Wilde ’82: A Conference of Some Importance

The Wilde ’82 history conference took place at Toronto Metropolitan University (then Ryerson Polytechnical Institute) from June 30 – July 3, 1982. This conference brought together academics, community historians, and activists whose work was vital to the development of queer studies. It served as one of the earliest manifestations of a new school of gay history that saw homosexuality not as a fixed biological phenomenon, but as a modern social construct.

This website—developed by faculty and students at TMU alongside conference organizer Alan Miller—celebrates and chronicles Wilde ’82 and the new directions in LGBTQ2+ studies that developed in its wake.