Skip to main content
A Pride Flag from the RAM collections

2SLGBTQQIA+ History Month

Content

Join us as we share and celebrate stories of 2SLGBTQQIA+ history throughout the month of October! 
 

Past events:

Edmonton 2 Spirit: Ceremony and performances

Thursday, October 5
2-5 pm

We’re honoured to host the Edmonton 2 Spirit Society for a special event with blessings, ceremony, a panel discussion on 2 Spirit history and Indigenizing pride.

Come by at 2 pm to watch the ceremony, then stay for additional performances and film screenings. This event is included with general admission, and all are welcome to join. Admission is always free for Indigenous peoples.

 

Beyond Binary in Nature

Saturdays and Sundays starting October 7 at 1 pm 
Thursday, October 19 at 6 pm

A hand gently holding a stick bug.

From stick bugs to snakes, reproduction and gender in nature is truly wild. Join us for a 30-minute guided tour through our galleries as we discuss the diversity and fluidity of animal biology.  Meet at the red dot and programming cart in our lobby to start the tour.

 

Pride in Science

Thursday, October 26 
6-7:30 pm

Does an identity, a community, and personal experience influence queries in scientific research? Let’s talk about it!

Meet Alison Criscitiello (she/her), Kyle Shanebeck (they/them), and Scott Cocker(he/him). Hear about their fascinating research and join in on a roundtable discussion on how 2SLGBTQQIA+ experiences can shape questions and insight into avenues of research.

Alison Criscitiello
(she/her)

Headshot of Dr. Alison Criscitiello. She is wearing a blue winter coat and knit cap. She has sunglasses on top of her hat. She is looking into the camera with a smile on her face.

Dr. Alison Criscitiello is an ice core scientist and high-altitude mountaineer. She is the Director of the Canadian Ice Core Lab (CICL) at University of Alberta, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary. She explores past climate using ice core chemistry, by drilling ice cores in places like Antarctica, Alaska, the Yukon, the Canadian high Arctic, and Greenland. She has been named a National Geographic Explorer, and a Fellow of the Explorers Club and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Criscitiello is founder and co-director of Girls on Ice Canada. 

Kyle Shanebeck
(they/them)

A headshot of Kyle Shanebeck. He is wearing a red sweater over a white dress shirt. He has glasses and facial hair. He is looking at the camera with a neutral face.

 

Kyle is an ecologist and parasitologist from southern California, where they started their career studying sea otters. They did their PhD at the University of Alberta and Masters at the University of Bremen in Northern Germany. They are an advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ researchers in STEM and co-founded Scientific QUEERies, a digital seminar series highlighting the research and experiences of queer scientists across North America. 

Scott Cocker
(he/him)

Medium shot of Scott Cocker. He is holding a large bone that has been recently excavated. He is wearing a red and black striped polo shirt and is looking at the camera with a smile on his face.

Scott moved to Canada five years ago to pursue his MSc at Brock University in Ontario and is now a PhD candidate in the Permafrost Archives Science Lab at the University of Alberta. When not researching fossil arctic ground squirrels Scott is hiking, climbing, running, and eating pastries with his partner. 

Pride in Science takes place in the Roundhouse Theatre behind the Admissions desk. Tickets are free with admission, but spaces are limited. Purchase your admission and reserve your spot now.

Reserve your spot.

 

 

2SLGBTQQIA+ Film Series

Join us for a series of short films from the National Film Board of Canada. These films document and explore 2SLGBTQQIA+ history and experiences of Albertans and Canadians.

Please be advised, some films may contain mature themes and language, including some terminology that may be outdated or upsetting.

All screenings take place in the Roundhouse behind the Admissions Desk.

Thursday, October 12 at 3 pm 
A Short Film About Tegan & Sara – directed by Ann Marie Fleming (5 min) 

A stick-figure style illustration of Teagan and Sara. The figures stand looking at each other on a blue background.

In this joyful portrait, filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming animates the formative days and musical career of Calgary-born identical twins Tegan and Sara Quin. Their remarkable journey over the past 20 years has often intersected with notions of identity—as artists, as individuals, as sisters, as queer women, and as leading activists in the LGBTQ community. Their musical progression parallels and amplifies their commitment to bringing the marginal to the mainstream.


k.d. lang: songs & silence – directed by Laura O'Grady (5 min)

K.D. Lang looks out at the camera with a smile on her face. There is a grand piano to her side on the left side of the image.

k.d. lang shares her perspective on preferring silence and listening to making noise as one of the 2023 recipients of the GGPAA for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. A musician, 2SLGBTQI+ activist, daughter and icon, lang transcends categorization. Here, she delves into the essence and significance of musical expression, examining its emotional impact on both the performer and the audience.

Thursday, October 19 at 3 pm 
First Stories - Two Spirited – directed by Sharon A. Desjarlais (7 min)

An Indigenous woman with beaded ceremonial clothes and jewelry gazes intensely to the right.

This short documentary presents the empowering story of Rodney "Geeyo" Poucette's struggle against prejudice in the Indigenous community as a two spirited person (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender). Geeyo registers as a dancer in the Kamloopa Powwow under the Jingle Dress category (normally reserved for women). Deeply humiliated by a misguided elder, Geeyo is reminded by his grandmother that two spirited people were once respected and honoured for their spiritual gifts. Geeyo eventually makes a triumphant return to the powwow arena, realizing that the only way to change people's minds is to walk proudly while being true to one's spirit.


Woman Dress – directed by Theo Jean Cuthand (6 min)

A woman in traditional clothes is standing in an urban alley. She looks at the camera with her arms crossed across her chest.

Pre-contact, a Two Spirit person named Woman Dress travels the Plains, gathering and sharing stories. Featuring archival images and dramatized re-enactments, this film shares a Cuthand family oral story, honouring and respecting Woman Dress without imposing colonial binaries on them. 

 

Thursday, October 26 at 3 pm 
Reviving The Roost - directed by Vivek Shraya (6 min)

A neon-sign style illustration of five anthropomorphized roosters. The roosters are wearing stylish shirts and pants. Some look at the camera some have their backs turned.

Filmmaker and bestselling author Vivek Shraya’s ode to a popular Edmonton gay bar that closed in 2007. With pulsating neon-light animation, Reviving the Roost is a story about community complexity and longing, and an elegy to a lost space.

*This film deals with mature subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised.


I Am Gay – directred by Ajahnis Charley (10 min)

A young man on rollerblades skates casually toward the camera on a quiet street.

After working abroad for five years, filmmaker Ajahnis Charley returns home to Oshawa, Ontario, in the age of quarantine. In addition to reuniting with his family, he returns with a mission to share some deep personal truths. Surprising conversations ensue with his mother and three siblings, creating, in a humorous and heart-wrenching way, a story about our need to seek love and acceptance within our own families.