New streetlight banners highlight Guelph's LGBTQ history

A blood donation sticker that reads "I tried, have you?" is written over with a black markerso now it reads, "I tried, but I'm gay."

The image is on a new banner in downtown Guelph that is part of a project to mark 15 years of Guelph Prideand to highlight historic moments inLGBTQhistory in the city and across Canada.

Gay and bisexual men continue to be told they cannot donate blood in Canada, although there is a new petition before the House of Commons calling on the federal Liberals to make good on a campaign promise to change things.

But that's just one momentlocal historian TonyBertofelt needed to be highlighted in the banner project.

"There's ample evidence that the blood supply is very, very safe. There's a variety of measures that can be brought in so there's no way that there's anything that could possibly taint the blood supply, and yet gay men are singled out as being ones that aren't allowed to donate as regular citizens,"Bertosaid. "We're being made separate and pariahs to a degree."

'We've come so far'

Bertocurated the 30-banner project,an initiative ofthe Downtown Guelph Business Association. The banners hang on streetlights alongCardenStreet.

In a release about the project, Guelph Pride member Jasper Smith said the banners highlight "both the forgotten and thecontinuing narratives of theLGBTQ2+ history in Guelph.

"We've come so far as a community in recent decades and though some of it has remained hidden out of safety or fear, there's a distinct shift happening," he added.

Berto, who studiedLGBTQhistory for his PhD thesis, admitted it was difficult to do just 30 banners.

He said he hopes people learn something new.

"There's so many people out there that don't really know the history of what Canada has done and what colonial and various other governments over the years have done to marginalize and punish people for being basically who they are, so I think the educational aspect that comes out of this project is really a good thing," he said.