In her article “Archival Activism, Symbolic Annihilation, and the LGBTQ2+ Community Archive,” Elsbeth H. Brown writes about experiencing hesitation and feelings of otherness when entering the ArQuives, initially begun as an archive of the white gay liberation movement. Though the ArQuives and similar organizations are “classic examples of both activist archives and community archives,” the stories of transgender people, people of colour, and other marginalized groups are less present in the ArQuives’ core collections – a fact that is acknowledged in the organization’s Historical Inequities Statement. In the Liberation exhibit, archival materials from marginalized communities are centred to increase the visibility of these groups in the archives and to highlight their work. These community groups include Gay Asians of Toronto; Khush: South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association; and Zami, the first Canadian group for Black and West Indian gays and lesbians. The exhibit space is separated from the rest of the second floor by a curtain of multicoloured streamers, effectively evoking a portal, or a walk through time, and an entrance into nostalgia. The streamers are a nod to the subtitle of the exhibit, “Reflective Nostalgia,” and a reference to cultural theorist and artist Svetlana Boym’s definition of nostalgia as a state that thrives in longing and lingers in possibilities. The space is not only an exhibit but also an immersive experience that relies on archival materials to inspire reflections on the past. Speakers play music curated by Deb Parent, a lesbian-feminist activist in Ottawa and Toronto, deejay of 50 years, and recipient of a 2007 City of Toronto Access, Equity and Human Rights Award. A plaque in the space links to the playlist curated by Parent, which features music she recalls playing at GCDC dances. A large projection screen in one corner plays a roulette of photographs and other archival ephemera from GCDC parties. The opposite wall features anonymous personal ads, old and new; exhibit guests are encouraged to write their own. Framed event ephemera and posters from the 1980s to 1990s line the remaining walls of the space. Enlarged and framed event tickets demonstrate the dual-purpose nature of the tickets: on one side was the event information and, on the other, a list of associated volunteer organizations that the guest could select to receive part of their cover charge. A poster from the 1990 event Classy-fied reads, “Congratulations, you’ve helped raise over $241,000 since our inception in 1981!” Showing up to an event was participating in the cause. The event materials communicated the organizers’ and participants’ radical efforts and roles in history making. The exhibit leaves the viewer to ponder how to continue this work in the present. A disco ball lights up the main table in the centre of the space, which displays other archival and ephemeral material: flyers and pamphlets advocating services provided by affiliated groups (self-defence, fighting for child custody, the Gay Asian AIDS Project); police statement cards and support group cards; publications (issues of Body Politic and Rites for Lesbian and Gay Liberation magazine); and cassette tapes and buttons from the time period. Under the table and elsewhere around the exhibit are contemporary queer theory books and crates of records, locating the archives as part of a continuing legacy and source of history. In an interview on the exhibit, Craig Jennex posits that As evident in the many violent and targeted attacks against LGBTQ2+ communities in the 80s and 90s, not everyone would have felt safe at protests and demonstrations – especially not everyone from marginalized groups. The exhibit demonstrates that the dance floor was a safer space for LGBTQ2+ folks to meet and …
