Opened on March 20, 1970, Club Carousel was Calgary’s very first gay bar and a foundational sanctuary for Western Canada’s LGBTQ+ community. Co-founded by activist Lois Szabo and a dedicated group of volunteers, it operated as a non-profit, members-only social club located in a basement at 1207 1st Street SW. Though it eventually closed its doors in 1978, Club Carousel laid the groundwork for Calgary’s modern gay rights movement and remains a highly celebrated landmark in Canadian queer history.
This listing was uploaded by Amber Collins, Special Projects Assistant at the National Trust for Canada, on Monday July 22, 2026.
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Photo Credits: Canada Post
