Rainbow Story Hub
Thu. Oct 22nd, 2026
Trending Stories: When the Name Caught Up to Work. A Health Collective That Grew with Its CommunityLoud & Queer: The Authorized VersionQueen Kash Bae: A RaricaNow Archival Narrative of Love, Loss, and LiberationaltView: A Brief HistoryMore Than a Game: The 25-Year History of Edmonton’s Curling with PrideThe First Executive Director of the Edmonton 2 Spirit Society (E2S): A Collective Story Rooted in Identity, Ceremony, and CommunityEdmonton Pride Parade and Trans March 20262026 Edmonton Queer History MonthHelp Secure a Home for Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQ+ HistoryHIV/AIDS Short StoriesThe Vik Gallery: Knut Vik, Frank Calder & Their Edmonton LegacyEdmonton Queer Pop-Ups: A Starter CourseRob Browatzke – Part TwoRob Browatzke – Part OneRon Byers – Part TwoRon Byers – Part OneScott Bryen – Part TwoScott Bryen – Part OneDuane ShaveMarni Panas2025 Edmonton Queer History MonthEdmonton Pride Parade 2025The Gay Straight Jacket – Film ScreeningGaywire Archives: Kristy Harcourt and Dan SavageTrevor Schmidt: Edmonton’s Risk-Taker in TheatreEdmonton and Beyond: The Ongoing Legacy of Theodore (ted) KerrStories That Heal: Ruth DyckFehderau’s Activist and Literary LegacyMichael Phair – Found In, Advocate, Politician, Community Leader – PART TWOMichael Phair – Found In, Advocate, Politician, Community Leader – PART ONEEdmonton Pride 2003: Adamant Eve StreetersEdmonton’s Elusive Women’s Spaces: The Prism StoryA Brief Police History of Queer EdmontonA Dance-Hall of One’s Own: The Quietly Loud Queerness of WomonspaceFlashback Neon SignA Damn Proud Gay Canadian Soldier – Part TwoA Damn Proud Gay Canadian Soldier – Part OneFrom Scholar to Senator: The Incredible Story of Dr. Kristopher Wells Sex and Sin in the City of Champions: The Story of Chez PierreForty Years of Fabulous: The Story of Twiggy and Edmonton’s Drag Evolution Raid on Pisces Bathhouse — Darkest Before the Dawn The Facts in the Case of D. Vriend Coming Out Short StoriesLet’s Hear It For The Girls: A Lesbian Architecture Romance A conversation with Dr. Barbara Romanowski 2024 Edmonton Queer History MonthTHE FLASHBACK FILES: Posters, Calendars and Billboards Part TwoTHE FLASHBACK FILES: Posters, Calendars and Billboards Part OneThe Flashback Files: Gone But Not ForgottenThe Flashback Files: Sister NeonThe Flashback Files: Dance Marathon!The Flashback Files: TwiggyLoading Dock to Farm Pasture: The Annual Flashback to Tofield MigrationThe Flashback Files: B-52’s Beach Party 1990The Flashback Files: Gloria HoleThe Flashback Files: Masters of CeremoniesThe Flashback Files: Drag RacesLiz Massiah – Edmonton’s Lesbian Community Leader ExtraordinaireDeaf, Kink, LesbianBig Joey – Another LookISCWR Turnabout 2010May Long Drag Marathon (2011)ISCWR Grease (2014)ISCWR’s Nightmare Before ChristmasISCWR Rocky Horror Picture Show 2011ISCWR Lion King ProductionYou can stay at the YMCA: Edmonton’s Village PeopleISCWR’s Beauty and the Beast Slide ShowLittle Shop Of Horrors ShowVernon’s Podcast talks to Rob BrowatzkePride On The Square Montage – 2009Kylie 2008FAB – The Early YearsPride Parades Video CollectionsISCWR Website From 1998Edmonton Pride Parade 2018Edmonton Pride Parade 2017Edmonton Pride Parade 2016Edmonton Pride Parade 2015Edmonton Pride Parade 2014Edmonton Pride Parade Video 2003Edmonton Pride Parade Video 2004Edmonton Pride Parade Video 2006Edmonton Pride Parade Video 2009May Long Weekend Drag Show – 2009Hello Dolly Production 1979Remembering Deborah ChymyshynThe Wizard of Oz Production September 2002Reminiscing Gay Pride Edmonton while walking along Jasper Avenue with Millie#TBT: Vanity FairA STUDY OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATIONThe Individual’s Rights Protection Act and the LGBTQ CommunityRelight The NeonPartying with Ike & Tina in 1976A Flashback to FlashbackCruising at The PigISCWR Ball Program ArchiveMaking weird waves: on a crestDivine Memories: The Day I Met The Superstar EntertainerDr. Charles BidwellIt may be hard for many of you to imagine…
Greater Edmonton Region, Alberta
Thu. Oct 22nd, 2026
Trending Stories: When the Name Caught Up to Work. A Health Collective That Grew with Its CommunityLoud & Queer: The Authorized VersionQueen Kash Bae: A RaricaNow Archival Narrative of Love, Loss, and LiberationaltView: A Brief HistoryMore Than a Game: The 25-Year History of Edmonton’s Curling with PrideThe First Executive Director of the Edmonton 2 Spirit Society (E2S): A Collective Story Rooted in Identity, Ceremony, and CommunityEdmonton Pride Parade and Trans March 20262026 Edmonton Queer History MonthHelp Secure a Home for Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQ+ HistoryHIV/AIDS Short StoriesThe Vik Gallery: Knut Vik, Frank Calder & Their Edmonton LegacyEdmonton Queer Pop-Ups: A Starter CourseRob Browatzke – Part TwoRob Browatzke – Part OneRon Byers – Part TwoRon Byers – Part OneScott Bryen – Part TwoScott Bryen – Part OneDuane ShaveMarni Panas2025 Edmonton Queer History MonthEdmonton Pride Parade 2025The Gay Straight Jacket – Film ScreeningGaywire Archives: Kristy Harcourt and Dan SavageTrevor Schmidt: Edmonton’s Risk-Taker in TheatreEdmonton and Beyond: The Ongoing Legacy of Theodore (ted) KerrStories That Heal: Ruth DyckFehderau’s Activist and Literary LegacyMichael Phair – Found In, Advocate, Politician, Community Leader – PART TWOMichael Phair – Found In, Advocate, Politician, Community Leader – PART ONEEdmonton Pride 2003: Adamant Eve StreetersEdmonton’s Elusive Women’s Spaces: The Prism StoryA Brief Police History of Queer EdmontonA Dance-Hall of One’s Own: The Quietly Loud Queerness of WomonspaceFlashback Neon SignA Damn Proud Gay Canadian Soldier – Part TwoA Damn Proud Gay Canadian Soldier – Part OneFrom Scholar to Senator: The Incredible Story of Dr. Kristopher Wells Sex and Sin in the City of Champions: The Story of Chez PierreForty Years of Fabulous: The Story of Twiggy and Edmonton’s Drag Evolution Raid on Pisces Bathhouse — Darkest Before the Dawn The Facts in the Case of D. Vriend Coming Out Short StoriesLet’s Hear It For The Girls: A Lesbian Architecture Romance A conversation with Dr. Barbara Romanowski 2024 Edmonton Queer History MonthTHE FLASHBACK FILES: Posters, Calendars and Billboards Part TwoTHE FLASHBACK FILES: Posters, Calendars and Billboards Part OneThe Flashback Files: Gone But Not ForgottenThe Flashback Files: Sister NeonThe Flashback Files: Dance Marathon!The Flashback Files: TwiggyLoading Dock to Farm Pasture: The Annual Flashback to Tofield MigrationThe Flashback Files: B-52’s Beach Party 1990The Flashback Files: Gloria HoleThe Flashback Files: Masters of CeremoniesThe Flashback Files: Drag RacesLiz Massiah – Edmonton’s Lesbian Community Leader ExtraordinaireDeaf, Kink, LesbianBig Joey – Another LookISCWR Turnabout 2010May Long Drag Marathon (2011)ISCWR Grease (2014)ISCWR’s Nightmare Before ChristmasISCWR Rocky Horror Picture Show 2011ISCWR Lion King ProductionYou can stay at the YMCA: Edmonton’s Village PeopleISCWR’s Beauty and the Beast Slide ShowLittle Shop Of Horrors ShowVernon’s Podcast talks to Rob BrowatzkePride On The Square Montage – 2009Kylie 2008FAB – The Early YearsPride Parades Video CollectionsISCWR Website From 1998Edmonton Pride Parade 2018Edmonton Pride Parade 2017Edmonton Pride Parade 2016Edmonton Pride Parade 2015Edmonton Pride Parade 2014Edmonton Pride Parade Video 2003Edmonton Pride Parade Video 2004Edmonton Pride Parade Video 2006Edmonton Pride Parade Video 2009May Long Weekend Drag Show – 2009Hello Dolly Production 1979Remembering Deborah ChymyshynThe Wizard of Oz Production September 2002Reminiscing Gay Pride Edmonton while walking along Jasper Avenue with Millie#TBT: Vanity FairA STUDY OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATIONThe Individual’s Rights Protection Act and the LGBTQ CommunityRelight The NeonPartying with Ike & Tina in 1976A Flashback to FlashbackCruising at The PigISCWR Ball Program ArchiveMaking weird waves: on a crestDivine Memories: The Day I Met The Superstar EntertainerDr. Charles BidwellIt may be hard for many of you to imagine…
Greater Edmonton Region, Alberta
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Places
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.

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Events
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.

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Organizations
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.

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Events
Flashback Neon Sign

On June 17, 2023 a new sign was added to the City of Edmonton’s Neon Sign Museum. This marked the first time that a gay-owned business for “gay people and their friends” was acknowledged in such a public and immortal way. A ceremony was held on 104 Street with owner John Reid, dignitaries and friends of Flashback who chanted “Light it up, Light it up” and cheering as the power was turned on bringing the blue glow of the sign to Edmonton’s downtown once again. In the Fall of 2024 a new plaque was added to the building. The…

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People
A Damn Proud Gay Canadian Soldier – Part Two

In Part Two Retired Major John McDougall of the Canadian Armed Forces and soon retired Chair of the Edmonton Police Commission talks with Activist and former Chair of the Edmonton Police Commission about his time with the Canadian Armed Forces and being arrested for being gay.

#edmontonpolice #canadianarmedforces #lgbtpurge #yegqueer #yeggay

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People
Sex and Sin in the City of Champions: The Story of Chez Pierre

Pierre Cochard first hired two drag queens to perform at Pegasus in 1971, which was “a straight business” located on 106 Street North of Jasper Avenue. Millie (Paul Chisholm) and Chatty Cathy (Duane Shave) performed Edmonton’s first “public drag show.”

Cochard steadfastly defended queer people, believing that Chez Pierre should be a safe space for sexual dissidents. He famously said, “Strippers are God’s children too.” Thanks to Cochard’s “unfaltering acceptance,” Chez Pierre “remains a welcoming home for Edmonton’s drag scene to this day.”

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People
  • Brendan RoyBrendan Roy
  • October 21, 2024
  • 0 Comments
  • 2 minutes Read
Forty Years of Fabulous: The Story of Twiggy and Edmonton’s Drag Evolution 

In this captivating documentary interview, we sit down with Twiggy, an iconic Edmonton drag queen who has been performing for over 40 years. Twiggy shares her journey from the early days of drag to the vibrant queer scene in Edmonton today. Explore the origins of her artistry, the evolution of drag culture, and the changes within the local LGBTQ+ community through her eyes. This is more than a personal story—it’s a celebration of resilience, creativity, and the enduring spirit of drag.

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Events
The Facts in the Case of D. Vriend 

A landmark case for the history of anti-discrimination in Edmonton and the province at large, the case of ‘Delwin Vriend vs. Alberta’ is as fascinating as it is important. The story of how one man took on the government and won protections for queer people everywhere!

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Coming Out
Coming Out Short Stories

We welcome your story of Coming Out 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 your Coming Out Experience in the Greater Edmonton Region.

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People
A conversation with Dr. Barbara Romanowski 

In 1984 the Edmonton gay community changed forever when the HIV virus found its first victim. Here from the Director of the Alberta STD Program at that time on how life changed, the impacts it had on the medical community and the challenges faced by her and others in educating the public and gay community on HIV/AIDS.

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