Calgary LGBT community pushes to save one of 3 remaining gay bars

The red neon sign for The Backlot lights a dark corridor that stretches about about six paces off 10th Street S.W. in Calgary's Beltline neighbourhood.

The literal hole-in-the-wall entrance opens up to a gay bar — one of three that remain in the city — that has been in that location for nearly three decades.

"It's become a like a hub, like a gay Cheers in Calgary," said Mark Campbell, the bar's owner. The establishment has been home to countless drag shows, drinks among friends, fundraisers and other community events over the years.

But the establishment's lease is up at the end of November, and the building's future is in question as developer Truman Homes has proposed an 18-story mixed-use tower on the block.

That's why Calgary lawyer and former Alberta Liberal Party leader David Khan started the SAVE The Backlot Bar campaign. The effort is inviting residents to comment on the redevelopment proposal, which will close Friday.

"Today there's threats of violence against drag shows at Olympic Plaza and elsewhere," he said. "So, obviously, our community is still under threat, and we still require these safe spaces where things like drag shows can happen."

The campaign encourages the community to oppose the proposal, arguing the community can't afford to lose another space.

It also states the building itself has historical roots, as it was built by former Mayor Thomas Underwood as the Calgary Gas Company Workshop in 1907. According to the campaign, it's one of the last remaining wood-framed, wood-clad commercial buildings in the area.

The renderings of the mixed-used tower show what appears to be the historic facade of the bar, which will be preserved, but the rest of the building will likely be no more, Campbell said. The developers have offered up space in the new building for the bar to reoccupy when complete, but he worries about the time in between.

"That's also three to four years down the road," he said. "I can't just shut the doors for a now and hope that I have a community that that will come back."

Campbell is looking for a temporary spot in the meantime but says it would be best for the bar to stay where it is.

The Beltline BIA says the developer should allow all the businesses on the block to stay in their locations at least until construction on the development begins.

"To see us kind of get rid of any of our arts and culture in any of our inclusive event spaces. It's silly, in my opinion," said Adrian Urlacher, the Beltline BIA executive director.

The BIA is going to write a letter to the local councillor, Courtney Walcott, and the mayor's office in support of the businesses on the block whose leases have been terminated.

The preservation of such spaces should be written into development proposals and every effort should be made to preserve them, Urlacher added.

CBC News reached out to the developer Truman Homes and Walcott but did not receive a response.