Image courtesy of ArQuives (previously known as the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives) 
Image courtesy of ArQuives (previously known as the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives) 
Image courtesy of ArQuives (previously known as the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives) 
Image courtesy of ArQuives (previously known as the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives) 
Image courtesy of ArQuives (previously known as the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives) 
Image courtesy of ArQuives (previously known as the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives)
Within the archival collections of The ArQuives are ephemera and objects that document queer history, especially those primarily produced in or concerning Canada. Such queer archives preserve personal papers, photographs, periodicals, posters, and pins in order to, as scholar Ann Cvetkovich describes, “sustain a queer future by reminding us of our queer pasts” (35). Walking amongst collected t-shirts, trophies, tapes, toys, and titles, we were drawn to a magenta poster cabinet. We found a series of three (3) posters produced by the AIDS Committee Winnipeg Gay/Lesbian Resource Centre atop of Folder 95 in the 1991-1992 drawer. Each poster features a photograph alongside a slogan with six square informational panels on the backside. In what follows, we look closer to consider their form, tenderness, and context.
encountering form
We first encountered these pamphlets in their large poster forms, unfolded and stacked poster-side up. In considering them primarily as posters, we wondered how they would have been displayed in order to also display the text on the “back.” We were struck by the foregrounding of sexuality and intimacy in the photos on the poster sides – the care between the men curled together in the window sill, the man in the leather vest with his hand placed to only partially cover his genitals. It felt unexpected to find a poster about AIDS that so clearly showed love and care rather than sadness and loss. From the layout of the text boxes, we realized that these were actually primarily pamphlets, folded so that the poster was hidden inside.
Viewing these objects as pamphlets augmented our reading of the interplay between text and image. The topics in the pamphlets cover sexual and mental health, and focus on caring for yourself as a gay man during the AIDS crisis.1 They do not shy away from the importance of sex, recognizing that ass fucking is a high-risk activity, but also one that many men are not willing to give up. Instead, these pamphlets suggest safer ways to have sex rather than admonishing sexual activity all together. The poster inside then becomes an added layer of care, a small acknowledgement that sex can be a joyful aspect of queer life, not simply a danger.
tender aesthetics
The two elements of the pamphlet – the poster and the informational panels – communicate this care with minimal colour and graphic elements. The focal point of each poster is a black and white photograph. These photographs draw on intimate and erotic elements of queer life, whether it be through representing intimate partnerships or desiring subjects. Featuring embracing bodies, spaces of intimacy, and references to queer subcultures, the professionally shot photographs frame sexuality within the everyday intensity of the AIDS crisis through tender emotion and aesthetics. Tenderness, we suggest, considers both the sensuality and vulnerability of queer life, especially for gay men in 1991. By considering and making visible tender feelings, the photographs acknowledge the interplay of joy and pain amidst the crisis.
Like the photographs, the informational panels evoke tender care by emphasizing the ways in which homophobia has “taken its toll on the physical and mental health of gay men.” Each pamphlet suggests ways to take care, including: getting enough sleep, eating right, exercising, getting tested, developing a relation to condom use, and visiting mental health professionals. Each tip exemplifies how homophobic violence impacts individuals and how AIDS complicates life to gently remind gay men that “taking good care” of oneself is key. Like the photographs, the informational panels focus on intimate feelings and personal living. For example, the “Good Health for Gay Men” pamphlet emphasizes that “[t]here is no right or wrong way to be gay; there is no such thing as a gay lifestyle that you have to conform to. Just be yourself.” The language here demonstrates tender holistic care. By centering self confidence and gay ways of being, the “Good Health for Men” pamphlet addresses many layers of queer life, including safe sex practices and self kindness. The tenderness embedded within the caring language of the pamphlet recognizes the need to affirm those living gayly during violent times.
the Spectre of Violence
Though there is no violence depicted in these pamphlets directly, the AIDS crisis was in full force when these pamphlets were distributed in 1991. By 1988, an approximate 50,000 Canadians were HIV positive (“1988”) and violence against homosexual men (those thought to be the main carriers of the virus) was on the rise; by some accounts, assaults against gay men had “doubled” in Canada in 1987 (“Manitoba”). Though the Manitoba government introduced a bill to protect gay rights that year, it was met with fierce opposition, especially from those who blamed homosexuals for transmitting the HIV virus (“Manitoba”). It was in this social climate that these pamphlets were produced and distributed — one where homosexuality was seen as dangerous, and sex between men was pathologized and demonized.
Given these conditions, these pamphlets are documents of resistance. They exist not only despite homophobic personal and state violence, but in spite of them. The joy and tenderness exhibited throughout these pieces (the joy of gay sex, the care in making it possible) is radical because it asserts itself in a moment in which it would have been met with violent opposition. Though violence isn’t explicitly foregrounded in these pamphlets, they are shaped by it — by the violence of the illness itself, the violent assaults against gay men and other queer people, the immeasurable violence of AIDS victims being left to die. The simple act of providing information to and celebrating men who have sex with men counters this violence.
The information in these pamphlets was necessary in 1991, and it is necessary today. A report from the Government of Manitoba on HIV/AIDS statistics in the province notes that, at the end of 2016, “Manitoba had one of the highest reported diagnosis/incidence rates of new HIV cases among the provinces and territories. The rate in Manitoba was 1.26 times higher than the overall Canadian rate” (7). While HIV is not nearly as deadly as it was 25 years ago, information on how to engage in safer sex is still imperative in both normalizing and destigmatizing queer sexual relations and reducing rates of HIV infection — and its all the better if that information is delivered in joyful, caring ways.
More Resources
- ArQuives (previously known as the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives)
- The Winnipeg Gay/Lesbian Resource Centre
- The AIDS Activist History Project (Carleton University)
Endnotes
1. We are informed by queer approaches to read and analyze this pamphlet series. While recognizing that these pamphlets are specifically directed to gay men and men who have sex with men, we use ‘queer’ to acknowledge the impact of AIDS and AIDS-related violences on queer lives more broadly. Throughout the blog post, we are attuned to the specific meaning of the terms we use, including gay, queer, and homosexual, amongst others.
Works Cited
“1988: First World AIDS Day.” The National, 1 December 1998, www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/1988-first-world-aids-day.
Cvetkovich, Ann. “Introduction.” An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality, and Lesbian Public Cultures. Duke UP, 2003, pp. 1-14.
—. “The Queer Art of the Counterarchive.” Cruising the Archive: Queer Art and Culture in Los Angeles, 1945-1980, edited by David Frantz and Mia Locks. ONE National Lesbian and Gay Archives, 2011, pp. 32-35.
Government of Manitoba. “2016 Annual Statistical Update: HIV and AIDS.” Published January 2018, updated May 2018, pp. 1-42, www.gov.mb.ca/health/publichealth/surveillance/hivaids/docs/dec2016.pdf.
“Manitoba Moves to Protect Gays During AIDS Crisis.” The National, 8 June 1987, www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/manitoba-moves-to-protect-gays-during-aids-crisis.
Authors
Katrina Sellinger (@space_femme), Marika Brown (@marikabeige), and Theresa Kenney (@topoliticise) are PhD students in the Department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University.