Gay & Lesbian Studies
Beginning in 1986 at the behest of gay faculty members John Hunter and George Bielmeier, courses in Gay and Lesbian Studies began to be offered through TMU's Continuing Education program, the first of their kind in Canada. Students were able to choose from courses in areas such as social work, religion, literature, creative writing, and social science. However, Bielmeier’s attempts to create a Gay and Lesbian Studies certificate in 1994 were unsuccessful. For many years LGBT-focused courses were not offered at TMU, however, in 2022 it launched its LGBTQ2+ minor program. TMU's history of Gay and Lesbian Studies set an important precedent for taking academic work on sexuality and gender seriously.
TMU hosted a conference celebrating the centennial of Oscar Wilde's 1882 visit to Canada.
TMU hosted Doing It!, a festival and conference on gay liberation.
A letter to the Eyeopener by Prof. John Hunter urging an open mind about homosexuality and discussing the development of courses on gay and lesbian issues in the faculty of social work.
This 1986 course covered many facets of queer life through the lens of social work.
A bookmark promoting John Grube's Lesbian and Gay creative writing class.
TMU Continuing Education held a variety of classes, some centred on queer communities.
Gay & Lesbian Studies course listings for fall 1990.
This course was initially presented in 1990, but was popular enough to be renewed.
A poster for Becki Ross' "Dykeversions" course on lesbian communities.
Some professors tried to legitimize gay and lesbian studies at TMU with certificate programs.
A 1994 course in the faculty of Social Work offers instruction on working with gay and lesbian clients and colleagues.
Through studies such as this, TMU participated in expanding the discussion on gender and sexuality norms.