91福利

Pride month this year is shaping up to look a lot different than years鈥� past. For the LGBTQ2+ community, June is meant as a month of celebration, remembrance, reflection and, well, pride. With in-person festivities cancelled this year, many of us are looking for other ways to celebrate community and kinship. 91福利 English professor Craig Jennex and 91福利 grad Nisha Eswaran (Literatures of Modernity 鈥�10) have given us a perfect outlet in their new book, . 

Out North explores Canada鈥檚 rich history of LGBTQ2+ activism from the mid-20th century through now, at a time when allyship and activism are proving essential on the world stage. Jennex, a volunteer at , the world鈥檚 largest independent queer archive, partnered with his good friend and fellow McMaster grad student, Eswaran, to develop a book that makes a small sampling of the wealth of material within the archive available to a wider audience.

鈥淭hroughout this history we see many people who put their physical safety on the line to fight for this movement so that so many of us now can live completely different lives,鈥� says Jennex. 鈥淥ne thing that surprised me was not only their power and strength, but how interacting with the material traces of their lives affected me. Even though I haven鈥檛 met the vast majority of the people in this book, I still felt a profound intimacy with them because I got to hold this material and see what they were writing, what they were creating, and what mattered to them.鈥�

Looking ahead

Throughout writing the book, Jennex and Eswaran took special care to try to connect the community鈥檚 history to the present day. 鈥淎t the time we started on this book, we were just hoping to find a way of bringing the archives to a wider audience,鈥� says Eswaran. 鈥淏ut Craig and I both felt very attached to the material at the archives, seeing it as one legacy of queer activism.鈥�

鈥淣isha and I were so struck by how we鈥檝e been having these conversations about how we can create a more just and safe world especially for marginalized and oppressed communities for a really long time,鈥� says Jennex. 鈥淭here鈥檚 still so much learning that can be done from these historical movements.鈥�

The book is a perfect intersection of the archives鈥� rich holdings, Jennex鈥檚 research in queer culture and Eswaran鈥檚 work on the notions of friendship and kinship. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been having conversations around collectivity and political action, and that鈥檚 sort of how this book formed,鈥� says Jennex, who has been thinking about this more as anti-Black racism protests strengthen in the U.S. 鈥淚鈥檝e been reflecting on the role that riots have played in the LGBTQ2+ movement in Canada, and the political utility and function of riots to push back on police violence. This book would not exist if it were not for riots against police violence that happened in the 鈥�60s, 鈥�70s and especially in 1981 with the .鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

The bathhouse raids became a moment of great intersectionality, says Jennex, as can be seen in the print flyers and literature from the time. 鈥淥ne of the things we saw in the weeks after the bathhouse raids was this really present idea that it鈥檚 not just gay men who face violence at the hands of police in Toronto, but Black citizens, Indigenous citizens. There was an emphasis on coalition. There was a rally on June 20, 1981, where all of the literature from the rally talks about how now is the time to unify.鈥�

Why activism matters

Jennex says that throughout working on Out North, he and Eswaran have seen that the work isn鈥檛 done, and a great number of past revolutions鈥� 鈥渂urning embers鈥� can still be taken up today. 鈥淲e tend to think of Canada in a progressive narrative, like for example now is the most safe time for LGBTQ2+ people, or now is the most queer moment and that might be true for some, but that certainly isn鈥檛 the case for every queer person. There are specific examples and moments from the past where there was the potential for a totally different, more just world, and I think that part of what we can do in the present is return to these impulses from the past to continue with them. To pick up the torch.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Out North showcases the ability for collective activism to completely change the world and Jennex draws parallels to the anti-Black racism uprisings taking place right now. 鈥淚t was activism, which was at the time characterized as violent, unnecessary and irrational action, that allowed for this book to exist and for me to live the life that I am,鈥� says Jennex. 鈥淲e see this happening right now, where contemporary activism is being dismissed by some as irrational and unreasonable. But it鈥檚 world-making.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

鈥淲hen we were writing the book, it seemed so important because so many different things were happening in the world: Trump鈥檚 election, the shift from the gay liberation movement, anti-capitalist movements,鈥� says Eswaran, who hopes the book will serve as a helpful tool in tracing a history of activism so revolutionary groups don鈥檛 get lost. 鈥淓ven though the possibility exists to think about pride as just a party instead of a very complicated political movement, I  hope that some of the things that have happened with the gay liberation movement to depoliticize it becomes a cautionary tale. Maybe the book will be important to remind us to hold onto the political nature of queer life.鈥�

Honouring pride in new ways

With in-person Pride celebrations cancelled this year in Toronto, it may seem easy to declare Pride as cancelled. But Jennex urges the community to seek other ways to find community, to celebrate, and above all, to remember. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to keep in mind we can cancel the parade but we aren鈥檛 cancelling pride or the need for pride, it鈥檚 still so important for us to connect as a community and a collective, to feel that joy and power and agency when we come together,鈥� he says. 

Eswaran sees this year as a chance to do some reflection. 鈥淚 think one of the things that I鈥檝e found really helpful 鈥� that I try to do all year but maybe it would be an interesting thing to do for pride this year 鈥� is read the queer writing that came out between the 鈥�50s and the 鈥�90s like Dorothy Allison and Leslie Feinberg, who did this really amazing and beautiful thing to write about a multifaceted queer struggle. Even though many of them are white queer writers, they鈥檙e very grounded in working class and anti-racist struggle. I often go back to those things to sharpen my understanding of solidarity, as they鈥檙e writing very much before the time of depoliticization of queer life.鈥�

Out North: An Archive of Queer Activism and Kinship in Canada is available now. To learn more about the ArQuives, . This June, 91福利s Positive Space will host several virtual events to commemorate Pride. 

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