Stolen kiss helps uncover story of Edmonton's forgotten LGBTQ pioneer

Pictured in black and white, two men sit cheek-to-cheek and share a kiss inside the hushed confines of a 1953 photo booth.

The twin photos, once dangerous mementos of a concealedromance, have become symbols of the brave life of Joseph John Belanger, a quiet vanguard of the early LGBTQ movement.

"He was an activist," said Sara Burningham, producer ofMaking Gay History, a podcast about important figures in North American LGBTQ history.

"He was not a central activist but he was there at some really important moments in the civil rights struggle.

"But what's become almost as important about him is that photograph."

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Born in Edmonton in 1925, J.J.Belanger lived a storied life, which spanned from the skies over Europe in the Second World War to the front lines of the civil rights movement.

He lived as an openly gay man at a time when the simple act of sharing a kiss could get you thrown in jail, said Burningham, who has been poring through archival records and archival interviews documenting Belanger's life.

'Defiance and rebellion'

The photograph of Belanger's stolen kiss at the Playland amusement park in Vancouver, B.C.has become a cherished part of LGBTQ history, she said.

The photograph was rediscovered in 2014 and has since been shared around the world.

"It's become so iconic and it captures this defiance and rebellion," Burningham said in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM. "They are in the safety of the photo booth but two men kissing in that moment was not safe at all.

"People draw such hope from it."

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Belanger served in the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1942 to 1944. He was awarded a Defence Medal, Canadian Voluntary Service Medal, and War Medal for his service.

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He worked odd jobs in across the West until 1954 when he joined the United States Air Force.

He served for five years, earning numerous commendations including the Aviation Badge, Good Conduct Medal andOutstanding Airman of the 26th Air Refueling Squadron.

Belanger met and fell into apassionate romance with an Australian pilot during his service in the Air Force. They trained and served alongside each other in UK until theirplane was shot down off the coast of France in 1944.

Belangersurvived, spending three days adrift in a dinghy in the Atlantic Ocean, but his companion, Gordon, died.

So there is some openness,but obviously still a very, very stifling closet that he was forced to live in.-SaraBurningham, researcher

"J.J. was out to his family, they were out to Gordie's family but of course not to the wider world," said Burningham.

"He couldn't serve openly, he couldn't be open in terms of his public life, therefore losing someone in that way becomes a very solitary grieving process, because of course the military doesn't recognize your loss and you can't grieve publicly.

"So there is some openness,but obviously still a very, very stifling closet that he was forced to live in."

'It's part of history'

Belanger was an early member of the Mattachine Society, one of the first gay advocacy groups ever formed in North America.

In the 1980s he was politically involved with the San Francisco chapter of the Stonewall Gay Democratic Club, volunteered for Project Inform and was a member of the Quarantine Fighter's Group. Belanger was also a devoted collector of LGBT history, and carefully documented his own life.

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Belangerdied on Jan.26, 1993, two days after his 70th birthday.

His personal collection is now part of the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, the largest collection of LGBTQ memorabilia in the world.

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers a historic apologyto the LGBTQcommunity, it's more important than ever to illuminatetheoften forgotten figures in LGBTQ history, saidBurningham.

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"You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been," she said.

"For any of us, connecting to our past is a key to understanding our present and figuring out our future.

"It's part of history."

Listen toEdmonton AMwith hostMark Connolly, weekday mornings at CBC Radio One, 93.9 FM in Edmonton. Follow the morning crew on Twitter@EdmAMCBC.