Queer Visions: Unraveling the authority of tricky narratives in the queer archive (2015-18)
In Queer Visions, I examine how lesbian and gay activism of the 1970s and 80s was archived in three archives that were formed during this period.
The ‘total archive’ practices of early gay and lesbian movement archives resulted in the collection of written documents and audio-visual ephemera: photographs, artwork, buttons, t-shirts, posters, videos and sound recordings. This evidence of “gay liberation” struggles has tended to be perceived rather narrowly – mainly through textual evidence - and is used to reiterate the dominant narrative of gay history. In Canada, this history goes something like this: an increasingly militant, white, male gay activism in the 1970s led to the decriminalization of same-sex relations and eventually resulted in marriage and other benefits now enjoyed by the heterosexual population. The singularity of this narrative belies the tensions and omissions in and of the archive.
A comparison of a few of the gay and lesbian archives in the 1970s and 80s reveals similar patterns of collection and extensive communication between Canada, England and the U.S. The sharing of information was critical to what was known informally as the “gay network.” I examine the diversity of ephemeral archival holdings in the major queer archives in Canada, England and the US (the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives [CLGA]; the Hall-Carpenter Archives of Great Britain [HCA]; and ONE archives, Los Angeles). My longer goal is to create a virtual curatorial intervention in the archives that will feature audio and visual ephemera, which I believe has the capacity to create alternate narratives about historical radicalism and will inform ongoing queer activism.
Queer Visions asks:
- Why is the story of Canadian queer history so narrowly perceived?
- Who was involved and why is their international connection seemingly underplayed?
- What is the significance of ephemera in the archival stories that can be told?
- And, what is the potential of the diversity of holdings to contribute to a radical reimagining of the ‘virtual exhibition,’ both for queer archives and other identity-based archives?