• Rainbow Story Hub
• October 9, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 3 minutes Read

Duane Shave

Duane Shave was a founding member and Empress of the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose (ISCWR) as well as Matriarch of All Alberta in the International Court System. We bring you the story of Duane Shave — better known onstage as Empress II, Chatty Cathy — a true pioneer in Edmonton’s performing arts and queer community history. As Edmonton’s longest-performing drag queen and a retired educator, Duane’s influence stretches far beyond the stage. His story is one of courage, compassion, and commitment, intersecting performance, teaching, activism, and community leadership.

From helping to found the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose (ISCWR) in the mid-1970s to being crowned Empress II, Duane has long been a central figure in Edmonton’s drag and LGBTQ2S+ community. He stepped into the role of Matriarch of All Alberta upon the passing of the Edmonton court’s founding Empress, and he continues to be a guiding presence in its operations.

In a time when public drag events were rare, Duane performed some of Edmonton’s first “public drag shows,” including at venues like Chez Pierre — spaces that welcomed queer expression in an often-hostile environment. Through his decades of performance, mentorship, and service, Duane has left a legacy that binds art, education, and activism together.

We invite you to listen closely as Duane Shave — Empress II, educator, advocate — shares the story of how a life on stage can also be a life of service, community, and transformation., a retired educator, and one of the first drag queens to perform publicly in the city, notably with Empress 1 Millie at the Pegasus nightclub and in the ISCWR’s elaborate Broadway-style drag shows, including Hello Dolly!.

• Rainbow Story Hub
• October 2, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 2 minutes Read

Marni Panas

Advocate, Leader, and Changemaker

This biopic tells the story of Marni Panas, a nationally recognized advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Marni has dedicated her life to advancing 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, healthcare equality, and creating safe, affirming spaces where everyone can be their authentic selves.

From her personal journey as a transgender woman to her leadership in organizations and communities across Canada, Marni’s story is one of courage, resilience, and hope.

🌈 Why This Story Matters
Marni’s work continues to inspire change—challenging stigma, building understanding, and showing what it means to lead with compassion.

👀 What You’ll Learn

Marni’s personal and professional journey

Her role in advancing human rights and healthcare inclusion

The impact of her advocacy on Canadian society

• Rainbow Story Hub
• September 19, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 5 minutes Read

2025 Edmonton Queer History Month

Queer History Month 2025 marks a special milestone for Rainbow Story Hub as we celebrate five remarkable community leaders who have shaped the 2SLGBTQIA+ movement over the past 55 years.

With generous support from the 47th Reign of the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose, we honour the profound contributions of these leaders—not only to Alberta’s longest-running 2SLGBTQIA+ organization, but also to the broader community they continue to cherish and serve.

Each story is shared through video, featuring the leaders in their own words, enriched by historic images that highlight their journeys and legacies.

• Blazewing Photography
• August 27, 2025
• 1 Comments
• 1 minute Read

Edmonton Pride Parade 2025

After 7 long years, the Edmonton Pride Parade made its return — more colourful, and fabulous than ever before!

Thousands of 2SLGBTQ+ community members, allies, and supporters lined the streets as the Pride Parade made its way back to the streets of downtown Edmonton in a dazzling celebration of love, identity, and unity.

The 2025 Edmonton Pride Parade was lead by Edmonton’s first Trans Parade!

• Ron Byers
• June 7, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 2 minutes Read

The Gay Straight Jacket – Film Screening

In celebration of Pride Month, Rainbow Story Hub and Metro Cinema are honored to host a special screening of the 1981 CBC documentary The Gay Straight Jacket—a poignant time capsule examining Edmonton’s queer community in the wake of the 1981 Pisces Spa raid.

Directed by CBC Edmonton Documentary, this 28-minute film delivers an unvarnished portrait of a tense yet pivotal period for 2SLGBTQ+ Edmontonians. Featuring intimate interviews with community members, clergy, and activists, as well as rare footage from queer venues like The Roost and Flashback II, the documentary offers a vital glimpse into early queer activism and resilience .

• Terrence Adams
• May 8, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 6 minutes Read

Gaywire Archives: Kristy Harcourt and Dan Savage

In this Gaywire Fundrive Special from 1999, Kristy Harcourt interviews Dan Savage about his work – his sex ed advice column, then-recently published book, Savage Love, and how one can stretch Canadian radio profanity guidelines– all while having a tea party, live on air, in HUB Mall on the North Campus of the University of Alberta. Listen to this piece of Edmonton Queer History today! Thanks to CJSR FM88 for allowing us to bring this unique audio episode out of the vaults.

• Kyler Chittick
• May 1, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 4 minutes Read

Trevor Schmidt: Edmonton’s Risk-Taker in Theatre

Trevor Schmidt has never been one to play it safe. As the long-standing Artistic Director of Northern Light Theatre (NLT), he has spent more than two decades reshaping Edmonton’s theatre scene with daring, provocative, and emotionally charged productions. Whether through his original works, visionary direction, or collaborations with groundbreaking artists, Schmidt has made it his mission to challenge audiences while keeping independent theatre thriving.

• Kyler Chittick
• April 27, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 7 minutes Read

Edmonton and Beyond: The Ongoing Legacy of Theodore (ted) Kerr

Theodore (ted) Kerr’s journey as a queer writer, artist, and community organizer is a story of movement—across cities, disciplines, and generations. Unsure of where he will next call home given the current upheavals in Canada and the U.S., Kerr’s work on HIV/AIDS cultural production and queer storytelling is internationally recognized. Yet his foundation was built in Edmonton, Alberta, where a blend of suburban upbringing, grassroots activism, and artistic experimentation first shaped his path.

• Kyler Chittick
• April 24, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 7 minutes Read

Stories That Heal: Ruth DyckFehderau’s Activist and Literary Legacy

The space she creates is electric and rare. You don’t just learn how to write there; you learn how to live with integrity. You learn how to sit with pain, how to make something of it, how to recognize what you owe—to the past, to others, and to yourself. You learn that stories aren’t just art; they’re strategy.

• Brendan Roy and Ron Byers
• April 20, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 2 minutes Read

Michael Phair – Found In, Advocate, Politician, Community Leader – PART TWO

In Part Two Michael Phair talks about working with his late friend Maureen Irwin and many others as the met with the Alberta Human Rights Commission in their attempt to get rights for the LGBTQ+ community included as protections as the refusal by the Province of Alberta Government to add protections at that time.

• Brendan Roy and Ron Byers
• April 17, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 3 minutes Read

Michael Phair – Found In, Advocate, Politician, Community Leader – PART ONE

In Part One Michael Phair talks about moving to Calgary from Loyal, Wisconsin – a small town of less than 1200 people… even today. After a brief time in Calgary he moved to Edmonton and shot to local notoriety on May 30, 1981 when he was arrested as a “found in a bawdy-house” during the police raid of the Pisces Bathhouse.

This event propelled him to the role of advocate and activist for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community…. something that even 40+ years later he still stands as a leader in the community.

• CJSR Radio
• March 11, 2025
• 0 Comments
• 2 minutes Read

Edmonton Pride 2003: Adamant Eve Streeters

This is a collection of street interviews, or streeters, that were done by the CJSR Radio Adamant Eve team at the Edmonton Pride Parade, June 15th, 2003. While these were done to be cut and used in a show, they are presented in their original recorded formats, in order to better showcase the parade environment. They were recorded with a portable MiniDisc recorder.

• Rainbow Story Hub
• December 27, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 6 minutes Read

Edmonton’s Elusive Women’s Spaces: The Prism Story

The lesbian bar has become a rare gem, as elusive as a white whale. There are only 32 remaining lesbian bars in the United States at time of writing — with 25% located in New York — and according to Radio-Canada data, there are none left in Canada. It’s a shame, given that Edmonton was by all accounts something of a hotbed for vast and varied queer venues. But what did the proverbial fall of lesbian “Rome” actually look like here in Edmonton? For that, we can look to Prism.

• Rainbow Story Hub
• December 19, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 7 minutes Read

A Brief Police History of Queer Edmonton

One of the most infamous early examples of persecution of the gay community occurred in 1942 with a series of same-sex trials in Edmonton. The trials were the result of a coordinated effort between the RCMP and Edmonton Police, who conducted a sting operation in response to a personal ad in the Edmonton Journal. Over the course of a few months, ten men were arrested, and nine were convicted for engaging in same-sex activity.

• Rainbow Story Hub
• December 13, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 9 minutes Read

A Dance-Hall of One’s Own: The Quietly Loud Queerness of Womonspace

Womonspace emerged as a response to the glaring lack of safe spaces where lesbians could socialize and participate in activities without facing judgment at best and outright discrimination at worst. Two women, Jeanne R. and Ann E., were inundated with complaints from the women they counseled at Gay Alliance Toward Equality (GATE) — concerns about the absence of a lesbian social scene — and decided to do something about it.