Tess McNaughton is the 2024 Historian in Residence

While notoriously underrepresented in history books, queer history is crucial and hidden all around us. It’s in coffee shops, libraries, bars, and schools. It’s hidden in obituaries and tchotchkes. It’s in papers where historians label same-sex duos living together for forty years as “roommates.” There is an entire queer culture hidden in stories and whispers, that you might go your whole life without hearing about.

Typically, culture is passed through lineage. If you have questions about your heritage, you can ask a parent or grandparent. However, culture within the queer community tends not to be as easily accessible and intergenerational. When you come out, you find your community in those around you who are typically from your similar age range with similar interests. How does one learn about the lived experiences of those who couldn’t be out for fear of losing jobs and loved ones? This history lacks documentation for many reasons, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Through every generation, there is a separation which can be seen physically in clothing and style or intangibles such as slang and shared world views. Similarly, there is also a notable intergenerational divide in language within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. For instance, younger generations are reclaiming the term “queer” as an empowering label to encompass both sexuality and gender identity. It’s a label that is broad and allows fluidity in how one identifies. However, the word “queer” holds emotional weight for older generations. Queer has been and continues to be, used as a slur. It can be used to identify people who don’t fall into the labels of cisgender and straight. Therefore, those who are older might prefer to identify as a gay man or gay woman instead. I will be using gay, queer, and 2SLGBTQIA+ community interchangeably within my research as queer has been a safe word for myself and those around me to identify with, but I recognize this isn’t the case for everyone.

I find the intergenerational divide in not only language but culture within the queer community so fascinating. I assumed when I came out that regardless of age, you would be able to connect with another gay person about at least being gay. However, when I attended a gathering that had a mix of generations, the divide was very clear. Being younger, I felt insecure and felt I knew less about culture and living life openly as a lesbian than those around me. I was hesitant to ask about what gay life in the city “used” to be like because I didn’t want to offend anyone or have anyone think I was calling them “old.” I left the party feeling a strong sense of love towards my community, but also aware of a missed opportunity for deeper, intergenerational connections.

Having grown up and coming out in Calgary, I felt that moving to Lethbridge would require that I hide my identity as the city is more rural. To my surprise, I found a flourishing 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Lethbridge. This inspired me to create a Historical Queer Walking tour of downtown Lethbridge in 2023, drawing mainly from previously recorded oral interviews from queer Lethbridge residents conducted by Aimee Benoit at the Galt Museum and Archives.

What I loved about this tour was not only sharing history with those interested, but also with the people who would speak up and share their lived experiences. The queer history I found wasn’t very old. Most of the history I researched started in the 1900s with the majority of the information being from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Because of this, people who were attending the tours had lived through what I saw as historical research. They shared their coming out stories at the local bars and bonded over drag queens they knew and gay party events that had happened. While I tried to frantically write and remember what they told me, it was futile. This history lives and dies with people. I wanted to find a way to document the history that people may not see as important, but any archivist would.

This experience motivated my research proposal for the Historian in Residence with Heritage Calgary and the Calgary Public Library. Now, I wanted to focus on uncovering the often-overlooked histories of queer women, trans, and nonbinary people and find a way to connect generations within Calgary.

Inspired by Sarah Woodsman’s project, “Solidari-tea” that was shared at the National Queer and Trans Community History Conference this year, I developed a plan to connect youth and elders within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community through oral history interviews. Collaborating with organizations like Lavender Club YYC, the Rainbow Elders, and the Q Centre at the University of Calgary, I launched a survey to recruit participants across all age groups, aiming to foster intergenerational connection and dialogue. The goal was to connect youth (ages 18-29) with seniors (ages 50+) and those who were in the middle (ages 30-49) could choose if they would rather be paired with a youth or a senior. After receiving responses, I began pairing participants based on meeting preference (in person or over video call), time availability, and general interests, which were all gathered through the survey.

The next step is the interview process, starting mid-July and going through until the end of August. Interview questions will range from general interests, hobbies, and education to your sexuality, places you had queer experiences in Calgary, and how you feel that your identity has changed with age.

Creating space for people to share their stories is critical as our histories connect all of us. I hope to document not only the older stories but also the new, so that people who are part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, or know someone in the community, can have a deeper connection to Calgary. 

Tess McNaughton is the 2024 Historian in Residence. With expertise in queer and women's history, Tess is dedicated to documenting the experiences of queer women, nonbinary, and transgender individuals in Calgary. Tess aims to create a dedicated queer archive, commemorating overlooked stories of these marginalized communities.

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The Historian in Residence is presented in partnership with Calgary Public Library.