Historical Background

Nearly twenty years ago, Ross Higgins and Jacques Prince set about creating an organization which would have as its mandate the collection, conservation and preservation of any material, in hand-written, print, visual, audio or other formats, which documented the history of the gay and lesbian community of Québec. Knowing as they did that the vast majority of this documentation could be found neither in the National Archives nor the National Library of Québec, it seemed clear that only a community-based organization could properly perform this task. From the labour of these two individuals slowly grew a documentation centre and archive which would become accessible to all..

Given the immensity of this task, and given the arrival of new volunteers and of an imposing mass of documentation, the Québec Gay Archives became in 1985 a non-profit organization. Five years later, in 1990, the Archives acquired the status of a charitable organization, which permitted the launch in November of the same year of an initial fund-raising campaign. The success of this campaign was noteworthy and indicated the interest of the broader gay and lesbian community in the project.

Thanks to the influx of donations and public support, the Québec Gay Archives were able to rent office-space in 1993 which finally permitted an effective organization, classification and preservation of archival materials and which also allowed the organization to respond more adequately to the demands of the public. This space allowed us to gather in one place all the documentation which had previously been dispersed between the private residences of our members and the Gay and Lesbian Community Centre.

The Québec Gay Archives also has as a mandate the organization of events which seek both to publicize the existence of the organization and educate the public on a still relatively little known gay history. During the summer of 1989, thanks to a federal Challenge grant, we were able to hire two students who eventually added more than one thousand entries to the Bibliographie de l'homosexualité au Québec. Also, the yearly Archigai newsletter and the organization's website at www.agq.qc.ca informs the community and donors of the activities of the organization and permits the general public to become more aware of our collections and services.

The importance of the archival materials, the numerous special collections and the large number of researchers and visitors who visit reading room every year amply justifies the existence of the Québec Gay Archives. The continued existence of this organization and its role of preserving the history of the gay and lesbian community of Québec is of great importance to that community, to Québec in general, and to gays and lesbians everywhere.

The Archives Today

Since the opening of its reading room in 1993, the Québec Gay Archives has undergone a slow but steady expansion. A dozen volunteer members assure the day-to-day functioning of the organization. Since the inception of the organization, we have received relatively few provincial or federal grants. We owe our existence to the generosity of our members and of the friends of the Archives, some of whom have loyally supported and followed the evolution of our activities for over seventeen years. The Québec Gay Archives is a well known and respected presence in the gay and lesbian community of Québec.

It is hoped that, in the years to come, the Archives will be able to hire a full-time employee who would ensure a greater continuity in the day-to-day work of the organization. Donations of archival materials are ever growing, the number of researcher who use our services are on the rise and we face constantly increasing requests for information and for access to our collections. These rising demands are felt at all levels of the organization, and although the proceedings of our annual fund-raising campaigns and benefit events are sufficient to cover our rent and base expenses, they do not allow us to invest in the tools which would permit us to more properly accomplish the goals of our mandate.

Our office space on St-Laurent boulevard is very small. In it we must do all the work necessary to maintain our collections as well as receive visiting researchers. The cramped space does not allow us to offer the quality of service which we would like to be able to offer to these visitors. Furthermore, we must constantly invest our limited funds in furnishings (shelving, poster filing systems, archival boxes) which conform to accepted archival standards. Our task is not an easy one, but we have succeeded in preserving important collections on homosexuality in Québec and elsewhere which constitute a very rich resource for research encompassing visual images and the written word.

Executive Committee