USask Library and Archival Resources: Sexual and Gender Diversity

These are the archival collections in the University Archives and Special Collections that pertain to sexual and gender diversity and human rights. Materials listed here include, but are not limited to, individuals, organizations, activists, legal proceedings, law, and politics.

Here is a brief overview of those collections, with links to their entries in our database. Those without links have not yet been added to our database. Please contact us at ua.sc@usask.ca for more information about these collections.

AIDS Saskatoon fonds - MG 315

Aids Saskatoon was founded in 1986 as a volunteer, non-profit, charitable agency with a mission to work with and provide support to those affected by HIV/AIDS and to educate and inform the public about the prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Don McGuire fonds - MG 613

Don McGuire has been an advocate for the LGBTQ community in Regina, and nationally. This fonds contains materials relating to the history and work of Dignity Canada Dignité, McGuire’s published letters and other correspondence, together with articles and materials outlining the debate within the Catholic church (echoed within other Christian denominations) regarding homosexuality.

Donald McNamee fonds - MG 141

Donald McNamee was a fixture in Saskatoon's gay and lesbian community. Meetings at his house were used to help start the first gay organization in Saskatoon, the Zodiac Friendship Society (later, the Gay/Lesbian Community Centre of Saskatoon). In the early 1980s McNamee was one of the founding members of the Coalition for Human Equality (CHE).

Doug Wilson fonds - MG 653

Doug Wilson was a University of Saskatchewan Alumni who was suspended as a supervisor of practice teaching in public schools, on the grounds of his open admission of his homosexuality and his public involvement in the gay liberation movement. Wilson placed a formal complaint with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, however the inquiry was never held, as the Court of Queen's Bench ruled that sexuality was not covered by The Fair Employment Practices Act.

Gens Hellquist fonds - MG 549

Gens Hellquist was a gay rights activist and played a prominent role in the formation of a cohesive LGBT community in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan.

Peter Millard fonds - MG 47

Peter Millard was a professor of English at the University of Saskatchewan and was involved in human rights, in particular gay rights and sexual discrimination.

Peter and Murray Corren fonds - MG 446

Material related to Chamberlain vs. Surrey School Board #36 [2002].  Case papers donated by British Columbia lawyer Joseph Arvay concerning the litigation that led the Supreme Court of Canada in 2002 to hold that a school board cannot rely on the religious objections of some parents to justify banning books which depict families with same-sex parents. Also related papers donated by British Columbia educator Murray Corren and his partner/husband Peter Corren dealing with their participation in the  Chamberlain case as well as many other groundbreaking cases and campaigns towards LGBTQ equality in British Columbia.

Case description at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamberlain_v._Surrey_School_District_No._36
Information on the Correns at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_and_Murray_Corren

This has not yet been processed. Please contact us for more information.

Saskatchewan AIDS Network (SAN) fonds - MG 294

The Saskatchewan AIDS Network (SAN) was a coalition of community-based organizations dedicated to responding to HIV/AIDS at the provincial level through the development and maintenance of community partnerships. It ran from 1994-2003.