About Us

CLGA Mission Statement

The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives aspires to be a significant resource and catalyst for those who strive for a future world where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people are accepted, valued, and celebrated.

The people and the work behind keeping our stories alive

The CLGA was founded in 1973 as part of The Body Politic, Canada's gay liberation newsmagazine of record during the 1970s and 80s. A hidden gem in Toronto, it has grown from just a few boxes of material to become the second largest LGBT archive in the world. Within our archives are the stories that illuminate contemporary queer life.

Since its creation, the CLGA has been there at the pivotal moments of the Canadian queer movement, curating and maintaining collections on life in Canada -- in addition to abroad as well. We capture the pulse of the community with material on the relevant people, organizations, issues, and events that have shaped queer culture. (Our collecting is guided by a stated mandate, the full text of which is available here online.)

We secure this material by arranging, recording, and storing it. We strongly believe in the importance of this process, because history is important, equipping and preparing us for strides of progress in the future.

The CLGA is driven by the passion of a group of volunteers working in Toronto determined to preserve queer history in Canada and beyond. With our 40th anniversary approaching, we're organized to continue this work -- the preservation of history -- long into the future. (We're always excited for people wanting to help us: you can sign up here!)

It is our mandate to make this information available to the public for education and research. Over the years we have helped hundreds of people -- students, artists, journalists, lawyers, filmmakers -- working on various projects.

We also welcome those who just want to browse. With our new home at 34 Isabella Street, we will hold exhibitions and provide community space to help even more people discover and get inspired by the Archives.

This Who we are page will lead you to more information on:

People: Here you'll find names of some of the Archives' key players, past and present. Over time we'll be adding more names, and some brief biographies.
History: The Archives is now a major resource, but it had humble beginnings. This page offers a point-form chronology of our early history, with a link to further information.
Mandate: The latest version of guidelines that shape our collection policy.