Bryant’s visit to Edmonton was incredibly controversial and polarizing, with over 6,000 people in attendance where she sang and spoke about Christian “love and acceptance.” Bryant was widely known across North America for her anti-gay sentiments and her attempts to block or overturn anti-discrimination ordinances for the gay and lesbian community in various US cities, including most notably in her home state of Florida. Her virulently homophobic “Save Our Children” crusade was based on the premise that since “homosexuals cannot reproduce, so they must recruit.” Bryant’s campaign material often compared homosexuality to child abuse, pornography, and pedophilia. Bryant proclaimed that anti-discrimination ordinances would force schools to “hire flaunting homosexuals to teach our children.”

The success of her campaign would give energy and impetus for the re-birth of the Religious Right, which made opposition to the LGBTQ2 community central to its platform and fundraising efforts all across North America. Ironically, Bryant’s crusade against homosexuality also gave renewed energy to the growing gay and lesbian movement fueled by the belief that “gay is good” and the rise of protests and Pride parades across North America, which sought to not only counter Bryant’s anti-gay message but also to organize.

Bryant’s notoriety continued to increase when she actively campaigned for the California “Briggs Initiative” in 1978, which would have rendered positive statements about homosexuality by public school employees cause for termination. This rhetoric laid the foundation for many future “don’t say gay” laws, including here in Alberta with Bill 44 and new legal requirements for parents to be notified anytime sexual orientation was discussed in schools. Thanks to the efforts of activists like Harvey Milk and Sally Gearheart, the Briggs Initiative was defeated. Tragically, Harvey Milk would be assassinated only a few short months later, on November 27, 1978.

Bryant’s Christian revival tour arrived in Edmonton on April 29, 1978. It was met with significant opposition, including over 300 protestors from both Edmonton and Calgary. Media reports indicate how Bryant was provided with a heavy police escort to her event at the Edmonton Coliseum. At the concert, one protestor chained himself to a hand railing, calling out, “You’ve got me in chains, Anita”, for her entire three-hour performance. Meanwhile, another group of several hundred protestors, including a diverse coalition of members from MCC and Dignity Edmonton and various labour and women’s groups, marched from the Alberta Legislature to downtown with various signs and placards which read, “God is a Lesbian” and “Anita: Get Out of My Gay Way.” Footage of these protests is available through the Provincial Archives of Alberta.

Many of the protest coalitions that formed across Canada in response to the Anita Bryant tour were significant, as gay and lesbian activists organized in large numbers, which included some of the very first public gay rights protests in many Canadian cities. This community organizing would lay the foundation for future anti-right organizing in the 1980s to challenge the rising evangelical “family values” movement, which sought to block and roll back human rights protections and any progress towards LGBTQ2 equality.

In the 1980s, groups like MCC and Dignity Edmonton would take an increasingly visible and vocal role in supporting Edmonton’s gay and lesbian community while seeking to build a more inclusive faith. This would become particularly important with the impending arrival of the AIDS pandemic in Edmonton.

From the time of MCC-Edmonton’s inception, the priorities of gay men and lesbian women remained central to their mandate, with a panel discussion taking place on male and female stereotypes in September 1979, for example, and a workshop dedicated to the issues that lesbians face in the Church at their annual conference in 1982. In 1984, MCC-Edmonton also supported the formation of the AIDS Network of Edmonton, holding grant money from the organization in trust until they could obtain charitable status. MCC-Edmonton also worked to support individuals with HIV/AIDS along with their friends and families by organizing memorial services for the deceased. Later in the 1980s, MCC members volunteered to serve as visibly gay and lesbian Christians in the community by participating in Pride week activities and often shared information on sexual orientation with religious groups, which mainly included United Churches.

In 1990, MCC moved to McDougall United Church’s basement in the downtown core as the Unitarian Church of Edmonton, where they had been regularly meeting, was sold. Several years later, in 1998, Rev. Bert and Evelyn Frey, from Garneau United Church, organized a Saturday conference on issues of spirituality and sexuality, which identified a critical community need. Members of the conference led by Rev. Charles Bidwell and Phyllis Fleming from MCC-Edmonton, went on to form the Diversity Conferences of Alberta Society (DCAS), which became an organization dedicated to working towards eliminating systemic discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity within faith communities. The Freys were unexpected allies who were very active in the United Church and worked for LGBTQ2 rights both within and outside the Church community from the 1970s onward.

Beginning in 1998, DCAS started to grow and held several important conferences at MacEwan University (then Grant MacEwan Community College), with presentations ranging from Indigenous spirituality, internalized homophobia, coming out, suicide awareness, HIV/AIDS, laws on homosexuality, educational reforms, and spiritual pathways and journeys. DCAS strived to include the full spectrum of LGBTQ2 identities with featured sessions on bisexuality with Todd Janes and transgender issues featuring Reverend Mickey Wilson, who founded the Lambda Christian Community Church in Edmonton . Other presenters included Lyle Millang, a local member of Lutherans Concerned North America, and Lorna Murray, who was involved with both Womonspace and Integrity, which promoted LGBTQ2 inclusion within the Anglican Church.

Due to declining attendance, MCC-Edmonton finally closed its doors in 2001. However, many former members began attending a new and growing group of affirming United Churches spread throughout the city and surrounding area.

Another essential local LGBTQ2 faith group was Dignity Edmonton Dignité, which was incorporated in 1980 and became part of the Dignity Canada Dignité national network. Dignity Edmonton was founded with the belief that “gay Catholics are members of Christ’s mystical body, numbered among the people of God.” Objectives included working for the development of sexual theology in the Catholic Church, striving for social justice and acceptance in society, and reinforcing gay Catholics’ sense of self and dignity as members of both the gay/lesbian community and the Catholic Church. Dignity’s main areas of activity included spiritual development, education, social involvement, feminist issues, and hosting social events. Membership, which included a subscription to a local and national newsletter, was $25.00 a year for students, seniors, and unemployed persons, and $35.00 a year for others.

In the 1980s and 1990s, 20 to 30 Dignity members would regularly meet on Tuesdays to attend Mass at St. Joseph’s Basilica and would often gather afterwards for dinner at various neighbourhood restaurants, including Tom’s Deli on Jasper Avenue and The Gas Pump on 114 Street, which frequently included a trip to Boots N’ Saddle to end the night. Sunday brunches were also popular and regularly held at members’ homes as a social activity and fundraiser. Dignity members were encouraged to bring at least one guest to meetings and events. Monthly chapter meetings were held at the Catholic Social Services building on 99 Street, which generally included guest speakers such as politicians, healthcare professionals, artists, theologians, and ordinary folks sharing their personal stories.

Once a month, on a Sunday evening, Dignity members would organize a liturgical service presided over by an invited priest at Paul Kane House in Oliver. However, this became more difficult when the Vatican released its infamous 1986 Halloween letter on the pastoral care of homosexual persons.

Dignity Edmonton frequently sponsored larger events around Christmas and New Year’s, which typically involved a church service and shared meal, attracting 80 to 100 participants . These events were often held at the Westwood Unitarian Congregation. Once or twice a year, during Lent, Dignity would host a one-day retreat held at the Ursuline Convent or their cottage on Lac Ste. Anne, just west of the city.

Dignity also promoted active involvement in other LGBTQ2 community events in the city, such as dances hosted by Womonspace and events organized by the Gay Alliance Toward Equality (GATE). Dignity was also very involved in early Pride Week events, including hosting an ecumenical service with MCC on the Sunday of Pride Week, which would often be held at Rundle Park or occasionally at Victoria Park. Dignity members would frequently help post Pride Week posters around the city on light poles and hand out copies of the GATE newsletter at local LGBTQ2 bars and clubs around town.

In May 1982, Dignity Edmonton hosted the first Dignity Canada Dignité national convention at the Hotel MacDonald. The convention featured several workshops, assemblies, and a special Mass, which addressed topics such as gay freedom and gospel values, being a woman in the Church, sexual ethics, and freedom and authority in the Church.

However, reports from the conference highlighted the difficulties that members faced in finding a unified stance on homosexuality within the Catholic Church. Father Thomas Gallagher, from St. Joseph’s College in Edmonton, stated that it would most likely not be possible for groups such as Dignity to receive formal acceptance from the Church since it believed homosexuality to be inherently disordered and “wrong.” The endorsement of organizations such as Dignity would mean the Church would essentially condone homosexuality, which it was unwilling to do. Such comments and reactions from the Catholic community were common. To help raise awareness and visibility, Dignity Edmonton sought to take out an advertisement in the Western Catholic Standard published by the Archdiocese of Edmonton. The ad was rejected and described as a “moral matter” that “wasn’t appropriate for [their] readership”. Dignity would frequently write to Archbishop Joseph MacNeil, with no response, and to local parish priests asking them to share information about Dignity and their events.

Bill Curtin, who was the vice-chair of the Edmonton chapter of Dignity at the time, said that clergy would frequently encourage gay people to try to train themselves to be heterosexual, including by marrying someone of the opposite gender. Those, like Curtin, who chose to live openly gay, were often outcast by their parish. A letter to the editor of the Western Catholic Reporter written in response to Curtin’s remarks highlighted the marginalization of gay Catholics as it stressed how homosexuality was just as much a sin as fornication and that clergy who had counselled Curtin in the past were correct to suggest prayer and redemption.

In June 1984, Michael Phair appealed to Edmonton’s LGBTQ2 community for help in establishing a local AIDS organization . Three Dignity Edmonton members, which included Barry Breau, Tom Gale, and Bernard Dousse, joined with Michael and others to help set up the new organization, which would become known as the AIDS Network of Edmonton. Barry later became its first Executive Director, and Tom and Bernard were among the first volunteers to organize activities and support for persons with AIDS.

Dignity also collaborated with Integrity Edmonton and hosted combined church services and seder meals at All Saints Anglican Cathedral. Over the years, Dignity amassed what they called “the largest and best Gay Issue Library in the City” at member Roger’s house, with members encouraged to call him to schedule a visit to peruse and borrow books.

Through all of its many efforts, Dignity Edmonton continued to argue that the Church needed to accept members of the gay and lesbian community and treat them with love and respect. This advocacy frequently included preparing submissions and writing briefs to the provincial legislature and federal parliamentary committees, which sought input into human rights legislation. Typically, Dignity’s position was at odds with those of the Alberta Catholic hierarchy and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. As a persecuted minority, Dignity members argued, Christians have a duty to take special care to include and protect marginalized members of society, including gay and lesbian people. Over many years, Dignity Edmonton developed a collective voice and a strong sense that they were representing the beliefs of most Catholics—whether straight or LGBTQ2—and that the Catholic bishops were the ones out of touch with their members.