The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA) is holding its sixth annual Fowl Supper fundraiser Oct 19.
“We raise a lot of money, but the really important part of it is it’s a community event. Everybody — a diverse crowd — comes together,” says Dennis Findlay, vice-president of the CLGA and one of the fundraiser’s organizers. “We know the food is going to be over-the-top awesome, fabulous.”
This year’s event has a Western theme, and Findlay encourages people to come in costume. A Western drag show and possibly a boy stripping off his chaps and spurs are also on the agenda.
The CLGA is entering its 40th year of recording and preserving important moments in Canada’s queer history. “Traditionally, archives are the paper records of an organization, but we also have ephemera,” Findlay says.
Some notable examples are the typewriter John Herbert used to write the play Fortune and Men’s Eyes and a championship belt that belonged to gay Olympic boxer Mark Leduc. “It’s a good example of the fact we’re everywhere. We’re boxers, not just hairdressers,” Findlay says.
The CLGA also has an extensive library, with “the largest collection of queer material in the world — some of it is literary material, some is academic, and a whole lot is magazines and papers.”
Findlay says funds raised at the Fowl Supper will go toward maintenance for the CLGA’s two locations, regular monthly bills, material for displays and storage supplies. The CLGA also hopes to rent additional storage space and hire a full-time archivist.
Sixth annual Fowl Supper fundraiser
Fri, Oct 19
Cocktails and silent auction begin at 6pm
St Lawrence Hall
157 King St E
clga.ca
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