As Victoria gears up for Pride Week, the Transgender Archives at UVic received news Wednesday, they had been named one of the top 12 LGBTQ museums in the world.
Fodor’s Travel, a New York-based travel website, who for 80 years has provided advice for adventurers of all kinds, ranked the Trans Archives in seventh place, on a list that included similar collections of LGBTQ resources in Australia, Berlin, the Netherlands and L.A.
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| Aaron Devor, chair in Transgender Studies at UVic, during CAUT meetings in Ottawa in Nov.2017 which included the presentation of the CAUT Equity Award. Photo contributed |
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“I’m very pleased. It’s an honour, we’re in great company,” says Aaron Devor, chair of the Transgender Studies program at UVic, pointing out the archives are the only trans-specific collection on the list.
“UVic is ahead of the game and we have the largest collection in the world and it is quite extensive, representing 18 countries on five continents,” he explains.
Only one other Canadian collection, Toronto’s Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, made the cut at Number 9.
“To access the world’s most comprehensive archive of transgender publications and memorabilia, head to British Columbia,” reads Fodor’s Travel’s description of the archives.
BIG NEWS! We’ve been listed as one of the Top 12 #LGBTQ Museums on earth by @fodorstravel! We are FREE & open to the public. Come visit us! https://t.co/7yVRS5ntMR #uvic #yyj #trans #GLAM pic.twitter.com/SB57O0xHxF
— TransChairArchives (@TransArchives) June 27, 2018
“The University of Victoria maintains records of trans activism and art stretching back more than a century, contributed by gender non-binary and two-spirit people and supporters from nearly two-dozen countries,” it continues, adding the archives also serve as a classroom, research area, archival vault, and exhibit space that hosts a variety of talks, community events, and performances.
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In Oct. 2017, the Trans Archives welcomed American author, and trans advocate Kate Bornstein who spoke to a packed house.
This past March, the third iteration of the Moving Trans History Forward conference welcomed hundreds from the LGBTQ community to hear speakers like historian, poet and transwoman Andrea Jenkins and Canadian Cree two-spirit artist Kent Monkman.
“We welcome anybody and everybody to come by and see what we do,” Devor says, adding you don’t need to be UVic faculty or a student to access the collection, available to the public at any time from 10:30-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday.
“This will no doubt be a boon to us,” Devor says. “Fodor is very well respected and relied up on by people around the world.”
For more information about the Transgender Archives, follow them on Twitter or visit them online at UVic.ca/transgenderarchives.
