The animated short film “In a Heartbeat” was written, co-produced and directed by Esteban Bravo and Beth David. It is one of the first animated shorts on homosexual love. As part of MAMMOUTH on Télé-Québec, the co-producers received the prize for most inspirational foreign contribution. “In a Heartbeat” is also nominated for the 2018 Oscars.
The first ever broadcast of MAMMOUTH took place December 15 2017 on Télé-Québec. This gala organized by and for young people from all regions of Québec had as its goal the highlighting of 20 acts meant to inspire, motivate or change the world. Among the inspiring acts, we take note of three with links to the LGBTQ+ communities, either because of the creators or because of the subject: that of Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay, transgender actor well known to the Québec public; Xavier Dolan, actor and director and winner of several awards throughout the world, and finally Yan England, director of the film 1:54 on bullying and intimidation, distributed in several countries. During the broadcast, we also saw an interview with a young trans person. We congratulate Télé-Québec on this initiative.
“L’Histoire des Magazines Gais au Québec” by Jean-Pierre Fortin. In this French-language video montage combining an interview with Dr Ross Higgins and some 100 images of magazines held by the Quebec Gay Archives, Jean-Pierre Fortin offer us a colourful historical portrait of LGBTQ+ publications in Quebec up to the present day.
Ferrin Evans is an undergraduate student at Concordia University, completing a BFA Specialization in Film Studies with a Minor in Sexuality. Over the past decade, he has volunteered with the MIX New York Queer Experimental Film Festival, and he has served as a curator with the festival over the last two years. In his internship with AGQ, he assisted in the cataloguing and organization of film and video libraries. Ferrin’s upcoming work with AGQ involves digitizing important HIV/AIDS video within the collections, a project that he hopes will provide him invaluable experience as he applies to graduate school for archiving and preservation.
On November 28 2017, the Government of Canada, as represented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, offered an official apology to the thousands of Canadians who had been imprisoned, fired and harassed because of their sexual orientation, and this up until the 1990s. An example for other countries to follow in terms of recognition of the rights of LGBTQ+ communities.
Since the summer of 2015 archivist Denis Lessard has been employed on a consultancy basis by the Quebec Gay Archives. Initially, his mandate was to perform an overview of the archival fonds held by the AGQ in order to establish priorities and make recommendations regarding their treatment and preservation. Since December 2015, he has treated some 15 archival fonds according to strict archival standards, replacing file folders and containers by non-acidic conservation materials and by creating classifications schemes and fonds inventories which will help research and retrieval. The fonds processed to date include the fonds of the Groupe Homosexuel d’Action Politique (GHAP), of the Androgyne/Androgeny bookstore, the Groupe Gai de l’Université Laval (GGUL), the gay Jewish group Naches, the fonds Peter Flinsch and Bernard Courte, and the fonds of the Association pour les droits des gaie(e)s du Québec.
On this World Aids Day 2017, our thoughts are with those whom we have lost.
On November 19 2017, John Banks, long time volunteer at the Quebec Gay Archives, was invited to speak of his work relation with Marlene Dietrich during a presentation of the film Der blaue Engel (The Blue Angel). The invitation was made by Mr Philippe Spurrell, director of the Cinéclub Film Society. The screening of the Blue Angel took place in the Arts Building of Concordia University before some 80 individuals. John Banks took the opportunity to speak about his work with the Quebec Gay Archives and informed the audience that his correspondence with Madame Dietrich was held by the organization. Pierre Pilotte, AGQ coordinator, accompanied Mr Banks and used the opportunity to distribute publicity materials. During his own introduction and presentation, Mr Spurrell also had some kind words about the Quebec Gay Archives and thanked us for our participation in the event. We thank him for the invitation and for the warm welcome to his film community.
The Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, the Concordia University Interdisciplinary Studies in Sexuality program and the Queer Database Canada-Quebec, in association with the Quebec Gay Archives, present a lecture by Professor Lucas Hilderbrand of the University of California – Irvine on the history of gay bars in the USA since Stonewall. The lecture will take place on Thursday, 23 November at 6:30 pm at Stock Bar, 1171 St-Catherine Est.
From Chicago to Kansas City, from New York City to Atlanta, Lucas Hilderbrand will lecture on the complex post-1969 history of gay bars in the United States. Giving Montreal audiences a peek of his forth-coming book The Bars Are Ours: The Culture of Gay Bars in the U.S. Since Stonewall, he will cover a wide array of topics, including: sex laws, leather and drag scenes, the AIDS epidemic, and coalitional politics.
Lucas Hilderbrand (PhD Cinema Studies, NYU) teaches film & media, visual & queer studies at University of California Irvine. Author of the acclaimed book Inherent Vice (2009) and the Queer Film Classics monograph Paris is Burning (2013), he has written on the pleasures & politics of video bootlegging, the mediations of queer memory, & the ambiguities of experimental documentary.
On October 25 2017 Vincent Warren, a great friend and benefactor of the Quebec Gay Archives, passed away. Iconic dancer of les Grand Ballets Canadiens from 1961 to 1979, he was the incarnation of beauty, grace and sensuality on stage and greatly contributed to the development of the Bibliothèque de la danse which bears his name (http://bibliodanse.ca). Goodbye Vincent, and thank you.
Le 19 août dernier, des membres du conseil d’administration des Archives gaies du Québec et des bénévoles ont participé à la Journée communautaire de Fierté Montréal. Ils ont ainsi pu avoir des échanges fructueux avec plusieurs visiteurs et distribuer près de 700 dépliants sur l’organisme.
Le samedi 2 septembre, trois membres des AGQ se sont rendus pour la première fois à Québec pour participer à la Journée communautaire de Fierté Arc-en-ciel. L’accueil fut sympathique et les
échanges avec le public ont été des plus intéressants. On y a distribué beaucoup de dépliants et de copies de L’Archigai.
Ross Higgins, Pierre Pilotte et Iain Blair. lors de la journée communautaire de la Fête Arc-en-ciel de Québec à l’été 2017.
Jusqu’au 25 septembre, dans le cadre de l’exposition Aires Libres 2017 dans le Village gai de Montréal, on a pu voir sur des colonnes lumineuses des reproductions de photos de la collection des Archives gaies du Québec.
Les Archives gaies du Québec participaient à l’exposition RÉVOLUTION au Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal.
Jusqu’au 20 août 2017, l’organisme a participé à l’exposition Les cabinets de curiosités LGBTQ+ organisée par le CIAC-Centre international d’art contemporain de Montréal.
Le 16 août dernier avait lieu une soirée pour mettre fin à une campagne de financement des Archives gaies du Québec L’évènement s’est déroulé conjointement avec l’exposition Les cabinets de curiosités LGBTQ+, en présence d’une centaine d’amis des Archives, dont plusieurs donateurs et donatrices, y compris Hélène Laverdière, députée fédérale de Laurier-Sainte-Marie et Manon Massé, députée de Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques à Québec. Les animateurs de la soirée étaient Jacques Prince, cofondateur de l’organisme et président du conseil d’administration, et Pierre Pilotte, coordonnateur aux Archives gaies du Québec.
Jean-Paul Daoust, poète et porte-parole de l’évènement, a récité quelques poèmes. Puis ont suivi quelques tirages dont des livres sur l’artiste Peter Flinsch offerts par l’auteur, Ross Higgins, cofondateur des Archives gaies du Québec. Ont aussi été tirés plusieurs paires de billets offerts par le Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. Finalement, c’est Jean-Jacques Ringuette, un des artistes donateurs avec Evergon, qui a procédé au tirage de l’oeuvre d’une valeur de 2 000 $ qui a été gagnée par Mme Selma Bryant-Fournier. Un gros merci à tout le monde.
