Queer in Rural Alberta (QuiRA) Project
What is QuiRA?
Over the past few years, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community has been subject to the attention of the Government of Alberta (GOA): first with Jason Kenney’s rollbacks of protections for students in gay-straight alliances (GSAs) in Alberta schools and, most recently, Danielle Smith’s announcement of proposed policy that would bar transgender youth from participating in sports, restrict their access to gender affirming care, and make it more difficult to go by their preferred name and pronouns in school. Pride societies all across Alberta have been outspoken about their disdain for these overreaching policies, including many organizations in rural Alberta. Rural areas are often overlooked and disregarded by urban centers and are often perceived to lack a queer population.
The Queer in Rural Alberta (QuiRA) Project intends to give back to 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in rural Alberta by highlighting their stories and experiences. QuiRA is focused on working with 2SLGBTQIA+ communities to understand their experiences through oral histories and an annual survey on the state of 2SLGBTQIA+ lives in rural Alberta. The oral histories and annual survey will be used to create summary reports, which will be distributed to rural pride organizations, government officials and other organizations, for the purposes of supporting the creation of evidence-based, safe and inclusive gender, sexuality, and youth-related policies. The QuiRA Project also aims to diversify perspectives of queer people, both in Alberta and nation-wide by making information about rural queer life accessible.
There are few studies on queer life in Alberta, and even fewer that focus on rural regions. However, given the recent focus from the government—on both municipal and provincial levels—on 2SLGBTQIA+ lives, the amount of existing literature feels inappropriate. The limited amount of research done focuses on city centres in Alberta—namely Edmonton and Calgary—meaning a severe lack of attention toward the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in surrounding rural areas. We aim to fill this gap and share the stories of contemporary queer people in rural Alberta.
Methods
Throughout the summer of 2024, we collaborated with the Lacombe and Ponoka Pride Societies in central Alberta. With them, we have worked on creating a survey for people who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ living in rural Alberta. We have also created a summary of "2SLGBTQIA+ Inclusivity Training" from various organizations in Canada, so that they can offer their own training programs to local businesses, in order to establish safe spaces for queer people in town. For the Lacombe Pride Society, Gabby created a short "zine" that recounted their story and suggested ways for people support them - this is the first zine of many to come! We aim to strengthen our relationships with both pride societies, as well as establishing new ones with other rural pride societies.
We also attended various events in rural central Alberta, including pride events, a powwow, and the Ponoka Stampede. While attending, we focused on three main elements: 1) social context, regarding local social networks, organizations involved in pride and with the local queer community, and any other social interactions that may occur; 2) the material and sensory world, including food, music and other sounds, objects that may be sold or given, and anything else that may be seen as meaningful, such as pride flags; and 3) queer spaces, including anywhere that queer people find comfort and places that are considered to be safe.
Additionally, Gabby had the opportunity to interview 2SLGBTQIA+ people who either live or have lived in rural Alberta. The questions primarily focused on collecting life histories, understanding social networks, and explore safe (and unsafe) spaces in rural Alberta. Gabby finds it absolutely necessary to amplify the voices of underrepresented and overlooked queer people, directly from the source.
The University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board has approved this research study, REB24-0589. This project is supported by the Program for Undergraduate Research Experience (PURE) and the University of Calgary.