Towards a new specialization in health librarianship: LGBTQ health

In 1964, Canadian gay activist Jim Egan and Maclean’s journalist Sidney Katz decided to kick start a revolution (1). Katz’s 2-part article “The Homosexual Next Door: A Sober Appraisal of a New Social Phenomenon,” published by Maclean’s in February and March of that year (2, 3), was the first positive portrayal of homosexuality to appear in the Canadian mass media (4). Katz had worked closely with Egan on the milestone article, later recognised as lending critical mass to the nascent Canadian gay liberation movement. In the same year, Canada’s first homophile organisation Association for Social Knowledge (ASK) was founded (5), and the gay community magazines Two and Gay were launched in Toronto (6)