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It was only 50 years ago that a Calgary bus driver was jailed indefinitely simply for being gay, and Nancy Miller, who helped organize Calgary’s first Pride Parade in 1990, said while huge strides have been made, she’s also keenly aware that “the struggle continues.”

“On one hand, we’re so excited we’ve come so far and we have legislated protections under the law,” said Miller, the YYC Legacy Project’s committee chair.

“On the other hand, on an individual basis, people still have to make decisions about their safety — whether they come out to their boss, their family.”

The stories Calgarians shared for the commemoration have been organized in an interactive story map that will now help team members determine where a monument should go and exactly what form it should take.

“We’re really getting the idea people want it to be physical, to involve a place where people can gather or walk by,” Miller said.

“It started out as a really good little idea and it’s now grown into this giant possibility.”

Ward 8 Coun. Evan Woolley, who grew up in a same-sex family and has been instrumental in co-ordinating the project, said having something permanent that recognizes Calgary’s LGBTQ2s+ community — not just a rainbow crosswalk painted on a city street for a few days annually — is critical.

“We have monuments to all sorts of different aspects of our society in our city,” he said.

“Calgary has a super rich (LGBTQ2S+) history — a lot of it really negative and bad, some of it wonderful. What would a monument look like that celebrates, that reflects and that is something meaningful?”

The YYC Legacy Project is made up of groups including Calgary Outlink, Calgary Pride, Calgary Sexual Health Centre and Calgary Gay History Project, and is funded by organizations including the Calgary Foundation and the Alberta government’s Canada 150 project.