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Quilting the Progression of Canadian Queer Rights
Looking for Canadian Queer Elders
As a gay man born in 1950, I have lived through the progression of Queer rights in Canada. I know how recent our rights are, and I understand their vulnerability. In too many communities, hate simmers just below the surface.
I am a quilt maker, and in 2025, I will travel Canada and seek out Queer elders to interview. I will use their stories to record the progression of our rights in twelve multi-media quilts with accompanying professionally edited films. There may be a book and a play to follow, but for now, my focus is on finding Queer elders across Canada to interview for my quilt project.
I’m looking for 30 to 40 representative members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, who identify as Queer elders. By ‘elder’ I’m thinking 70’s plus, but that’s just a number and less important than the stories lived. Interviewees can be famous, or just plain folks living their lives. They can be totally out and activists, or partially closeted, even fully closeted. They just need to be willing to spend a couple of hours chatting honestly with me and some very basic recording equipment.
Each person selected will set their desired level of anonymity in a contract that we’ll both sign and honour. Participants will be given a copy of the transcript of their interview to redact and/or elaborate. No portion of the interviews will be used in any form without the interviewees’ approval. My goal is for everyone to be comfortable before, during, and after the interview. Our stories matter, and they need to be told while we are still alive to tell them. No other generation has lived through what we have. While our stories may be about the past, they will have significant influence into the future!
The entire interview process, from set-up to completion, should take under two hours. Because I value participants’ time and involvement, there will be a $100 honorarium for participation.
If you, or someone you know might be interested, or if you are interested in helping me located Queer elders for this project, please contact me!
I will be in Atlantic Canada for about five weeks during May and into June.
