Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Encyclopedia
The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives is a non-profit organization in Toronto
, Ontario
, Canada
, which collects material relating to the history of lesbian
, gay
, bisexual and transgender
communities in Canada.
The archives were established in 1973 by The Body Politics editorial collective. Originally named Canadian Gay Liberation Movement Archives, the organization became the Canadian Gay Archives in 1975, and adopted its current name in 1993.
Formerly located on Temperance Street in downtown Toronto, in November 2005 the Archives moved to a temporary location at 65 Wellesley St. in the city's Church and Wellesley
gay village
. Concurrently with the move, the Archives launched a capital fundraising campaign to fund another move to their eventual new permanent location at 34 Isabella Street in the same neighbourhood. The permanent building was donated to the Archives by the city's Children's Aid Society
after that agency began construction on a new building next door. The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives underwent major renovations and re-opened September 26, 2009.
people, primarily produced in or concerning Canada.” As such, the Archives are not limited to traditional printed material, but instead contain many diverse collections.
, cassettes
, and CDs
. Much of this material is vocal or instrumental recordings of lesbian and gay performers, but there is also a significant amount of taped interviews and radio programs, as well.
and 16 mm film
, Betamax
, VHS
, and DVD
formats. While there are feature films, documentaries, and erotica housed in the Archives, there are also videos shot at lesbian and gay community events. Because of its extensive collection, the Archives are often used to provide source material for Canadian film projects, such as Forbidden Love
.
, watercolour, and oil
.
, the arts, and alternative culture wrote about lesbian and gay issues, these titles can be evidence of changing attitudes in mainstream media.
, negatives
, and halftone
reproductions.
In terms of scope, the photographs depict the community in a broad sense; photographs of demonstrations, conferences, social events, performances, and police harassment, as well as photographs of personal, domestic and social lives of lesbians and gay men are contained in the collection.
art, within the lesbian and gay community.
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, which collects material relating to the history of lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, bisexual and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
communities in Canada.
The archives were established in 1973 by The Body Politics editorial collective. Originally named Canadian Gay Liberation Movement Archives, the organization became the Canadian Gay Archives in 1975, and adopted its current name in 1993.
Formerly located on Temperance Street in downtown Toronto, in November 2005 the Archives moved to a temporary location at 65 Wellesley St. in the city's Church and Wellesley
Church and Wellesley
Church and Wellesley is an LGBT-oriented community located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is roughly bounded by Gerrard Street to the south, Yonge Street to the west, Charles Street to the north, and Jarvis Street to the east, with the core commercial strip located along Church Street from...
gay village
Gay village
A gay village is an urban geographic location with generally recognized boundaries where a large number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people live or frequent...
. Concurrently with the move, the Archives launched a capital fundraising campaign to fund another move to their eventual new permanent location at 34 Isabella Street in the same neighbourhood. The permanent building was donated to the Archives by the city's Children's Aid Society
Children's Aid Society
__notoc__The Children’s Aid Society is a private charitable organization based in New York City. It serves 150,000 children per year, providing foster care, medical and mental health services, and a wide range of educational, recreational and advocacy services through dozens of community centers,...
after that agency began construction on a new building next door. The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives underwent major renovations and re-opened September 26, 2009.
Collections
The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives was established in order to “preserve, organize, and give public access to information and materials in any medium, by and about LGBTLGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
people, primarily produced in or concerning Canada.” As such, the Archives are not limited to traditional printed material, but instead contain many diverse collections.
Artifacts
In addition to traditional printed material, the Archives collects artifacts that would normally be considered museum objects; it does this in order to capture specific moments in the history of the lesbian and gay community. This includes:- Banners and flagsRainbow flag (LGBT movement)The rainbow flag, sometimes pride flag, LGBT pride flag or gay pride flag, is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride and LGBT social movements in use since the 1970s. The colours reflect the diversity of the LGBT community, and the flag is often used as a symbol of gay pride in...
- ButtonsPin-back buttonA pin-back button or pinback button, pin button, button badge or simply pin-back, is a button or badge that can be temporarily fastened to the surface of a garment using a safety pin, or a pin formed from wire, a clutch or other mechanism...
and pins - Leather
- Matchbooks and matchboxes
- T-shirts
- Trophies
- Uniforms
Artwork
The Archives have acquired numerous original works of art from within the lesbian and gay community. These are primarily paper or canvas works, and the emphasis is historical. Examples include:- Costumes, drawings and photographs by Ronald McRae
- Paintings by JAC, the artist collective of John Grube, Alex Liros and Clarence Barnes
- Works exhibited by Gallery Without Walls
- Submissions for Toronto’s AIDS Memorial
Audio Recordings
Containing more than 2000 hours of sound on tapes and over 1300 discs, the Archives house LPs, gramophone recordsGramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, cassettes
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
, and CDs
CDS
-Computing and electronics:* Cadence Design Systems, American Electronic Design Automation software company* Chromatography data system, software to control chromatography instruments* Cockpit display system* Compact Discs...
. Much of this material is vocal or instrumental recordings of lesbian and gay performers, but there is also a significant amount of taped interviews and radio programs, as well.
Moving Images
Similar to the Archives’ audio recordings collection, the moving images collection is likewise large, including more than 600 items, in 8 mm film8 mm film
8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight millimeters wide. It exists in two main versions: the original standard 8mm film, also known as regular 8 mm or Double 8 mm, and Super 8...
and 16 mm film
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
, Betamax
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
, VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
, and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
formats. While there are feature films, documentaries, and erotica housed in the Archives, there are also videos shot at lesbian and gay community events. Because of its extensive collection, the Archives are often used to provide source material for Canadian film projects, such as Forbidden Love
Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives
Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives is a 1992 Canadian documentary film about the lives of lesbian women and their experiences of lesbian pulp fiction. It was written and directed by Lynne Fernie and Aerlyn Weissman and featured author Ann Bannon. It premiered at the 1992 Toronto...
.
National Portrait Collection
Established in 1998, the National Portrait Collection honours individuals who have contributed the LGBT community in Canada. Currently, the collection holds 70 portraits of various mediums, which include photographyPhotography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, watercolour, and oil
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
.
Periodicals
The Archives contains the largest collection of lesbian and gay periodicals in the world, with nearly 6000 individual titles. Additionally, the Archives also house a general collection of periodicals that were not produced specifically for the lesbian and gay community. Since many titles concerning feminismFeminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, the arts, and alternative culture wrote about lesbian and gay issues, these titles can be evidence of changing attitudes in mainstream media.
Personal and Organizational Records
The Archives holds the records of Canadian lesbian and gay organizations, as well as the personal records of prominent Canadians active in, or significant to, the lesbian and gay community. This includes- Sky GilbertSky GilbertSchuyler Lee Gilbert, Jr. is a Canadian writer, actor, academic and drag performer. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he studied theatre in Toronto, Ontario at York University and the University of Toronto, before becoming co-founder and artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times, a Toronto theatre...
- George HislopGeorge HislopGeorge Hislop was one of Canada's most influential gay activists. He was the first openly gay candidate for municipal office in Canada, as well as the first openly gay candidate for any political office in Ontario , and was a key figure in the early development of Toronto's gay...
- Svend RobinsonSvend RobinsonSvend Robinson is a former Canadian politician. He was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 2004, representing the suburban Vancouver-area constituency of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party...
Photographs
Beginning as the photo files for The Body Politic, the Archives grew around the photograph collection, and while many of the items are not yet cataloged due to the high number of entries, the Archives currently houses over 7000 individual items in various mediums, including printsPhotographic printing
Photographic printing is the process of producing a final image on paper for viewing, using chemically sensitized paper. The paper is exposed to a photographic negative, a positive transparency , or a digital image file projected using an enlarger or digital exposure unit such as a LightJet printer...
, negatives
Negative (photography)
In photography, a negative may refer to three different things, although they are all related.-A negative:Film for 35 mm cameras comes in long narrow strips of chemical-coated plastic or cellulose acetate. As each image is captured by the camera onto the film strip, the film strip advances so that...
, and halftone
Halftone
Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size, in shape or in spacing...
reproductions.
In terms of scope, the photographs depict the community in a broad sense; photographs of demonstrations, conferences, social events, performances, and police harassment, as well as photographs of personal, domestic and social lives of lesbians and gay men are contained in the collection.
Posters
Predominantly Canadian posters are housed in the Archives, but international posters are also accepted. The scope is diverse: film, theatre, concerts, parties, bars, and avant-gardeAvant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
art, within the lesbian and gay community.