Tag GALA

• Chloe Camara
• April 24, 2024
• 0 Comments
• 7 minutes Read

Liz Massiah – Edmonton’s Lesbian Community Leader Extraordinaire

Most foundational LGBTQ+ organizations in our city were influenced by Liz Massiah, Edmonton’s lesbian community leader extraordinaire. From GALA to Womonspace, the AIDS Network of Edmonton, and the Liaison Committee, Liz was there for it all. Her steady head has worn many hats as a community leader, civil rights activist, social worker, and psychologist. Liz was an out lesbian when she moved to Alberta from Ontario in 1983 after graduating from Wilfrid Laurier University with her MSW. Like many lesbians of her time, she married a man before coming out later in life. Years earlier, she and her husband…

• 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.

• Michael Phair
• July 30, 2022
• 0 Comments
• 5 minutes Read

Maureen Irwin – Fierce Lesbian

An ‘out’ Lesbian in the 1980’s, Maureen Irwin was considered fierce and to be reckoned with! At a time when there were very few members of Edmonton’s queer community who were out, Maureen was a strong proud mother, grandmother and Lesbian!

Within the queer community Maureen became an active volunteer assisting GATE (Gay Alliance Toward Equality) as it moved and set up an office and services in the downtown. She also actively worked with and assisted Womonspace, a Lesbian volunteer organization.