Cultural Landscapes of the LGBTTQ+ Community in Ottawa

Heritage Ottawa 2020 Phillips Memorial Lecture

Ottawa’s LGBTTQ+ community has an interesting history unique to many other cities. Due in part to the government employee purges during the 1950s to 1990s, Ottawa’s LGBTTQ+ community was largely hidden, migratory and deeply closeted, far more so than other cities similar in size and population in North America. This talk will focus on the community that slowly emerged in Ottawa, moving from various enclaves of the city such as near and around Parliament, Elgin Street, Hull (now Gatineau) and Bank Street, where the City officially designated a "Gay Village" in 2011.

The annual Phillips Memorial Lecture honours the memory of Bob and Mary Anne Phillips, co-founders of Heritage Ottawa which began in 1967 as the Heritage Committee of "A Capital for Canadians".

The lecture is free and there is no need to pre-register.