1
10
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
LGBTQ+ Oral Histories
Description
An account of the resource
A selection of oral histories from The ArQuives collections.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1970-2005
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Cassette tapes, digital video
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory (Elspeth Brown, PI)
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Hyperlink
A link, or reference, to another resource on the Internet.
URL
<iframe width="100%" height="20" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/261009834&color=%23ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/thearquives" title="The ArQuives: Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">The ArQuives: Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives</a> ยท <a href="https://soundcloud.com/thearquives/2003-047-05t-chris-bearchell" title="2003 - 047 - 05T Chris Bearchell" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">2003 - 047 - 05T Chris Bearchell</a></div>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Chris Bearchell (1993)
Subject
The topic of the resource
lesbians
politics
press
pornography
Description
An account of the resource
Tom Warner interviews lesbian activist Chris Bearchell about her experiences in the early days of LOOT (Lesbian Organization of Toronto), writing for the Body Politic, and her experiences with leftist groups. Themes include feminism, pornography, and the class politics of the gay and liberation movements.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Tom Warner
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1993-09-05
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Cassette Tape
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2003-047/05T
1980s
feminism
lesbians
LOOT
politics
pornography
The Body Politic
Toronto
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3924e96eae46fc5131c7161bbe97c8c7
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
LGBTQ+ Oral Histories
Description
An account of the resource
A selection of oral histories from The ArQuives collections.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1970-2005
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Cassette tapes, digital video
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory (Elspeth Brown, PI)
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Hyperlink
A link, or reference, to another resource on the Internet.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Brown, Elspeth
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Lee Kam, Lezlie
Location
The location of the interview
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
moving image
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
1 hr 20 minutes (PT 1)
URL
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/253802550" frameborder="0" width="640" height="360"></iframe>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Oral History with Lezlie Lee Kam, PT 1 (27 April, 2017)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Brown, Elspeth;
Lee Kam, Lezlie
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1970s-1980s
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Lee Kam, Lezlie
Brown, Elspeth
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
CLGA
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video
Subject
The topic of the resource
dyke; lesbian; black power; Carib; Callaloo; world majority; activism; LOOT; Lesbian Organization of Toronto; Carnaval; Mas; migration; immigration; racism; Caribbean-Canadian; Trinidad; butch fem; lesbian separatism; Michigan Womyn's Music Festival; transphobia; coming out; Catholicism; York University; 1970s
Description
An account of the resource
This is the first of two oral histories with Lezlie Lee Kam, a 55+, gender-mysterious, world majority person and dyke; a Trini; a Carib; Brown; and a Callaloo-a mix of Chinese, Carib, Indian, Portuguese, and Venezuelan. She was born in Trinidad and left for Toronto in 1970. In this interview, Lezlie discusses her childhood in Trinidad with her 3 brothers with her working-class father and her more well-off mom; at age 11, when she was beginning her education in a convent school, her parents separated. Lezlie stayed with her father and 3 brothers, while her mother moved to Toronto in 1968. Lezlie was involved with Mas, as was her dad, who was a band leader; she's continued to be involved with Carnaval since. When Lezlie was 16, she moved to Toronto to be with her mother in Toronto, despite not wanting to leave. Discusses her attraction to girls from a young age, while also at the same time dating boys. Two of her brothers emigrated in 1976; she describes the debates she had with her mother around her mother's expectations that she do gendered labour in the household, while her brothers did nothing.
Lezlie was only one of four non-white kids in high school in 1970: she describes racism, being called a 'monkey' by the boys, and her (humorous) response, her accent, and her efforts to modulate it once in Canada. Lezlie came out, to herself, while she was at York U 1972-1976. She discusses radical student politics at York, and the expectation that all non-whites sit at the 'black table' in solidarity with black power. She learned about Cuba, South American indigenous issues, and Caribbean literature.
Discusses her first relationship with a woman, Sonia, a mixed race Trinidadian who attended Ryerson, and the physical passion that ensued after figuring it all out for the first time; they were together for 3 years, when they were caught kissing, and Sonia's family shipped her back to Trinidad.
Lezlie describes her activism with LOOT, the Lesbian Organization of Toronto (LOOT), in the late 1970s. She worked at the coffee house, on the phones, and wanted to be a person of colour for other lesbians who looked like her. Describes her work at LOOT and encountering butch-fem roles and lesbian separatism in the contemporary scene. Race and racism was not a topic of discussion among the white LOOT activists. Discusses the transphobia she encountered at the Michigan Womyn's Musical Festival, as well as how very few other women of color were there.
Night life, late 1970s: describes the 4 women of colour in the scene, who went to The Studio, a bar where gay men and lesbians mixed. They stood out, and became disco queens; they checked out the Camu (sp?) on Trinity, near Eastern. The Camu was a working class butch-fem bar, with tuxedos and ball gowns, the whole thing; they were the only people of colour. Discusses her own sense of gender then, and more recently. She was never butch or fem herself.
This interview continues in a second interview on June 16, 2017.
butch fem
Callaloo
Carib
Caribbean
Carnaval
coming out
dyke
immigration
lesbian
Lesbian Organization of Toronto
lesbian separatism
LOOT
Mas
Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
migration
oral history
racism
Toronto
transphobia
Trinidad
York University
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
LGBTQ+ Oral Histories
Description
An account of the resource
A selection of oral histories from The ArQuives collections.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1970-2005
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Cassette tapes, digital video
Language
A language of the resource
English
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory (Elspeth Brown, PI)
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Hyperlink
A link, or reference, to another resource on the Internet.
URL
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/254203209" frameborder="0" width="640" height="360"></iframe>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Oral History with Lezlie Lee Kam, PT 2 (16 June 2017)
Subject
The topic of the resource
LGBTQ seniors, police violence, Queers of colour, QTPOC, Alcoholism, Pride
Description
An account of the resource
Lezlie Lee Kam is a 55+, gender-mysterious, world majority person and dyke; a Trini; a Carib; Brown; and a Callaloo-a mix of Chinese, Carib, Indian, Portuguese, and Venezuelan. She was born in Trinidad and left for Toronto in 1970. In this interview, Lezlie discusses her relationship with the police in the 1970s and 1980s; in particular, she describes being the recipient of racist police violence in 1989, as well as police violence against trans women. Discusses the presence of lesbians of colour in Pride, c. 1991-1992, with the organizations Lesbians of Colour (1991) and Proud and Visible Coalition (with Anthony Mohamad, 1992). 1993-1998: World Majority Lesbians; 1999 Queer Women of Colour. 1999, they rented a big truck to put a sign up that said 'stop police violence; stop the criminalization of people of color), but the police tried to make them take the sign down. They refused, and took the sign into the parade; as a result, the police withdrew their contact with Grand and Toy, which had underwritten the truck. She discusses trying to get funding from Pride for people of colour at 1999 Pride, and having to deal with racism on the Pride organizing committee; in response, they demanded a community meeting at the 519. Discusses how Pelau Masquerade emerged after the Proud and Visible Coalition. Discusses reaching out to Caribana Mas camp people to have connections with Pride. Describes how central Mas was to her when she was a child (her dad was a band leader, and her house was a central space for Carnival preparations).
A large section of this interview discussed alcoholism. Discusses her work with LGBTQ seniors, and how a black women at one of the sites accused her of sexual harassment, sending her into a health downward spiral. She began to drink more to cope with the stress; eventually she lost her job from drinking and went on EI. 2000-2006 drinking seriously; went through all her savings, and almost lost her house. Dec 31, 2006: brother and sister-in-law took her to the hospital. In the process of going to the hospital, she passed out and went into a coma for two months; they thought she'd be a vegetable if she ever woke up. When she woke up, she went to Bridgeport for 4 months for intensive physio and occupational therapy. The medication she went on caused her to gain 50 pounds, impacting her body image. Describes her decision to go public with her history of alcoholism and why, as well as her recovery process. Now she is involved with Women's Health and Women's Hands, a women of colour health clinic. Has become involved with the Senior Pride Network, as well as Indigenous activism.
Discusses 1990s club nights for queer women of colour in the city, including organizing monthly club nights on Church Street, such as "Island Spice," focused on women of colour (1999), as well as organizing at the Red Spot, which was owned by a Sri Lankan man. Discusses current queer of colour club spaces, such as the Steady, the Beaver, Glad Day;
Discusses her history of activism having to do with violence against women in the 1980s, with a focus on immigrant and refugee women of colour. This focus was controversial for the white anti-violence feminists. Lezlie eventually worked in this field for about 10 years. She describes developing a business having to with anti-violence training in same-sex contexts.
Discusses her work as a volunteer with seniors at Bridgepoint, where she often does manicures. Eventually 5 women have come out to her, but they're all closeted now that they are in care. Lezlie discusses how she's been attacked by women for using the women's restroom, because some of the residents see her as a man. She worked for over a year to get trans positive materials in the bathroom. Now she is working on Pride, and getting seniors' programming there. Describes the current politics in Pride around black activism and Black Lives Matter. Describes her experience with Desh Pardesh, where she wasn't considered Indo or South Asian enough.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Brown, Elspeth;
Lee Kam, Lezlie
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1980s-2010s
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
mp4
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
video
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Oral History with Lezlie Lee Kam, PT 2 (16 June 2017)
bars
Caribbean-Canadian
Chinese
dyke
lesbian
Lesbian Organization of Toronto; sex worker; the Rose; transwomen; hate crimes; Black Lives Matter; Lesbians of Colour; Proud and Visible Coalition; World Majority Lesbians; Pride; Latino; Club Manhattan; Soca; Jamea Zuberi; Mas; Carnival; seniors; sexual
LOOT
police
racism
Trinidad