Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA)
Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 6:30pm-9:00pm; Friday, 1:00pm-5:00pm
Location: 34 Isabella Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4Y 1N1
Contact: 416-777-2755; queeries@clga.ca
Access: Open to the Public; Prior to visiting, please send an email at least 2 business days prior to planned visit with a detailed note on what you plan to consult; Some holdings are stored off site and advanced notice is required to view these materials.
Website Address: http://www.clga.ca/
The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA) is the largest independent LGBTQ+ archives in the world, with particular emphasis on Canadian content. Records including current exhibits, artifacts, artwork, audio/sound recordings, moving images, National Portrait Collection, Lesbian and Gay Periodicals, newspapers, posters, photographs and vertical files.
The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA) houses notable artwork collections including the works of Ronald McRae, a Toronto illustrator and costume designer whose works dates back to the 1920s. Other significant collections include the works of artist collective John Grube, Alex Liros, Clarence Barnes and Tony Wilson, Gallery Without Walls and the AIDS Memorial Competition, a project which sought submissions for design of Toronto’s permanent AIDS Memorial (1990). The CLGA also houses an extensive audio and sound recording collection of more than 2,000 hours of sound on tape, and more than 1,300 discs. Included in these records are media interviews and recorded special events, most notably reactions from the flight of drag queens along Toronto’s Yonge Street, music collections produced by Olivia Records with emphasis on the rise of openly gay punk, new wave and other alternative groups and 75 cubic feet of material from the Coming Out Show (1970s-1986) of more than 1,000 cassettes and 500-reel-to-reel tapes. The CLGA also contains moving images holdings of more than 600 items that include footage from lesbian and gay events in various communities including the Gay Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia, Vancouver’s Gay Games and Lesbian and Gay Pride celebrations.
The CLGA also houses a National Portrait Collection of 75 portraits of various mediums that include photography, oil and watercolour. The collection is regularly exhibited across Canada in celebration of all LGBT communities. Also notable is the CLGA’s photograph collection of over 4500 images (1920- ) including images from The Body Politic, lesbian and gay activists, artists, authors, and celebrities, other members of lesbian and gay communities in Toronto, Halifax, Montreal, Saskatoon, and Vancouver during the 1970s and early 1980s, cultural and political events, demonstrations and conferences, theatrical productions, and places of community interest including bars, restaurants, and clubs. The CLGA’s poster collection also contains over 1000 posters related to the Canadian gay liberation movement and AIDS education. Also significant is the vertical files collection of over 5300 vertical files on Canadian, American and International organizations, individuals and events, including the Academy of Medicine (Toronto), Access Alliance Community Health Centre and Multicultural AIDS Street Outreach, Metro Drug Action Committee (Toronto), Medical Research Council (United Kingdom), Medical Research Centre (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) and HEAL (Health-Education-AIDS-Liaison) (New York).