Consultations by appointment, weekdays between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. To make an appointment or for any questions, please contact us by email.
For your comfort, please bring warm clothing for your visit.
Phone :514 287-9987
Email :info@agq.qc.ca
Founded in 1983, the Archives gaies du Québec are an independent, non-profit archive center whose mission is to preserve the memory and history of LGBTQ2S+ communities in Quebec.
Acquire, preserve and disseminate any document that bears witness to the history of LGBTQ2S+ associations and individuals. Promote diversity and inclusion of LGBTQ2S+ people. Update the content of its collections on all aspects of gender and sexuality.
Promote research on sexual and gender minorities and recognition of their rich contributions to Quebec history.
The Archives are supported by individual and corporate donations as well as by benefit events. Some special projects have also been supported by government grants. We rely upon your support and your passion for the history of LGBTQ+ communities in Quebec, in Canada and in the wider world.
If you would like to contribute by donating materials, we welcome your suggestions! Depending on our available resources, we accept donations of archives in any format: photographs, matchboxes, banners, love letters, clothing and costumes, posters, urns, diaries, illustrations, films and cassettes, and more. The AGQ preserves all archives that reflect the richness and diversity of LGBT2S+ communities in Quebec.
Please complete the donation proposal form, and a member of our team will respond to you shortly. If you have any questions about archival donations, you can also call or write to us.
For our 2025-2026 FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN, we have offered a drawing for a work by renowned artist Armand Vaillancourt, entitled Noir sur Bleu. This ally of our communities donated this work to the AGQ to support its achievements.
Vaillancourt is a prolific painter and sculptor who focuses on public art. Recipient of the Paul-Émile-Borduas Award and Companion of the Order of Arts and Letters of Quebec, as well as Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec, he is also a committed activist.
The artwork offered is framed and has a fair market value of $8,500 (including framing) and is printed in a limited edition of 85 copies (70/85). The dimensions of the artwork are 20" x 22" or 51 x 56 cm.
Armand VAILLANCOURT, Black on Blue, 2003, Silkscreen print, 20" x 22", 51 x 56 cm, Edition 70/85, Value: $8,500 framed.
We primarily offer a reference service. We assist researchers in refining their topics and direct them to the best possible sources within our collections. We can refer them to other archives centers or organisations that may be able to find the information we do not have.
Thanks to our international collections, we can respond to requests concerning gay and lesbian people from around the world. We have extensive collections of magazines, newspapers, press clippings, books, videotapes, posters, photos, and archival fonds.Our collections are principally composed of printed materials (books, periodical, posters, pamphlets and press clippings), handwritten materials (personal and institutional), photos, videos and DVDs, films, and a wide variety of other materials including framed artworks.
In 1983, Ross Higgins and Jacques Prince decided to establish the association that would become the Quebec Gay Archives. Only a community organization could take on this task, knowing that most of these documents and objects would not be found in the Archives nationales du Québec or the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec. Thanks to the determination of these two visionaries, an archives and documentation center was gradually established, accessible to everyone. In 1985, the Archives gaies du Québec became a non-profit corporation, and in 1990, it obtained charitable status, which allowed it to launch its first fundraising campaign in November of that year. The campaign was a resounding success and demonstrated the community's interest in the project.
With donations pouring in, the Archives gaies du Québec rented its first premises in 1993. This made it possible to bring together in one place all the documents that had previously been scattered among the organization's members and the Gay and Lesbian Community Center. The AGQ also organized some twenty events during its first ten years (exhibitions, conferences, etc.).Since opening its initial premises in 1993, the Archives gaies du Québec (AGQ) has expanded significantly. A dozen volunteer members ensure its autonomous operation. In July 2007, the AGQ signed a new lease that doubled the size of its premises on Saint-Laurent Boulevard. Then, in June 2013, the AGQ moved to 1000 Amherst Street (now Atateken) because the previous premises had become too small. Then in 2019, it moved to its current premises above the previous ones for even more space, now allowing exhibitions to be held on the premises.
An article by Jacques Prince in Archivaria A text by Jacques Prince as part of the 40th anniversary of the AGQ
Sincere thanks to all those volunteers who have been involved in the Quebec Gay Archives over the past years. And above all thank you to all our faithful and generous donors, without whom the Quebec Gay Archives could not continue its work.
