The year was 1991 and Darrin Hagen (in those days, just as widely known as Gloria Hole) was vexed.
He had stood up to the new owner of the Edmonton gay bar Flashback and had consequently lost his bartending job. Alberta’s homophobia was getting so much airtime. The Delwin Vriend seven-year saga for sexual orientation as a protected human right had kicked off. The procession of AIDS-related funerals was getting longer. And, to top it off, the provincial government was having conversations around “community standards” and arts funding, conversations that smelled exactly like censorship of all things queer.
Today, Mama Kash serves as one of RaricaNow’s longest‑standing board members, her enduring love woven into the fabric of the organization. But the story of how she arrived here — and how her daughter, Queen Kash Bae, became part of RaricaNow’s history — is also the story of how RaricaNow itself grew into a lifeline for queer and trans newcomers across continents.
RaricaNow is a non‑profit organization founded in 2017 with a clear and urgent purpose: to promote human rights for LGBTIQ+ refugees and newcomers in Canada, and to raise awareness about the gaps in services and the struggles faced by this unique population. It emerged because queer and trans newcomers were falling through every crack — immigration systems, social services, housing supports, and community networks. RaricaNow stepped in where no one else did, building a space where safety, dignity, and belonging were not luxuries but expectations.
The organization began in a small community center, offering support groups, counseling, and educational workshops. Word spread quickly. People who had never before felt seen found a place where they could breathe. As demand grew, RaricaNow expanded into larger spaces, built more programs, and deepened its commitment to trauma‑informed, culturally grounded care. It became a home — not just in Edmonton, but across borders.
Among the many people whose lives intersected with RaricaNow, few stories illustrate the organization’s impact more powerfully than the story of Queen Kash Bae and her mother, Mama Kash.
altView launched in February 2008, originally operating just as a group and meeting every other Tuesday evening at 6:30 PM, and in under a year the group began meeting weekly. They opened each gathering with an icebreaker question and moved into an activity. Over the years, they watched movies, learned to knit and crochet, had planning nights and Lego nights and game nights, wrote stories and made art, brought in guest speakers, picked random Ted talks to watch, made buttons, planned (but didn’t make) a printed toilet-paper “smear” campaign against ill-behaved politicians, had scavenger hunts at Ikea, painted an old donated school bus in rainbow stripes for Pride parades, invented a Twilight-candy game (they watched Twilight movies and ate candy whenever a character was creepy – but had to stop because youth felt ill from so much sugar), discussed religion or politics, and had so many potlucks. Afterwards, they headed out for coffee.
After moving to Edmonton in 1997, Lance Anderson Croft felt inspired to create a curling league for queer people in the city. Other Canadian cities such as Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary had established queer curling leagues, and Edmonton would be next on the list of cities with one. As far as queer sports leagues go, Edmonton only had volleyball and badminton before Lance founded Curling with Pride (CWP).
The nature of curling is team based and Lance could not start the league on his own. To gauge and attract public interest, he created and put up flyers at the Roost (one of the gay bars at the time), the Gay and Lesbian Community Centre of Edmonton (GLCCE), and also had Kristy Harcourt mention it on her CKUA radio show for a couple of weeks.
Before E2S existed, there were individuals across the Amiskwaciwâskahikan (ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ) region, also known as Edmonton, quietly searching for cultural teachings that affirmed their queerness, their Indigeneity, and their place in the world. Among them was Jeffery Chalifoux (Jeff) who — who identifies as ihkwêw – one of many Cree genders teachings by kêhtêyayah (Elder) Jo-Ann Saddleback as she shared in ceremony — was navigating shame, closeting, and the search for belonging. He lived and volunteered in Edmonton’s inner city, attended recovery meetings, and learned from ceremony and culture. His journey mirrored the journeys of many Indigenous queer people reclaiming teachings that had been interrupted by colonialism.
On Saturday, August 22, 2026, Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQ+ community and our allies filled the streets of downtown for the Edmonton Pride Parade and Trans March, the centrepiece of the Edmonton Pride Festival held August 21 to 23. Last year, in 2025, the parade and Trans March returned to the streets for the first time since 2018. This second year back showed that the community’s commitment to marching together remains strong.
The Rainbow Story Hub Foundation is grateful to Paula Kirman of Radical Citizen Media for allowing us to embed this video in our collection. Paula has spent years documenting social justice and activist events in Edmonton, including rallies, protests, and conferences, creating an invaluable record of our city’s activist history.
October 2026 marks Edmonton’s fourth Queer History Month, and Rainbow Story Hub is celebrating with new stories, new photo collections, and a city-wide lineup of partners bigger than ever before. With funding support from the Edmonton Heritage Council, community members have researched and written new stories about organizations that make up Greater Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and we’re adding new albums to our Gallery from the Jackie Meloche collection.
10242 106 Street — the former Club 70, Cha Cha Club, Boots N’ Saddle, Boots, and The Junction The Rainbow Story Hub Foundation has submitted an application to the City of Edmonton to recognize 10242 106 Street NW as a historic place — the first step toward preserving the longest-serving gathering place in Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQ+ history. You can help move it forward, and it takes about five minutes. Why this place matters From 1970 to 2012 — more than four decades — this one address was the continuous heart of our community: Club 70 (Edmonton’s first gay bar), the…
We welcome your story of HIV/AIDS in a short story format of 300 – 700 words. You can submit your story using the Expression of Interest form on our Contribute Your Story page. You can also attach one or two photos using the form which will be added to your story. These do not qualify for any honorariums at this time. Stories must be about dealing with HIV/AIDS or the impacts it had on someone you knew in the Greater Edmonton Region. Stay tuned for stories
Dr. Knut Egil Vik (1933–2016) shaped Edmonton not through public prominence, but through sustained, quiet influence across medicine, the arts, and community life. A physician who graduated top of his University of Alberta class in 1957, Vik practised surgery, obstetrics, geriatrics, and addictions medicine—and was among the first Edmonton doctors to treat patients with HIV/AIDS during the early years of the epidemic, when many practitioners hesitated to engage.
In October 1983, Vik founded the Vik Gallery on the main floor of the historic Armstrong Block at 10129 – 104 Street, deliberately choosing a then-overlooked downtown to help revitalize the core. The gallery became a serious contemporary exhibition space, championing artists such as Joane Cardinal-Schubert and Jane Ash Poitras—Indigenous artists who would become central to Canadian art history. Vik also served on the boards of the Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton Opera, Alberta Ballet, and Theatre Network.
For 46 years, Vik shared his life with Frank Calder, co-founder of Calder Bateman Communications and the public-affairs strategist behind campaigns including the NHL’s Pride Tape. Together they rescued and restored the Wallbridge Residence, a 1910 Edwardian home in Groat Estates, securing its designation as a Municipal Historic Resource in 2008.
Their story weaves together medicine, art, civic life, and heritage stewardship—a same-sex couple whose impact on Edmonton was real, lasting, and often understated. This is a history of structural influence: the kind that builds a city quietly, one cause and one building at a time.
Queerness in Edmonton has never been confined to queer space. It has always leaked out and found new homes. This is as true now as it was back in the late 60s, in the days before gay bars, before Club 70 opened at the tail end of 1969. In 2004, Edmonton’s Fresh Magazine talked about the phenomenon of guerilla gay bars – where queer folk invaded straight space and made it their own. This wasn’t new. In fact, this is very much what we had to do, before Club 70 gave us a space of our own. In the…
Part Two: Rob Browatzke – Recovery and Evolution
In this second installment, Rob Browatzke reflects on his struggles with addiction and how it affected his work at Buddy’s, Down Under, and Boots. After the passing of the Boots Bar owner, he moved on to Prism Bar and the Junction Bar & Grill, eventually finding sobriety and a new sense of purpose. With support from his uncles, Rob helped launch Evolution Wonderlounge in 2013 — Edmonton’s premiere queer nightclub — and now shares how that legacy continues with the opening of EVO in the spring of 2025.
A powerful story of resilience, renewal, and the ongoing evolution of community.
Part One: Rob Browatzke – Finding Community
In this first installment, Edmonton writer and community builder Rob Browatzke reflects on coming out in high school, his first night at The Roost nightclub, and the early challenges of finding acceptance. Rob shares stories of moving to Lethbridge for college and returning to Edmonton, where he worked at the Georgia Bathhouse, Down Under, Boots Bar, The Roost, and Buddy’s Niteclub. He also talks about his shift into community activism and media — from volunteering with the Gay Men’s Outreach Crew and Edmonton Pride Festival to helping launch Fresh Magazine after writing for Times.10.
A candid look at the spaces, people, and moments that helped shape one of Edmonton’s most enduring voices in queer culture.
“I never thought I’d still be here to tell this story — but maybe that’s exactly why I need to.”
In Part Two of this biographical series, Edmonton’s Ron Byers continues his remarkable journey — one defined by survival, advocacy, and the power of storytelling to build community and preserve memory.
As the AIDS crisis deepened through the 1980s and 1990s, Ron witnessed the loss of countless friends and community members. Then, in 1998, he himself was diagnosed with AIDS, facing both the stigma and the steep challenges that came with navigating a medical system often unprepared — and at times unwilling — to meet the needs of those living with HIV. Through it all, Ron’s resilience and determination became acts of quiet defiance and hope.
Decades later, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ron once again turned to storytelling — this time through writing. He began contributing to the Edmonton City as Museum Project, documenting the History of the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose and the History of Gay Bars in Edmonton. These projects inspired the creation of his own non-profit foundation, the Rainbow Story Hub, dedicated to preserving and amplifying Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQ+ history.
His work soon caught the attention of Explore Edmonton, who invited him to author the Guide to Pride in Edmonton. That collaboration sparked the founding of Pride Edmonton, reviving local Pride initiatives and connecting organizations across the city.
Building on these partnerships, Ron worked with Explore Edmonton and other community leaders to raise awareness of Queer History Month, ensuring that Edmonton’s queer stories were celebrated and remembered. His leadership also extended internationally when he joined a team developing Edmonton’s bid to host the 2030 Gay Games, highlighting the city’s inclusive spirit on the world stage.
Today, Ron reflects with gratitude on the journey that brought him here — from survival to storytelling, from activism to recognition. His decades of work have been honoured with numerous accolades, including being named a recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his service to community and culture.
Part Two celebrates Ron’s ongoing legacy: a story of perseverance, creativity, and the belief that by telling our stories, we make it possible for others to tell theirs.
In Part One of this biographical series, Edmonton’s Ron Byers reflects on the early chapters of his life — from coming out as gay and facing rejection at home, to finding the courage to live openly and authentically. His story traces the challenges, friendships, and discoveries that shaped both his life and Edmonton’s emerging queer community.
After leaving home, Ron moved into his first apartment with his best friend from high school. It was there that independence began to take root — a time of exploration, music, and late-night conversations about identity and belonging. Soon after, he found Edmonton’s first gay bar, a hidden space that offered connection and the promise of something larger than himself.
That discovery set him on a path of adventure. Ron joined a female impersonation revue, traveling across the Prairies as the troupe’s tech person. Life on the road opened his eyes to the artistry and resilience within drag performance — and to the chosen families built through laughter and performance in small-town bars and hotel ballrooms.
Returning to Edmonton, Ron became part of the staff at Flashback, the legendary nightclub that stood as a safe haven for the city’s 2SLGBTQ+ community through the 1970s and 1980s. Within its walls, he witnessed both the joy of liberation and the heartbreak that came with the AIDS crisis, as friends and colleagues were lost to a growing epidemic that reshaped the community forever.
In time, Ron sought peace and balance away from the city. He found it on a small farm near Tofield, a life chapter captured in the story “Loading Dock to Farm Pasture: The Annual Flashback to Tofield Migration.”
Part One captures the foundations of Ron’s journey — the courage to come out, the pull of community, and the unbreakable spirit that kept Edmonton’s queer history alive even through its hardest years.
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Ruth DyckFehderau
Cherese Reemaul
Rhys Primus
Radical Citizen Media
Rainbow Story Hub
Ron Byers
Rob Browatzke
