The Grace Schmidt Room recently received an exciting new donation from Spectrum’s Grand River Rainbow Historical Project. It contains lots of archival material documenting the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Kitchener-Waterloo. While exploring the collection I was struck by the many throughlines in how queer people have organized, built community, and celebrated over the years. In honour of Pride Month, I wanted to share some of the interesting items I’ve come across in the collection.
This flyer for WOODS (Women out of Doors), a group active in the 80s and 90s, advertises itself as a recreational group for “fun-loving women interested in meeting others in the great outdoors”. Attendees participated in a mix of hiking, cycling, skating, picnicking and other outdoors fun with other queer women. It reminds me of current initiatives run by Spectrum such as their Queer Run Club and Multi-Sport Drop-In.
Did you know that the Glow Centre at University of Waterloo is the oldest continually running university-based 2SLGBTQIA+ group in Canada? When it was first established in 1971 it was called WUGLM (Waterloo Universities’ Gay Liberation Movement) and included gay liberation activists from both UW and Laurier. Its inaugural meeting was attended by over 100 people. Gemini was their first publication which later became Glow News when the organization changed its name in 1980. Today the Glow Centre still operates on campus supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ students.
Rainbow Reflections is a documentary on the history of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in the Grand River Region. Premiering in 2014, the film contains personal stories and reflections from local 2SLGBTQIA+ people that bring queer KW history to life. The Grace Schmidt Room is hosting a free screening on Thursday June 20, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. in the Central Library theatre if you want to see it on the big screen!
The Grand River Rainbow Historical Project collection will be available in the Grace Schmidt Room at KPL later this year. To learn more about the Project and to see more queer Kitchener archival items check out the digitized collection!
Bridget
Senior Library Assistant, Grace Schmidt Room of Local History