“We Were in Solidarity with Each Other”: Oral Histories on Coming Out During the AIDS Crisis in Canada

Abstract

This paper explores identifying, "coming out" and "coming in" as Two Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and/or queer (2SLGBTQ+) during the AIDS crisis in Canada (1981-1997). We conducted 30 oral history interviews about this unique historical moment between 2022 and 2025 with participants from eight Canadian provinces. Informed by queer oral history, we approached community as multiple, and at times, contradictory. We sought interviews from racialized and rural participants, and women, to help further diversify existing archival materials. Our analysis highlights the ways interviewees described coming out and visibility not only as an ongoing, relational, and a strategically managed process, but as a form of solidarity, care, and responsibility to others during the AIDS crisis. This sense of responsbility to others, and to create more inclusive spaces and services, was pronounced for interviewees who experienced racism in LGBT spaces and Canadian society at large. Two Spirit participants described complex processes of returning to community shaped by colonial violence as well as the cultural ethic of noninterference. We found that for HIV+ interviewees, sharing they were seropositive with others was a more difficult process of disclosure, with higher stakes. Across the narratives, realizations about sexual and gender difference were closely tied to gender nonconformity. Overall, the findings underscore how community was forged through the urgent need for solidarity in the context of the AIDS crisis.