For decades, Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQ+ community organizations have created spaces for friendship, advocacy, sport, culture, health, and belonging. Many of these groups helped shape our city’s history, yet their stories have never been fully documented and, as time passes, memories and records are at risk of being lost.
Roots of the Rainbow is a new Rainbow Story Hub Foundation project dedicated to preserving the histories of Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQ+ organizations through archival research, oral history interviews, photographs, video, podcasts, and written stories. We will be documenting organizations that have strengthened our community over the past several decades, ensuring their legacies remain accessible for future generations.
Project Timeline
The project will run through 2026 and into 2027. Research begins this summer, followed by interviews with founders, volunteers, members, and community leaders. Stories, videos, podcasts, and exhibits will be released on an ongoing basis, with public presentations planned during Pride Festival, Edmonton Queer History Month, and at venues across the city.
Why We’re Doing This
Rainbow Story Hub Foundation exists to preserve and share Edmonton’s queer history. Our team combines decades of community involvement with experience in historical research, storytelling, archives, and digital publishing. We believe the organizations that built our community deserve to have their histories preserved with the same care and respect as the people who made them possible.
Every story is developed through collaboration with participants. Interviewees have the opportunity to review their stories before publication, and we are committed to ethical, respectful, and community-led storytelling.
Sharing These Stories
All stories and media created through this project will be freely available on Rainbow Story Hub and shared through social media, podcasts, video platforms, libraries, community events, and travelling pop-up exhibits. By combining digital storytelling with public displays, we hope to reach both members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community and the broader public.
Accessibility is central to the project. There is no cost to participate or access the finished work. Whenever possible, videos will include captions, stories will be written in clear language, and contributors may choose how they wish to be represented.
Community Collaboration
This project is built with the community, not simply about it. We are seeking the voices of founders, volunteers, members, supporters, and anyone with memories, photographs, documents, or artifacts connected to Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQ+ organizations.
We recognize that Edmonton (amiskwacîwâskahikan) is located on Treaty 6 Territory and are committed to respectful, consent-based documentation. Where Indigenous and Two-Spirit histories intersect with the organizations we document, we will work collaboratively and respectfully to ensure those stories are represented appropriately.
If you were part of an organization—or know someone who was—we would love to hear from you. Together, we can preserve these important stories before they are lost.
