Edmonton Queer History Project
Old Strathcona Map
Select Location
-
#1 - YESS: Youth Empowerment and Support Services
Connaught Armoury, 10310 85 Ave NW – For more than 40 years, Youth Empowerment and Support Services (YESS) has been supporting homeless and vulnerable 2SLGBTQ+ youth in Edmonton. Between 2009 and 2023, the Connaught Armoury served as a drop-in centre for YESS, offering physical, mental, cultural, and emotional health supports, along with a safe place to stay. Thanks to decades of fundraising, volunteering, education, and advocacy from Edmonton’s 2SLGBTQ+ community, YESS continues to provide much-needed support for youth in need today.
-
# 2 - Loud & Queer Cabaret
Westbury Theatre/Arts Barns, 10330 84 Ave NW – Launched in 1991, Loud & Queer Cabaret was a queer theatre festival that ran for 20 years. Festival organizers Ruth Smillie —the Art Director of Catalyst Theatre—Darrin Hagen, and Kevin Hendricks wanted to create a space to showcase a wide variety of queer artists. Darrin Hagen reflects on the festival and shares his memories of some of the performances in his book, Queering the Way: The Loud & Queer Anthology.
-
#3 - Fringe Festival
8331 104 Street NW – The Edmonton Fringe Festival has always been queer. From the very early days of Fringe in 1982, queer performers, playwrights, producers, technicians, musicians, and designers have played a major part in producing and programming the festival, which takes over Old Strathcona every August. Previous festivals have included works from the likes of Ronnie Burkett, Brad Fraser, Darrin Hagen, and many more inspiring queer artists.
-
#4 - McIntyre Park
8331 104 Street NW – In 1991, a handful of people marched from McIntyre Park and down Whyte Ave—some wearing paper bags over their heads to protect their identity. It was Edmonton’s first unofficial pride parade. Over the next few years, the gazebo became a recurring location for parades and other protests and rallies, including fundraising efforts for the Delwin Vriend Defence Fund and the AIDS Network of Edmonton. More recently, TransRightsYEG has hosted several rallies at the park.
-
#5 - Café La Gare
10308 81 Ave NW – Queer community member Richard Horth first opened this European-style café in 1988, which quickly became a beloved meeting space for the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Café La Gare was a comfortable, relaxed, and safe public space—something that was difficult to find for queer folks in the 80s and 90s. Over the years, the café served as a meeting space for community groups like Womonspace. Horth also actively encouraged local artists to come and display their artwork, conduct public readings, or perform on open mic stages, all helping foster a stronger sense of community.
-
#6 - Princess Theatre
10337 82 Ave NW - First constructed in 1915, the Princess Theatre has long been a treasured landmark on Whyte Ave with a rich and diverse history within the 2SLGBTQ+ community.. From Robin Tyler’s 1979 comedy benefit for Gay Alliance Towards Equality to Gay and Lesbian Awareness’ “Gay Themes in Film” series over the summer of 1985, Strathcona’s grande dame has hosted countless films, festivals, and fundraisers for Edmonton’s queer community. Between 1998 and 2016, gay-owned Magic Lantern Theatres restored the Princess and added a second screen in the basement.
-
#7 - Greenwoods’ Bookshoppe
10355 82 Ave NW – Greenwoods’ was a family-run bookshop offering “unconventional” literary categories—and for three decades offered a safe space for queer stories—both on and off the page. Opened in 1979 by siblings Gail, Brad, and Laurie Greenwood, the shop’s shelves were proudly curated by customer requests. Greenwoods’ was also the place to go to stock up on queer periodicals, such as Womonspace News, Modern Pink, and the Alberta Gay and Lesbian Press.
-
#8 - Pride Corner
104 Street NW and 82 Ave NW – One March afternoon in 2020, Claire Pearen climbed on a milk crate and claimed a Whyte Avenue preacher’s usual corner. Pushing back on the hateful and homophobic preaching she had witnessed for a decade, Claire danced to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and waved a sign that read “I’m here and I’m queer.” By the following summer, Claire’s solo protest grew to dozens of people. After over a year of protesting, dancing, and over 10,000 petition signatures from around the world, Claire and her fellow organizers received a proclamation from Mayor Amarjeet Sohi on May 13, 2022, officially designating the corner of 104th Street and 82nd Avenue as “Pride Corner”.
-
#9 - Common Woman Books / Audreys
10702 Jasper Ave –Common Woman Books was Alberta’s first dedicated women’s bookstore. Launched by Halyna Freeland, Mair Smith, and Julie Anne LeGras in 1978, the shop originally ran out of Freeland’s basement. From 1981 until the shop’s closure in 1992, the shelves of Common Woman Books were lined with feminist theory, lesbian and women’s fiction, and other queer literature.
-
#10 - Ken Chinn Mural
10439 82 Ave NW – This mural memorializes queer artist Ken Chinn, A.K.A. Mr. Chi Pig, singer of the legendary, Edmonton-based punk band SNFU. Many of Ken’s lyrics consisted of queer and feminist themes, which resonated with the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Long considered a role model to many 2SLGBTQ+ youth in the punk scene, Ken was commemorated in 2021 through this work of art by Layla Folkmann and Lacey Jane Wilburn. The matching mural featuring Chinn can be found on the Cambie Hotel in Vancouver.
-
#11 - Rebar
10551 82 Ave NW –After Flashback closed in 1992, owner John Reid relocated its famous sound system and record collection to a new club on Whyte Ave. Rebar opened a year later, and played a big role in building the local queer scene and Whyte Ave's growing alternative vibe. Many queer artists performed at Rebar, including Ken Chinn, A.K.A. Mr. Chi Pig of SNFU, and Darrin Hagen, who partially credits the success of Guys in Disguise 2: The Sequin to the club. During the Fringe Festival, Rebar also became a popular BYOV location.
-
#12 - Orlando Books
10640 82 Ave NW - In 1993, Jacqueline Dumas opened Orlando Books. According to Dumas, the activist bookstore carried “progressive political books; feminist books; poetry; a good selection of international literature; books from small, independent presses—and books by queer writers, of course.” Orlando Books closed in 2002, but a piece of it lives on today as “Orlando Corner” in Audreys Books downtown.