by Jess Wilton
Cradled by the Atlantic Ocean, the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island (PEI), and Newfoundland and Labrador occupy a novel place in queer and Canadian historical past. “Queering Atlantic Canada: Tales, Histories, and Archives of Atlantic Canada” is an ActiveHistory.ca sequence visitor edited by Jess Wilton. Over the following yr, this sequence will provide an introduction to the work of activists, archivists, historians, group members, and artists within the area as we come collectively to share our tales and protect our histories. This primary submit gives a short basis to the historical past of Atlantic Canada and its queer pasts.
For some, this area is a well-liked vacationer vacation spot with pink cliffs, white sand seashores, quaint fishing villages, glacier-formed rocks, the very best tides, and all the things in between. You would possibly hear of the long-lasting kitchen events and hen bone candies or maybe enjoyable and folky vacation traditions like New 12 months’s day levees or Tibb’s eve. You may need even heard in regards to the crucial query of “who’s yer father?” which not solely cements our interconnected kinship, but additionally serves the very crucial function of constructing certain you aren’t associated to the individual you’re seeking to date.
For others, that is residence. Nonetheless with its traditions and bucolic landscapes, but additionally united by circumstance. Historians have outlined the regional financial character impacted by seasonality and atmosphere and cultural background with a lot of the realm positioned inside Mi’kma’ki in addition to histories of French and British colonialism. These similar students—typically publishing within the Acadiensis journal—have sought to think about the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland and Labrador as a class of research for these causes. In his notes on area in an deal with to the Atlantic Canada convention in 2000, Ian McKay asks historians to think about what makes a area and what makes Atlantic Canada a area particularly. Lachlan MacKinnon’s 2019 “Area in Retrospective” takes up these questions once more, outlining particularly the ability in Indigenous methodologies to a regional strategy.
In addressing this area, we should additionally keep away from the pitfalls of historic flattening or generalizations. Despite the fact that the provinces share cultural, financial, and environmental backgrounds that supply potential boundaries for a regional examine, every province (and even particular areas inside these provinces) have their very own distinctive histories. Newfoundland didn’t be part of Canada till 1949 and its previous is rooted in Naval authorities. That is set other than the lengthy historical past of Black loyalists in Nova Scotia and the systemic racism within the historical past Africville in Nova Scotia. Within the mid-1700s, Nice Britain enacted the Nice Upheaval within the Acadia area, which resulted in lots of Acadien Refugees in New Brunswick after the expulsion. Whereas PEI may need hosted the preliminary assembly for Confederation in 1864, they didn’t take part till years later amidst a monetary disaster.
Atlantic Canada is usually sidelined in Canadian historiography, however even perhaps lesser identified nonetheless is the area’s queer historical past and archives. Over time, we’ve witnessed quite a few episodes of solidarity and pleasure in addition to disappointments and loss over queer rights, freedoms, and protections. Whereas Nova Scotia added sexual orientation to their human rights act in 1991, it was solely final yr {that a} provision was added to permit each lesbian moms with a identified donor to be on their youngster’s delivery certificates with out an costly adoption course of. The current assault on trans rights in New Brunswick (and throughout the nation) can’t be ignored and is harking back to a lot of the rhetoric used to take away queer folks from their jobs via the Nineteen Seventies and Nineteen Eighties within the identify of “saving the kids.” Throughout this area, there have been current counter-protests in opposition to this similar rhetoric. Even in rural Newfoundland there have been large pleasure celebrations.
There might solely be a number of print printed sources, however all are riveting and dependable. Robin Metcalfe’s exhibition catalogue Queer Wanting, Queer Appearing: Lesbian and Homosexual Vernacular and Rebecca Rose’s Earlier than the Parade: A Historical past of Halifax’s Homosexual, Lesbian, and Bisexual Communities, 1972-1984 each discover subjects in Nova Scotia whereas Rhea Rollmann’s e book A Queer Historical past of Newfoundland tackles community-building on the island province. Notably John R. Sylliboy’s numerous works on queer and two-spirit L’nu from an Indigenous perspective whereas a documentary sequence referred to as Earlier than Grindr: The Secret Social Historical past of Homosexual & Lesbian PEI approaches the subject of queer life on PEI. Taking a look at queer love and rural life in New Brunswick, there may be additionally Meredith J. Batt and Dusty Inexperienced’s Len and Cub: A Queer Historical past.
However there are much more tales and histories and archives of queer Atlantic Canada which have but to be explored and disseminated. This ActiveHistory.ca sequence seeks to share a few of these tales to start out a dialog about our heritage prematurely of the 2026 Queer and Trans+ Historical past Convention to be held in Halifax.
To launch the sequence and sketch out the area and a number of the present historical past and archives, I be part of Meredith J. Batt on an imagined street journey throughout Queer Atlantic Canada in our subsequent installment.
Additional Studying:
Canadian Museum of Historical past, 2SLGBTQIA+ Historical past and Identities in Canada, 2025 on-line exhibit.
Dean, Amber. “Queer archives protect activist historical past and supply methods to counter hate.” Theconversation.com.December 22, 2023.
Frank, David “Public Historical past and the Folks’s Historical past: A View from Atlantic Canada.” Acadiensis 32, no. 2 (2003): 120-133.
Jess Wilton is a doctoral candidate in historical past at York College. Her work focuses on the queer historical past of Nova Scotia from the Nineteen Sixties to the Nineteen Nineties via materials historical past and archival practices.
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