Memoirs — Peter Millard

Or Words to That Effect

Dr. Peter Millard (1932-2001) began lecturing in English at the University of Saskatchewan in 1963. His subsequent academic career was distinguished. Besides authoring numerous books and articles he served as the University’s don of residence, as chair of the English Department and as chair of the Faculty Association.

In 1973 he joined Saskatoon’s burgeoning gay liberation movement and quickly became an organizer and spokesperson in most of the province’s early battles to advance equal rights for gays and lesbians. He held leadership roles in the Gay Community Centre of Saskatoon, the Committee to Defend Doug Wilson, and the Coalition for Human Equality.

On campus he organized a Gay Academic Union in 1975 and became the mentor/protector of two generations of lesbian and gay students. In 1991 he taught the University’s first gay studies course, an examination of social attitudes towards homosexuality in literature. In 1994 the University established the Peter Millard scholarship, Canada’s first university-administered scholarship for research in gay and lesbian studies.

After his academic retirement in 1992 one of Millard’s chief pursuits was the writing of a personal memoir with the working title Or Words to That Effect. After his death the completed manuscript was added to the Peter Millard Papers at the University of Saskatchewan Archives. The memoir covers many aspects of Millard’s rich and wide-ranging life, including his student and academic careers and his dedication to the visual arts in both England and Saskatoon. He writes at length of his emotional life as a gay man and of his many experiences in gay activism.

Saskatchewan Resources for Sexual and Gender Diversity is pleased to host three short excerpts which we have titled:
1) Before Gay Liberation
2) God Likes Gays — A Campus Debate
3) Anita Bryant’s 1978 Visit to Moose Jaw