Northern B.C. researchers creating queer history documentary and archive for region

Researchers in northern B.C. are working on a new project to fill a significant gap in the recorded history of the region's 2SLGBTQ plus community. 

The Northern B.C. Queer Connection Society, a non-profit organization based in Prince George, has secured $299, 999 in federal grant funding from the Women and Gender Equality Canada for their queer history project. 

It will include two components — a documentary film and an accessible historical archive of documents, photographs and memorabilia to serve as a resource for researchers, educators and the public.

The project will run until March 2027 and collaborate with local historians and filmmakers. 

The lead historian on the project is Tess Healy - whose own personal history has made a significant impact on the region. 

Healy and Wendy Young became one of the first same-sex couples in northern B.C. to get legally married when they tied the knot on Aug. 30, 2003.

They were one of the eight British Columbian couples who pursued the same-sex marriage lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court — and won. 

Healy and Young exchanged their vows in Prince George — in what's now Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park.

Their marriage is part of local, regional, and even national history. There's even a wedding photo of them in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.

Healy said the project is important because many stories of 2SLGBTQ+ individuals who lived in northern B.C. in the past remain untold. 

"It is a hidden history because people chose to hide their lives and experiences and that was a matter of survival," said Healy. 

"I think that when we explore something like queer history or Indigenous history, we are beginning to see a much more nuanced picture of what it means to live or breathe in northern B.C." 

Healy said they are looking to interview people who have knowledge of 2SLGBTQ+ history or stories to share. 

"It's in the interviews that some of these amazing stories come to pass." 

Healy said she learned of a boarding house in the early days of Prince George where the gay employees of various companies coming through northern B.C. would stay to find safety and community. 

"There are these wonderful snippets of what it was like to try and find community and what it was like to try and create family in a society that didn't even recognize your existence and in many cases thought it was OK to erase you and that often included violence," she said.

Jessica Davey, Northern B.C. Queer Connection Society's project manager, said the queer history project has been in the making for a long time. 

"I've been talking to individuals all over northern B.C., different activists and organizations that have already done some incredible work for collecting interviews, memorabilia and historical records," she said. "But they are scattered a little bit everywhere, so they lacked a centralized place to protect and share them.

"Now we're able to bring all the archives together, expand upon them to make sure that it continues to go into the future." 

Davey said they are currently in the gathering phase, and this summer will be conducting interviews at Pride celebrations in communities throughout northern B.C. before they begin filming the documentary in the fall. 

"It's going to open up so many different avenues to show future generations that it is important for their story to be told," Davey said.