Skip to main content
       Search       
Gay Pride Flag Saskatchewan Resources for Sexual Diversity
Saskatchewan Resources for Sexual Diversity

Celebrating a History of Diversity:

Lesbian and Gay Life in Saskatchewan, 1971 - 2006
A Selected Annotated Chronology

The 2000s


2006

January Saskatoon
The Avenue Community Centre partnered with Respect for Sexual Diversity Youth to form a youth-run theatre group called Q-Theatre. The group was established to allow young people ages 13 to 18 to explore issues of gender and sexual diversity.
[Perceptions, v. 24 no. 2 (March 15 2006) p. 10.]
January 10 Regina
Antigay rights activist Bill Whatcott received an undisclosed sum from the University of Regina to settle a suit he had launched after a U of R website mistakenly stated that he advocated that that all sodomites be killed. The website was advertising the University’s 2004 conference “I Could Not Speak My Heart”.
[Karen Brownlee, “Activist settles suit with U of R,” RLP, (January 10 2006) p. B2.]
January 11 Saskatoon
Vote Marriage Canada, a national organization opposed to same-sex marriage, endorsed all four Conservative Party candidates running in Saskatoon. All four were re-elected.
[Matt Kruchak, “Same-sex opponents endorse local candidates,” SSP, (January 11 2006) p. B7.]
February 24 Regina
Regina filmmaker David Geiss premiered Queen City, his forty-five minute documentary examining Regina’s drag scene, at the GLCR. The work presents the experiences and goals of several local drag queens and the responses they receive from the local LG community. In April the film was named best documentary at the Canadian National Youth Film Festival in Ottawa and was sold for broadcast to the Saskatchewan Communications Network (SCN).
[Gregory Beatty, “Diva Nation. Doc spotlights Queen City drag scene, “Prairie Dog, (March 16-29 2006) p. 21. / Adam Hunter, “Queen City. Drag queen film a winner,” RLP, (April 7 2006) p. B2.]
March 3-4 Saskatoon
The Saskatoon Sexual Health Network (SSHN), a partnership of AIDS Saskatoon, the Avenue Centre and Planned Parenthood, presented its first public event The Carnival of Sex at Louis’ Pub and Diva’s. The event was designed to encourage open dialogue about sex and sexually transmitted infections.
[Perceptions, v. 24 no. 1 (February 1 2006) p. 11.]
March 12 Regina
The Prairie Pride Chorus performed as guests at Sunset United Church’s Affirming Sunday.
[SSN, (March 2006) p. 3.]
March 17-18 Saskatoon
The theme of the 9th annual Breaking the Silence Conference was “Re-imagining the Possible: Inspiring Change through the Arts”. Many of the presentations involved theatre and drama as vehicles to address homophobia. The conference was opened with an address by Her Honour Dr. Lynda Haverstock, Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan, and by a presentation Piercing the Thin Skin of Normal: Queer Art and Activism by Winnipeg performance artists Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan.
[Perceptions, v. 24 no. 2 (March 15 2006) p. 8-9.]
March 18 Moose Jaw
Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert, a United Church minister, spoke at Minto United Church during the annual meeting of the Church’s Saskatchewan conference. He told his audience “I’m proud of the church (United) that opens itself to people of a sexual orientation that may be different than my own. I’m proud of a church that recognizes the spirituality of others.”
[Alison Sebastian, “Back to his roots: Calvert at United Church conference,” Moose Jaw Times-Herald, (March 20 2006) p. A3.]
March 22
A poll conducted by Ipsos Reid for CanWest News Services reported that 47% of Saskatchewan residents disagreed with the statement that homosexuality is morally acceptable. 40% agreed. Nationally 54% of Canadians found homosexuality morally acceptable while in Quebec 69% expressed acceptance.
[Pamela Cowan, “Poll finds most Sask. Residents intolerant of homosexuality,” SSP, (March 22 2006) p. A8.]
March 30 – April 7 Saskatoon
The U of S Greystone Theatre presented Timothy Findley’s award winning play Elizabeth Rex. The play features a conflict between Elizabeth I and Ned Lowenscroft, the actor who plays the leading female roles in Shakespeare’s troupe. They strike a deal in which he teaches her to feel like a woman and she teaches him to act as a man.
[Cam Fuller, “Greystone players deliver sterling performances,” SSP, (April 1 2006) p. E6.]
April 8 Regina
The Prairie Pride Chorus celebrated its 10th anniversary with a recital at the Mackenzie Art Gallery. At the time the chorus included thirty singers. The program began with Never Turning Back, an early anthem of the group, and concluded with Saskatchewan, a ten minute piece by the choir’s musical director David L. McIntyre. The piece’s lyrics are the names of towns and cities across the province.
[Nick Miliokas, “Chorus never looked back. Ten seasons,” RLP, (April 6 2006) p. D3.]
April 13 Regina
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled that Hugh Owens did not violate the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code when he published an ad in the StarPhoenix in 1997 expressing his opposition to homosexuality. The ruling overturned a ruling of a Human Rights Board of Inquiry and a 2002 Queen’s Bench decision. In his written decision Justice Bob Richards emphasized that the Bible or any sacred text cannot serve as a license for acting unlawfully against gays and lesbians and that each case must be decided on its individual merit. Gens Hellquist, one of the original complainants expressed the hope that the SHRC would launch an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
[Anne Kyle, “Appeal court decision worries gay activists,” SSP, (April 15 2006) p. A3.]
May 19-22 Vancouver
The Bridge City Chorus and the Prairie Pride Chorus performed at Canadian Unison Festival 2006, the third gathering of Canada’s rainbow community choirs held at UBC’s Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
[Perceptions, v. 23 no. 5 (July 27 2005) p. 14.]