Student Tasks

Important note: These videos and learning activities include references to homophobia and transphobia in schools and governments, including that from parents, teachers, politicians, administrators, and other students. Content and historical language in this collection reflect perspectives during the time periods when they occurred. Teachers must be mindful that for 2SLGBTQIA+ learners, experiences of prejudice are ongoing. Preparing the class to engage thoughtfully with the past must include consideration of how to address prejudiced, stereotypical, or otherwise offensive language in historical documents and current contexts.

Notes about the vocabulary used throughout this collection:

• The origins of the word “Queer” as a reference to 2SLGBTQIA+ people date back to Oscar Wilde’s trial in 1895. It was used in the trial, and got picked up by the media and was subsequently popularized as a slur by the beginning of the 20th century. It is widely believed that the word had only been reclaimed by members of the community during the Queer liberation movement in the 1880s through to the early 2000s, but there are historical records of reclamation that exist from as early as the 1930s. There are many people who have negative responses to the use of “Queer” because of homophobic use of the word. Despite this, it has become a common catch-all term for 2SLGBTQIA+ folks, similar to the way that “gay” was a catch-all term in the past.
• There are many terms from decades ago, such as “homosexual” or “transsexual” that are no longer widely used or are even considered offensive. While some of these terms are still sometimes used as labels, many2SLGBTQIA+  people do not generally use such identifiers. Keep in mind that ideas of what is acceptable terminology can vary according to cultures, generations, and other aspects of identity.
• The most respectful way to address another person is to use the terms that they are comfortable with. To the best of our abilities, we should try to keep the terminology true to this principle. However, when referring to groups of people, or more general issues, we tend to use “Queer” as a default term. Describing “queerness” has always involved playing with and modifying language.

The Student Tasks section includes ideas for teachers to engage their students in these materials. There are three sections to support further inquiry:

• Inquiry Questions, with connections to the sources featured in the collection;
• Tasks, where students are invited to use their learning to take action, and;
• Additional Resources, which includes videos and other materials and accompanying reflection questions.

Inquiry Questions

• When you examine the sources in the collection, what similarities and continuities do you notice between the issues that Queer individuals and communities faced in the past and the issues faced today?
• As you explore the sources in the collection, pay attention to what voices are included. What factors might have contributed to a focus on the experiences of Queer white, and able-bodied New Brunswickers? What might this reveal about the challenge of curating archives and collections of sources?
• Take a look at the archival materials in this set. What important similarities and differences do you see between the newspaper articles and the media releases directly from the New Brunswick Coalition for Human Rights Reform (NBCHRR)?
• Think about the actions of Queer community leaders in New Brunswick, some of whom are included in photos in the collection. Which of their actions and strategies were the most successful? What important lessons about activism might be learned from their experiences?

Tasks

• Walk around your school and create a map of Queer and trans safe spaces. Take pictures, draw and take notes to show where such spaces exist and where they might exist. As you create your map, think about how the relationship between access to safe spaces and human rights might be related.
• Create a poem, piece of art, or a zine that describes at least three details that all New Brunswickers should know about the history of Queer Human Rights in the province. More information about creating zines can be found here: how to make a Zine.
• Take action! Create a call to action that informs others about the Queer and trans human rights that have yet to be upheld in New Brunswick, other provinces, or Canada. Your call to action could also suggest potential actions to address issues such as the lack of gender affirming healthcare, Queer erasures in social studies classrooms, the blood ban, the closure of Clinic 554, gendered dress codes, gendered sports.

Additional Resources

Beauty (from NFB)
Beauty explores the lives of five gender-creative kids, each uniquely engaged in shaping their own sense of what it means to be fully human. Whether it’s dealing with bullies, explaining themselves to their parents, or navigating the uncharted waters of relationships, Bex, Lili, Fox, Tru and Milo talk about their experiences and struggle to live in authenticity. For ages 12 - 14.

• How do you perceive or feel about the terminology that is used to describe queerness: What makes you uncomfortable? What are the default words that you use?
• What are some gendered aspects of the school environments that are often taken for granted? (e.g., physical spaces, curriculum, social norms) How might these aspects be reworked or changed to provide safe spaces for young people to explore gender and sexuality?

Queer Cellphilms NB: Exploring QHINB's Archives: Have You Heard?
In November 2019, Casey & Raven visited the Queer Heritage Initiative of New Brunswick's collection at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. We were especially moved by the collection of zines and community newspapers that told stories that we hadn't heard before. In this film, we read a news story--about workers who where fired in Saint John because they were gay--presented in the magazine, Have You Heard (1980)?

• Where does discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity most commonly occur in schools?
• What is supposed to happen when an instance of discrimination comes to light? Explore your school’s policy (from the School Handbook) to see the official policy on discrimination. Do you think the policy adequately handles the issue?
• In a case of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity at school, do you think the official policy would be followed? What are some factors that might influence people on the chain of command to act contrary to the official policy?
• How can folks’ lived experiences with discrimination policy better guide procedures and inform our understanding of the policy’s effectiveness?

Past & Present Systemic Discrimination of New Brunswick's 2LGBTQ+ Communities
Have you heard of conversion therapy? What about the blood ban? Why do many 2LGBTQ+ people in New Brunswick want to Save Clinic 554?

• Explore the archive to see the evolution of human rights within the context of New Brunswick’s queer and trans communities.
• After watching the video, discuss the extent to which queer and trans rights still need to be fought for.
• Reflect on the ongoing Policy 713 amendments and discuss the policy in relation to human rights in New Brunswick. See also Kelly Lamrock’s 2023 report.

Historical Context for Teachers

Introduction

Prior to 1992, there was no form of legal protection for gay, lesbian, and bisexual New Brunswickers. Not only could you be discriminated against for being openly gay, but it was the norm that openly gay people would be denied jobs, fired from existing jobs, be subject to harassment as well as general social and economic isolation.

After years of activism from various groups, an amendment to the New Brunswick Human Rights Code including sexual orientation as a protected ground against discrimination was made in 1992. One such group, the New Brunswick Coalition for Human Rights Reform (NBCHRR), active from 1987-1992, played a crucial role in advocating for that amendment. This particular exhibit was created in commemoration of the organization and its members, and in homage of the work that the NBCHRR did to further gay rights in New Brunswick. The NBCHRR records featured in this document set are held at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick and are part of the Queer Heritage Initiative fonds (MC4111).

Note that while the amendment for sexual orientation was passed in 1992, legal protections on the grounds of gender identity or expression did not exist in New Brunswick until 2017.  

New Brunswick Coalition for Human Rights Reform

The first recorded New Brunswick gay liberation group, Gay Friends of Fredericton, was formed in 1974. It morphed into the Fredericton Lesbians and Gays, or FLAG, in 1979. Hal Hinds, the president of FLAG, went on to establish the activist group New Brunswick Coalition for Human Rights Reform (NBCHRR) eight years later.

Although NBCHRR’s mandate was primarily legal and political activism, FLAG was more focused on forming community and providing social spaces not only for the Fredericton gay community, but for people from all over New Brunswick. For example, FLAG hosted dances several times throughout the year that drew in people from all over the province. They also operated a volunteer-run phone line to help people who were questioning their sexuality not feel isolated in their community.

Fredericton’s first gay bar, Dance Trax, opened in 1985. Because there now existed a permanent social space for gays to find community, FLAG organizers were able to shift their focus to activism, and the NBCHRR was founded in 1987.

Key activists such as Francis Young and Claude Olivier were instrumental in helping FLAG transform. Olivier, who worked for AIDS New Brunswick, became the spokesperson. He himself was fired from a job in Alberta after his employer had found out about his sexual orientation.

Provincial Human Rights Legislation had already been amended in Quebec (1977), Ontario (1986), Manitoba and the Yukon (1987) and with the very real threat that you could be overlooked by employers or fired based on your sexual orientation, NBCHRR activists were keen for New Brunswick to be added to the list. The NBCHRR had province-wide support, although members usually participated by signing petitions and briefs. As LGB community groups in Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton were beginning to crumble, many activists helped support the work of the NBCHRR. For example, former Gays and Lesbians of Moncton president Noella Richard remembers helping to do translation work for the NBCHRR.

Amendment

The Coalition pushed for a review of the Human Rights Code and was successful in 1989, when the provincial government conducted the review, which was published in 1990. Especially given the social stigma, miseducation in the media, as well as the rise in homophobic attacks and discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS, the report, titled “Towards a World Family”, as well as the subsequent hearings, were able to myth-bust and do some basic public education.

At the hearing in February of 1991, NBCHRR released statistics taken from a survey done in 1990 that showed around 50,000 adult New Brunswickers identified as homosexual or bisexual, and that 80% had experienced violence or abuse. 17% had faced discrimination in trying to access a public service. The brief covered topics based on conditions for gays, lesbians and bisexual people in the province and dispelled myths on same-sex relationships, child abuse, mental health, and other general prejudices.

“Who are we? We are your sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, co-workers, friends and loved ones. In New Brunswick, as anywhere, we exist in all economic classes and include members of every racial, religious, cultural and political group. Most of us are very discreet about our sexual orientation in order to avoid discrimination and rejection. The typical gay person cannot be identified by manner, clothing, or occupation”.

- Human Rights for Gay New Brunswickers, A brief to the Standing committee on Law Amendments of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in response to the report Towards a World Family, 1991 (p.5)

It wasn’t until the spring of 1992 that Liberal Labour Minister, Vaughan Blaney, put forward the bill to ban discrimination against sexual orientation. Following the September 1991 provincial election, the official opposition, the Confederation of Regions Party (CoR), were strongly opposed to amending the legislation. One CoR MLA, Greg Hargrove, went so far as to say that the amendment would allow men to marry livestock! However, the bill passed with 34 members voting in favor and all 8 members of the CoR party voting against. This made New Brunswick the fifth province to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

In 1996, the Canadian Human Rights Act was amended and prohibited discrimination towards gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals across the country.

Conclusion

Queer New Brunswickers owe a great deal to these activists who fought for human rights legislation to prohibit discrimination based on sexuality and gender identity. Queer New Brunswickers cannot legally be discriminated against in their workplace, or when accessing a public service. However, legal protections have not eliminated homophobia and transphobia.

Although the Human Rights Code allows individuals to sue after an incident of discrimination has occurred, there are many barriers that still exist that make it difficult for people to actually seek legal recourse, such as financial costs, a distrust of a legal system that is systematically oppressive, or precarious housing, employment, or residency in the country.

For example, Queer youth across the province may still face unsupportive home environments and as discrimination at school, often in rural communities where there is a lack of supports and gender affirming healthcare. Clinic 554, New Brunswick’s only clinic providing stigma-free gender-affirming care, closed in January 2024 due to budget cuts. Similarly, “conversion therapy,” a practice criminalized in Canada in 2021, was, and to a lesser extent, still is, an unfortunate and traumatic part of some queer New Brunswickers’ lives. The practice involves the forcing or coercion of queer youth to hide or reject their queerness.

Overall, while legal advancements of 2SLGBTQ+ rights are an important piece of making the province and country safer for queer people, rights do not necessarily guarantee people physical, emotional, social, or economic safety in practice, even if legally recognized.