PART II
Defying Heteropatriarchy

A black-and-white photograph shows Lillian Dick standing in front of an offensive Super S Drugs sign. — Lillian Dick objects to Super S Drugs sign, Calgary, March 1970. Courtesy of Calgary Herald Photograph Collection, Glenbow Archives, Calgary, NA-2864-5209.

Calgary Police Chief Inspector Andy Little on Homosexuality, 1968

Speaking to the University of Calgary Psychology Club in October 1968, Calgary Police Chief Inspector Andy Little decried the move to liberalize the Canadian Criminal Code to permit same-sex relations between consenting adults.

“Any homosexual is a potential murderer,” he claimed. Questioned by club members, he added that “in order to gratify his alleged need, he will frequently assault a child.”

Nigel Roberts, “Public Blamed for Crime: An Interview,” The Gauntlet, 2 October 1968, 3.

Calgary Board of Education’s Survey on Sexual Activity, 1969

In 1969 the Calgary Board of Education asked students at the city’s Crescent Heights High School to give their opinions about a number of aspects of sexual activity. Question number 21 on the form asked: “Now that England no longer regards as criminal homosexuality among consenting adults in private, do you feel that their civilization will collapse on this account? Explain.”

Joanne Hatton, “Progressives and Traditionalists Battle for Control of Education,” in Alberta in the 20th Century: A Journalistic History of the Province, vol. 10, The Sixties Revolution and the Fall of Social Credit, ed. Paul Bunner (Edmonton: United Western Communications, 2002), 135.

Introduction