QUEER HISTORY SEMINARS
RESTORING VANCOUVER’S MISSING CHAPTERS
History is more than a record of the past - it is the foundation of a modern, inclusive culture. As a Vancouver-based storyteller and historian, I bring 2SLGBTQ+ history out of the archives and into the room, helping organizations understand where we have been so they can better navigate where we are going.
Whether you are looking for DEI training for your entire firm, ERG enrichment for your LGBTQ+ team members, or a featured speaker for a Lunch and Learn, these sessions provide the rigorous research and storytelling heart your team needs.
CHOOSE YOUR SESSION
I offer three unique storytelling experiences. Each is archive-based, emotionally resonant, and tailored to the specific needs of your industry and audience size.
Pride is more than parties and parades. It is a shocking story of human bravery and resilience.
From the streets of New York to the parks of Vancouver, we’ll discover that story in detail. We’ll look at the birth of a movement that changed the world - at the pressures that built up to it, and why it spread with such explosive force. And we’ll see how the shockwaves spread to our own community, converging with a local movement in Vancouver.
Drawing on extensive archival research and rare, first-person interviews with those who were there at the very first rebellions, I share a narrative full of surprising twists that even members of our own community don’t know in detail.
THE HISTORY OF PRIDE: For Pride Month events, ERG enrichment, and Lunch and Learns.
Since Canada’s inception, the legal code has been used to police queer people. But it wasn’t always by the letter of the law. To keep us criminalized, Canadian laws have been used, bent, and even broken.
Using original arrest sheets, court records, and personal histories, this seminar explores how federal law impacted local lives. And how those labeled "criminals" went further than just breaking the law. They absolutely smashed it.
Accreditation Note: This seminar is designed to qualify for CPD (Continuing Professional Development) credits within Ethics and EDI categories.
BROKEN LAWS: For law firms, policy makers, and organizations navigating the intersection of law and social justice.
Vancouver’s queer past is not a single narrative. It is a complex mosaic of different lives lived in different ways. This dynamic seminar goes behind the official record to reveal the hidden stories that shaped the city.
These memorable stories offer a vivid cross-section of 20th-century history, moving through the shadows of the past to the front lines of modern activism.
Drawing on archival research, this seminar highlights an intersectional range of voices from across the 2SLGBTQ+ spectrum - including Two-Spirit and racialized people. These are the previously untold stories of queer Vancouver: scandalous, hilarious, defiant - and profoundly human.
QUEER CONFIDENTIAL: For organizations seeking a broad overview of local queer history.
Queer identity was regulated by legal code. So we rewrote the law.
Urban pressures shaped the way we live. So we resisted, and reshaped the city.
For law firms, architects and planners, and any organization seeking to understand the systems we navigate today, these presentations deliver deep, essential context.
HIDDEN QUEER HISTORIES
Queer history has long been sidelined, forgotten, and even actively erased. To bring these narratives into the light, I conduct deep original research. I look between the lines, and work against the grain of the standard historical record. I’ve spent years combing through the Vancouver archives in search of our city's forgotten chapters. Sometimes they are deeply buried. Other times, they’re hiding in plain sight.
Often, our history is not preserved in the archives at all. They are within the memories of aging community members who have lived it. So I use the most authentic sources: I’ve spoken directly with the heroes, survivors, and champions of queer resistance and resilience, and captured their firsthand accounts.
WORKPLACE CULTURE
Queer community was shaped by civic, legal, and social forces. Queer resilience has reshaped those very systems. The legal code, our urban landscapes, and even the social order, have all taken shape through the friction between oppression and resistance.
My history seminars offer a deep dive into the particulars of that friction. They provide insight into a changing social landscape.
These stories are vital for any organization looking to foster a more inclusive culture. They provide a nuanced perspective of the social fabric of the communities where we work.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
These sessions are eligible for CPD credits in British Columbia under the Professional Responsibility and Ethics (EDI) requirement. They offer a unique perspective of the systems we inhabit, through multiple lenses: the intersection of queer history and the law; the relationship between queer culture and urban space; the modern evolution of workplace belonging. They are essential for legal professionals, architects, urban planners, and forward-thinking leaders looking to build more resilient, informed, and inclusive teams.
This is professional development that connects the history of our streets to the modern practice of leadership and inclusion.
Reg Krake - ARC Foundation
"This is brilliant storytelling, compelling, authentic and real.”
LET'S TALK ABOUT IT!
Interested in bringing one of these seminars to your team? Let’s talk about which stories would most impact your organization. Use the form below to get started.
