of this information. It is expected the bibliography will be published in late 1977.
Gay Archivist
Published by the Canadian Gay Archives Collective, an autonomous body operating
within Pink Triangle Press.
Richard Bebout, James Fraser, Edward Jackson, Paul Pearce, Robert Trow, Robert Wallace
Canadian Gay Archives, Box 639, Station A, Toronto, Ontario, M5W IG2
Telephone: (416) 863-6320
Help
If you want to help preserve an important part of Canada's history then we want
to hear from you! You can help by monitoring newspapers in your area, by donating
books, early gay periodicals, etc., by letting us know about gay history you
might discover through research, and of course by contributing money.
80th Anniversary
May 15 marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the first activist gay
organization. On that day in 1897 in Germany Magnus Hirschfield and four friends
founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee.