“Our queer elders have lived through generations of change, from societal rejection to hard-won rights, yet their stories remain underrepresented,” said executive producer Michelle Mama. “Queer people age with different challenges. In creating this documentary, we are honouring their experiences, struggles, and joys while amplifying their voices for future generations.”

“At its core, Queer Elders Project is about the importance of connection – across generations, geographies, and personal histories,” said producer Hannah Donegan. “Despite the adversity they’ve faced, our subjects remind us that life doesn’t stop surprising you, and that new experiences, relationships, and moments of joy can emerge at any stage of life.” Director Maya Bastian added, “This film is an opportunity to challenge stereotypes about aging, particularly within the 2SLGBTQ+ community. These are powerful, beautiful stories of survival and joy that deserve to be told.”

Spanning the course of a year, the documentary will intimately follow four remarkable working-class queer and trans seniors from diverse backgrounds across North America. Navigating the challenges of health, personal expression, and affordability, they find balance in the joy of community, resilient spirits, and the hope that even in life’s final act, there’s always something to look forward to. Filmed over four seasons in Charlottesville, Virginia; Fargo, North Dakota; and Toronto and Thunder Bay, Ontario, the documentary will premiere on TVO in spring 2027 following a 2026 festival run.

Produced by Gay Agenda, the film is directed by Maya Bastian (Tigress) and produced by Hannah Donegan (The Loneliest Race), with Michelle Mama (Summer Qamp) serving as executive producer.The film was produced with the support of TVO, Knowledge Network, and the Canada Media Fund.

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Today, The ArQuives preserves a wide range of material including personal and organizational papers, books, monographs, photographs, moving images, sound recordings, periodicals, artifacts (like buttons, board games, t-shirts, and banners), and other reference material. The ArQuives aspires to be a significant resource and catalyst for those who strive for a future world where LGBTQ2+ people are accepted, valued, and celebrated.

Its mandate is to acquire, preserve, organize, and give public access to information and materials in any medium, by and about LGBTQ2+ people, primarily produced in or concerning Canada, and to also maintain a research library, international research files, and an international collection of LGBTQ2+ periodicals for the public use.

50th Anniversary 

Throughout 2023, The ArQuives will be hosting events, sharing digital content, and connecting with the public to help share this memorable historic milestone.

Interested in sharing how The ArQuives has supported you over the years? Click here to submit a testimonial today.

Anyone can make a donation, whether extensive or small, young or old, serious or humorous, paper or object, personal or not!

Donate to the Arquives

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Through The Magenta Foundation‘s Leadership Lab pilot program and using the LGBTQ2+ ArQuives — the only LGBTQ2+ archive in Canada with a national scope — the organizations are producing a comprehensive research project, exhibition, and catalogue focused on Toronto Pride from 1970 to the present.

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of The ArQuives. To commemorate this important milestone, the Magenta Foundation is partnering with the ArQuives to produce the first ever Toronto Pride Exhibition and Publication seen in this context and presented to a national and global audience. The catalogue launch and exhibition will close the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival and coincide with the 50th anniversary of the ArQuives in June 2023.

Everyone is welcome to submit and participate in the publication titled: Joy. Sorrow. Anger. Love. Pride. 

Whether you are a professional photographer or everyday Pride advocate with a camera, now’s your chance for exhibiting and publishing your work! Pride is for, and about, everyone who identifies as LGBTQ2+ and this project’s aim is to present a multitude of experiences from across our many communities.

Find more info and submit your photos here.

Deadline: December 29, 2022

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To the residents of Ward 13 – Toronto Centre, it is with much gratitude and love that I announce that I will not be seeking re-election for City Council in October. Furthermore, after a great deal of consideration and conversations with my family and close friends, I have decided to put my name forward to seek the NDP nomination to become the next Member of Provincial Parliament for Toronto Centre.

I have informed the City Clerk of my intention and my resignation from City Council will take effect May 4, 2022. The amazing Ward 13 team will continue to work at full speed to support residents as well as the interim Councillor and ensure a smooth transition after the next municipal election. In my professional life, I have worked with many talented people and without a doubt, the Ward 13 team is unmatched as one of the most hardworking and remarkable group of individuals to ever walk into City Hall.

To the Mayor, Members of City Council and the Toronto Public Service, working alongside you has been a life-transforming experience and even more so during a global health pandemic. I am grateful for the ongoing collaboration and enduring friendships. Thank you for all your dedication to building a better city together. I will continue to support the local and city-wide projects we started together and I remain committed to seeing their successful completion, hopefully in my new role as an MPP.

My love for Toronto Centre and our neighbourhoods runs deep. It is my home. When my family immigrated to Canada in 1975, our first apartment was in Regent Park and it was there I learned to speak English at Sprucecourt Public School. As a queer teen, I found community and support in the Church Wellesley Village. As a university student, I was an overnight worker in a women’s shelter run by the Catholic Church near Allan Gardens and later in my 30s, I opened a successful business on Church Street. I am raising my family in Toronto Centre and for almost 12 years, I have had the tremendous privilege of representing our communities at City Hall.

I was able to build my life in this community because of a robust network of social services, affordable housing and a lot of hard work. I entered politics because, despite my individual success, I kept seeing the hardworking members of my community fall through the cracks of a system that didn’t see or value them. I wanted to help create a city that believed inclusion means more than just telling people they are welcome here. I want our city to say we built this with you in mind. We built this for you regardless of your socioeconomic status or postal code.

I am very proud to have delivered economic development opportunities for residents with small business tax reform and to have championed equity responsive budgeting. As we work as a nation towards reconciliation, it was an honour to assist in the creation of the Indigenous Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the world’s largest incubator and accelerator for Indigenous entrepreneurs right here in Toronto Centre.

With your steadfast support, we have accomplished so much together. From launching Toronto’s first-ever community-based mental health crisis response service, to being the only ward with full coverage of dedicated neighbourhood community officers, to investing in the new and expanded Casey House, to the redevelopment of iconic Massey Hall, to revitalizing College Park and Regent Park, to investing in YongeTOmorrow for a full redesign of Toronto’s main street, to saving the historic Foundry buildings, to creating iconic Indigenous placemaking in parklands such Dr. Lillian McGregor Park, to delivering climate positive streetscaping like the Bay Street bioswale, and to the premier art festivals such as the Toronto Biennial of Art.

But I know we have even more to do to create healthier, stronger neighbourhoods by investing in the people who make our communities great.

Despite all that we have accomplished, we are seeing more and more people fall behind. Toronto’s housing crisis continues to grow, and we are not creating nearly enough affordable housing. We are seeing record numbers of people dying of overdoses and alone.

Through the creation and implementation of the landmark Downtown East Action Plan, it has been made even more evident we have deep structural deficiencies that require solutions that Toronto cannot deliver on its own. System change and legislative reform desperately need to happen at the provincial level. We need to reintroduce rent control on all rental units and introduce commercial rent control to support small businesses and our main streets. We must tackle the homelessness and housing crises with investments in supportive housing, mental health services and addiction recovery beds, and we need a provincial government that works with the best interests of communities and municipalities in mind.

These are the issues that will be at the centre of my upcoming campaign in the provincial election. We need a government committed to uplifting residents of Toronto Centre and the great people of Ontario. We need change and I’m determined to help bring it.

Serving you as your City Councillor in Toronto Centre for almost 12 years has been the greatest honour of my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the trust you have placed in me. I never take it for granted and I have always believed that I must work hard to earn it every day.

Thank you for your continued guidance and enduring friendship.

You will be hearing much more from me very soon.

Kristyn

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