• Times.10 Magazine
• October 5, 2023
• 0 Comments
• 1 minute Read

The Wizard of Oz Production September 2002

The Wizard of Oz Production September 2002 When Roost DJ – Jazzy Geoff – went to theatre school, he was excited to take what he’d learned and build bigger and better programming at the bar. The first production he did was The Wizard of Oz, which incorporated movie dialogue as well as the songs to tell the full story. Starring Miss Bianca as Dorothy Gale, Ladonna as the Wicked Witch of the West, and Dyna Thirst as Glinda, this show ran for a number of spots in September 2002 to great reviews! This video footage was recently given to…

• Dennis Cambly
• August 7, 2023
• 0 Comments
• 4 minutes Read

Reminiscing Gay Pride Edmonton while walking along Jasper Avenue with Millie

We were cruising along in front of The Bay store where crowds were loading on and off the buses. The sidewalk was very crowded so I moved this lovely lady closer to me.

I asked “What name shall I address you?”

“Millie Empress I… when I’m in Drag and you may call me Paul when I am not doing a Drag Show. Will you come to see me?” she said.

• Rob Browatzke
• July 13, 2023
• 0 Comments
• 8 minutes Read

#TBT: Vanity Fair

I moved to Edmonton at the age of 21 from a small town and didn’t know the slightest things about gay life. Edmonton embraced me and through friends, drag and the ISCWR, I have become a well respected member of the community.

• David Lee
• June 15, 2023
• 0 Comments
• 1 minute Read

A STUDY OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION

A Study of Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
September 10, 1992
ALBERTA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION &
THE GAY AND LESBIAN COMMUNITY OF ALBERTA

• David Lee
• June 15, 2023
• 0 Comments
• 5 minutes Read

The Individual’s Rights Protection Act and the LGBTQ Community

On January 9, 1992, The Alberta Human Rights Commission (AHRC) called on the Government of
Alberta to open the Individual’s Rights Protection Act (IRPA) to include sexual orientation as a protected
ground. The Commission reached its decision unanimously. The February edition of Dignity announced
its plan to have a team of volunteers help it “determine the number of potential complaints involving
discrimination based on sexual orientation.”

• Rainbow Story Hub
• June 15, 2023
• 0 Comments
• 4 minutes Read

Relight The Neon

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Mark Scheuer working restoring the Flashback neon sign in the workshop of City Neon PHOTO BY Peter Hays/Tangerine Productions Historic Edmonton Gay Bar Sign Joins Neon Sign Museum Edmonton – June 15, 2023 “Never in the history of the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Edmonton have we ever had such a visible, prominent and permanent display of our community” says Ron Byers, Director of the Rainbow Story Hub Foundation. “Come out and listen to some great disco supplied by Flashback’s own DJ Mikee (Michael Brennan), hear from the man behind it all – John Reid and cheer with…

• Ron Byers
• May 24, 2023
• 0 Comments
• 5 minutes Read

Partying with Ike & Tina in 1976

Seeing Tina Turner that night at the Edmonton Gardens in 1976 still remains one of the biggest highlights of my lifetime. I was a young 21 year old when I had a chance to “run away with the circus”. I was asked to join a traveling drag show called the Fantasy Follies as their sound and lighting technician. What a chance to go way past my shyness and fears and live in hotel rooms travelling across Canada with a group of amazing Drag performers. We often played in Edmonton at the Corona Hotel but travelled from Prince George, B.C…

• Rainbow Story Hub
• April 9, 2023
• 0 Comments
• 1 minute Read

A Flashback to Flashback

History of Edmonton’s Gay Bars, Part 2: A Flashback to Flashback Author Ron Byers and Rob Browatzke | September 30, 2020 The impact Flashback had on relations between LBGTQ people and straight people was enormous. With LGBTQ members bringing friends to the club (many of them straight), Edmonton’s young adult crowd was quickly changing their opinions on how they viewed the LGBTQ community. As John Reid says, “How better to get to know people than to party together and feel safe? We were proud of [Flashback] becoming a melting pot of differences that found harmony.”  To read this story on the Edmonton City As…

• Ron Byers
• March 27, 2023
• 0 Comments
• 9 minutes Read

Cruising at The Pig

Cruising for sex in the late 60’s and early 70’s was an experience that seems seedy and dangerous by today’s standards but at the time when there were no protected spaces for gay men to connect with each other they had to carve out their own places at local businesses that were willing to allow gay men to gather as long as some discretion was used. The Pig N Whistle Lunch Room was one of those places. Located at 10548 Jasper Avenue, it opened around 1938 and was bought by local businessman Henry Wener in 1942. During the many…

• Rainbow Story Hub
• March 11, 2023
• 0 Comments
• 1 minute Read

ISCWR Ball Program Archive

This collection features digitized copies of the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose Coronation Ball Programs. The Edmonton Queer History Project has been working with the University of Alberta Library & MacEwan University Library to support free and public access to important items of historical significance to Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQ+ communities.  The collection is preserved on Archive.org and is accessible to anyone. Please click the link below to access the ISCWR Collection. The Imperial Sovereign Court of the Wild Rose’s mission is to raise funds, through activities by the ISCWR, for charities and other organizations which either provides direct services to the…

• Matthew Hays
• January 13, 2023
• 0 Comments
• 15 minutes Read

Making weird waves: on a crest

In 1972 independent film maker John Waters released a film called Pink Flamingos. The film featured a three hundred pound star, then virtually unknown. The character was ‘Divine — the most disgusting person in the world’. The film played repertory cinemas across North America and eventually Europe and Waters and Divine both gained notoriety for their work. The final scene was particularly noteworthy: in order to prove his title as the most disgusting person in the world, Divine picks up still steaming dog feces and eats it. A star is born.

• Matthew Hays
• January 13, 2023
• 0 Comments
• 6 minutes Read

Divine Memories: The Day I Met The Superstar Entertainer

Watching “I am Divine”, the feature-length documentary about the late legendary performer, I was struck with a powerful, overwhelming sense of nostalgia.

My mind raced back to the very first celebrity interview I ever did. It was 1986, and I was an undergraduate student at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada, struggling to find my way through a liberal arts degree. Back then, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew I was fascinated with gay politics and culture and I loved movies.

• Ron Byers
• November 24, 2022
• 0 Comments
• 3 minutes Read

Dr. Charles Bidwell

Reverend Charles Bidwell, PhD was an ordained minister with the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) in Edmonton beginning in 1978 and was active in advocating for the LGBT community

• Rob Browatzke
• November 23, 2022
• 1 Comments
• 6 minutes Read

It may be hard for many of you to imagine…

The year was 2003. I had recently left my job as “Towel Boy / Promotions” for Down Under Baths and was uncertain what my future would look like. My friend Michael Brown and I started talking about a queer magazine.

• Rob Browatzke
• August 9, 2022
• 0 Comments
• 9 minutes Read

Murray Billett

When thinking of the Edmonton gay scene, and the people most heavily involved with it, few names come to mind faster than Murray Billett. From work on political campaigns and challenges to discriminatory laws, to his work with the Edmonton Police Service, Murray Billett’s career has helped transform our community, making it a safer, fairer, and juster place.