Learn more about the historical photos on our homepage
Celebrating 50 years of identity, advocacy, and community
As part of our 50th anniversary celebrations, we're updating the image on our homepage throughout the year to highlight pieces of our history and the history of 2SLGBTQ+ people and activism in Winnipeg.
This page will be updated whenever we update the image on our homepage.
May's Feature Image
In 1974, Gays for Equality hosted the second National Gay Conference. As part of this conference, a gay pride march was held, which is considered one of the earliest (if not the earliest) pride marches in Winnipeg, taking place about ten years before Pride Winnipeg's start.
April's Feature Image
Right from the early days, back when Rainbow Resource Centre was Gays For Equality, we were a source of information, community, and connection for Manitoba's 2SLGBTQ+ population.
The Gays for Equality Infoline received up to 2,500 calls per year. Some callers were seeking information and others just wanted to talk. For many, the voice on the phone was the first gay person they'd ever talked to, and the first person they ever came out to.
The Infoline was run by community volunteers and continued right up to the mid-2010s, when calls to the Infoline had dwindled with most inquiries and reach-outs happening via email or social media.
March's Feature Image
From 1973 to 1978, Gays for Equality (which later became Rainbow Resource Centre) published an informational pamphlet that included their mandate, services, and the promotion of gay liberation.
For many 2SLGBTQ+ Manitobans, this pamphlet was their first introduction to the local 2SLGBTQ+ community, and their first step toward becoming a part of the larger community.
The full brochure advertises:
- Counselling and referral
- Special interest groups
- Information, publications
- Speakers/workshop leaders
- Public education
- Civil rights and law reform
- Consultation and research
- Cultural development
February's Feature Image
In 1979, a customer was looking for The Joy of Cooking in Classics Bookstore and was appalled when she accidentally picked up The Joy of Gay Sex, and subsequently complained to the police.
Using obscenity laws and the threat of charges, police tried to ban The Joy of Gay Sex from Classics Bookstore and Coles. However, in 1980 a protest against this attempted ban was led by the 2SLGBTQ+ community and another bookstore, Liberation Books. The drive to fight censorship and the squashing of human rights reached beyond the 2SLGBTQ+ community, leading to many non-2SLGBTQ+ folks joining the protest.
Though Liberation Books was not part of the initial ban and threat of charges, Liberation continued to sell The Joy of Gay Sex throughout this ordeal in the hopes that police would include them in the threat of prosecution so that this could be forced into court and queer literature could ultimately be deemed not obscene.
However, the protest was successful and Winnipeg Police dropped the threat of obscenity charges and rescinded the order to ban the book, and this question of censorship never reached courts.
January's Feature Image
To kick off our fiftieth year, it makes sense to start right at the beginning.
In 1972, the Campus Gay Club was born at the University of Manitoba. This group was social in nature, a way for gay and lesbian students at the university to connect with each other.
However, there was a recognized need for more activism, public education, and outreach. In 1973, Phil Graham established Gays for Equality, which would evolve over the decades to eventually become the Rainbow Resource Centre we know and love today.
For more information on our bold beginnings, click here to read about Rainbow in the seventies. Throughout 2023 we will post summaries of each of our decades to celebrate where we've come from.
Image Credits
All images are used under a Creative Commons license and were accessed from the Manitoba Gay and Lesbian Archives.
The specific individual credits are listed below:
“Gays for Equality Bulletin Board”; Gays for Equality; 1981. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Gays for Equality People”; Gays for Equality; Nicholson, Doug; Aug. 1980. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Censorship Demonstration”; Fewster, Glenn; Winnipeg Gay Media Collective; Nov. 1, 1980. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Gays for Equality”; Gays for Equality; undated. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Gays for Equality Information Line”; Gays for Equality; 1981. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Info-line Advertisement”; unattributed; undated. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Winnipeg Gay Pride March 1974”; Gays for Equality; Aug. 31, 1974. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Winnipeg Gay Pride March 1974”; Gays for Equality; Aug. 31, 1974. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Gays for Equality People”; Gays for Equality; Nicholson, Doug; Aug. 1980. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Gays for Equality People”; Gays for Equality; Nicholson, Doug; Aug. 1980. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Giovanni’s Room”; Fewster, Glenn; 1983. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Winnipeg Gay Pride March 1974”; Gays for Equality; Aug. 31, 1974. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Winnipeg Gay Media Collective Staff”; Winnipeg Gay Media Collective; Feb. 1981. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Canadian Human Rights Commission Sit-in”; Steffenson, Ken; undated. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...
“Gay Pride Demonstration”; unattributed; undated. Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0. https://digitalcollections.lib...