September 29th, 2009
Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archive opens & Rick Bébout memorial
By Shawn Micallef // 3 Comments
On Saturday the Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives opened their permanent new home in an (appropriately old) house on Isabella between Church and Yonge Streets. After being transient for many years, the CLGA now has an impressive space to properly store their vast archive and mount exhibitions. A new and large chunk of that archive are the 22 boxes of files from Rick Bébout who died in June.
Bébout was a writer, activist, and historian who was involved in many efforts in Toronto, including the fight to save Union Station. We've quoted him on the blog and in the print magazine various times, usually in reference to his book-length personal history of Toronto from when he arrived in Canada as a draft dodger until 2000 called Promiscuous Affections. It's a magnificently detailed tale, and while intersecting many parts of Toronto's familiar history, it's an oblique view of the usual Toronto story (and online in its entirety). When you are done reading it, you will wish there were more of these kinds of personal-but-rigourous examinations of Toronto's recent past. He also wrote another detailed series of articles on Queen Street called One Street, Many Stories. Bébout's friend, writer Gerald Hannon, wrote a personal account of his life and the extent of his archive, in Xtra. An excerpt:
He was a scrawny, American-born, Toronto-loving gay man and civic activist, someone you've probably never heard of, a man who helped save Union Station from the wrecker's ball and, as a member of the collective that produced The Body Politic, helped set the agenda that galvanized a community into a potent cultural and political force and then, to his enduring dismay and disappointment, watched that community dissipate its energies in a struggle to win something not worth the winning: the right to marry. After The Body Politic ceased publication in 1987 he devoted his considerable energies to AIDS work, in particular with the AIDS Committee of Toronto. In 1999 he received the Ontario AIDS Network Honour Roll Award for his contributions to preventing the spread of HIV (diagnosed as positive in 1988, he was a long-term survivor, finally succumbing to heart problems and a stroke).
Read the rest here. A memorial to his life and accomplishments is being held on Oct 10 at Buddies in Bad Times theatre. If you knew Bébout, the organizers are looking for stories. If you're interested in Toronto, you should consider going.
A Celebration of the Life and Accomplishments of Queer Activist Rick Bébout
WHEN: Saturday, October 10, 2009
TIME: 2:00pm - 5:00pm
WHERE: Buddies in Bad Times
RSVP: lawrence.bennett AT sympatico.caWhen Rick Bébout died June 10, the city and the world lost one smart queer and one committed activist, with a history that included the gay magazine The Body Politic, the AIDS Committee of Toronto, the fight to save Union Station and much, much more. Join us for a celebration of who he was and what he did for all of us. We are collecting written and email tributes to Rick's life, to be on display at the celebration and then added to Rick's 22 archival boxes, presently housed at the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. Send your tributes to gerald.hannon AT sympatico.ca. If you have photos and memorabilia, please bring then to share with Rick's family and friends.
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Yes, awesome that you covered Rick and the CLGA's new home.
I met Rick once at a backyard party about 10 years ago and his insight into the "personal-but-rigourous examinations of Toronto’s recent past" really left an impression on me. Moreoevr, as a gay man it gave me an added respect for the elders of Toronto's queer community that has only continued to augment.
I'd also encourage everyone to visit the new CLGA home as well (which amazingly can still only house about 50% of their huge collection). Toronto is lucky to have such a vast resource and truly a museum to many of our stories and struggles.
As a lesbian I feel very strongly about this.
I'm so glad you covered this - Rick was a wonderful participant-historian of Canada's LGBT (especially the G) movements and his writing on urban life which he posted online for all to read before blogging was a verb expand our minds about the urban experience. I'm flying in from San Francisco for the memorial.
Comment by Stefan
September 30, 2009 | 2:06 am