{{Short description|Lesbian activist from Windsor, Ontario}} {{Infobox person | name = Maureen Irwin | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1934|10|07}} | birth_place = Windsor, Ontario, Canada | death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|07|30|1934|10|07}} | death_place = Calgary, Alberta, Canada | spouse = {{marriage|James Ronald Warren |1956|1984|end=divorced}} |partner = Sheryl McInnes (ca. 1990– ) }}
'''Maureen Estella Ruth Irwin''' (October 7, 1934 – July 30, 2002) was a lesbian activist in Edmonton, Alberta who advocated for Edmonton's 2SLGBTQ+ community. Irwin was actively involved with many organizations throughout her life including the Girl Guides of Canada, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA), Womonspace, Common Woman Books, the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Edmonton Board of Health, and the Edmonton chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
==Life and career==
Maureen Irwin was born on October 7, 1934, in Windsor, Ontario, to Estella and William Irwin.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Barlow |first=Eliza |date=6 August 2002 |title=Maureen Irwin fought for society's underdogs |pages=B3 |no-pp=y |work=Edmonton Journal}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=2002-08-03 |title=Irwin – Maureen Estella Ruth |pages=D17 |no-pp=y |work=Calgary Herald}}</ref> She joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1953 and was stationed near Montreal.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Korinek |first=Valerie Joyce |title=Prairie fairies: A history of queer communities and people in western Canada, 1930-1985 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2018 |isbn=9780802095312 |pages=222–225 |language=en}}</ref> Irwin met James Ronald Warren in 1955, marrying soon after in 1956.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Moysa |first=Marilyn |date=1993-03-02 |title=Coming Out |pages=C7 |no-pp=y |work=Edmonton Journal}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> The pair welcomed two daughters and two sons before moving to CFB Cold Lake, Alberta in 1965.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":9" /> Irwin was active in the community there, including holding various leadership positions in the local Girl Guides chapter.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" />
In 1974, the family moved to Edmonton where Maureen was employed by the Edmonton Journal as a librarian until 1982.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> Irwin separated from her husband in 1978, coming out as a lesbian in 1981.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":9" /> Their divorce was finalized in 1984.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2015-01-29 |title=Maureen Irwin |url=https://edmontonqueerhistoryproject.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/maureen-irwin/ |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=Edmonton Queer History Project}}</ref>
After leaving the Edmonton Journal, Irwin began working at the Boyle Street Co-op, now known as Boyle Street Community Services, finding housing for Edmonton's inner city residents.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Phair |first=Michael |date=2022-07-30 |title=Maureen Irwin – Fierce Lesbian |url=https://yegqueerhistory.ca/maureen-irwin-fierce-lesbian/ |access-date=10 June 2023 |website=Rainbow Story Hub}}</ref><ref name=":6" /> In 1986, Irwin was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease she dealt with in addition to a prior diagnosis of diabetes.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" />
In the early 1990s, Irwin met Sheryl McInnes at a friend's party and fell in love.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":0" /> The two shared their lives together until McInnes died unexpectedly from a heart attack on October 5, 1998.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haddon |first=Linda P |date=1999-06-01 |title=Sheryl Anne McInnes (1943–1998) |doi=10.1375/twin.2.3.181 |journal=Twin Research and Human Genetics |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=181–182 |via=CambridgeCore}}</ref> After McInnes' death, Irwin moved to Calgary, Alberta to live closer to her grandchildren and two sons.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":1" />
==Volunteering and activism== After moving to Edmonton and working at the Boyle Street Co-op, now known as Boyle Street Community Services, Irwin became a social activist in 1982.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The Pisces Bathhouse Raid, a 1981 police raid on a gay bathhouse frequented by the Edmonton's gay community,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Short |first=Dylan |date=2021-05-31 |title='Shattered lives': A look back at the Edmonton police raid of Pisces Spa bathhouse four decades ago |pages=A7 |no-pp=y |work=Edmonton Sun}}</ref> motivated Irwin to become a "gay and lesbian activist".<ref name=":5" /> Irwin's efforts to support the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Edmonton included donating to the Privacy Defense Fund, in support of those arrested following the Pisces Bathhouse Raid, actively participating in the Edmonton chapter of the Gay Alliance Towards Equality (GATE) as well as its successor organization, Gay and Lesbian Awareness (GALA).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-24 |title=Womonspace |url=https://www.edmontonqueerhistoryproject.ca/s/Womonspace-031423.pdf |access-date=12 June 2023 |website=Edmonton Queer History Project}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" /> As a part of GALA, Irwin actively advocated for the Alberta government to include sexual orientation in its Individual Rights Protection Act, now the Alberta Human Rights Act,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-05-24 |title=Alberta Human Rights Commission Marks 50th Anniversary |url=https://albertahumanrights.ab.ca/50for50/Pages/text.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207184724/https://albertahumanrights.ab.ca/50for50/Pages/text.aspx |archive-date=2023-02-07 |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=Alberta Human Rights Commission}}</ref> for over a decade.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jimenez |first=Marina |date=1991-01-21 |title=Gays fighting an uphill battle |pages=C1 |no-pp=y |work=Edmonton Journal}}</ref> GALA also organized various Edmonton Pride activities.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2023-03-21 |title=Centennial Plaza |url=https://www.edmontonqueerhistoryproject.ca/s/Centennial-Plaza-032123.pdf |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=Edmonton Queer History Project}}</ref> In 1991, Irwin worked together with Michael Phair and others as part of their GALA duties to host the first Pride parade in Edmonton.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" /> The parade began at McIntyre Park, near Whyte Avenue and was attended by less than 30 people.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" />
Around the same time that Irwin was involved with GATE, she also joined Common Woman Books, a feminist bookstore in Edmonton, and played a role in the creation of Womonspace, a recreational and social group for lesbians.<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |date=2002-09-01 |title=Being There with Maureen Irwin |pages=12 |work=Times .10 Magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/times-10-2002-09/page/12/mode/2up |access-date=2023-06-14}}</ref><ref name=":6" /> Irwin was an active member of Womonspace and went on to become the membership coordinator of the organization in 1993.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1993-11-01 |title=Womonspace Annual General Meeting |pages=5 |work=Womonspace News |url=https://archive.org/details/womonspace-1993-11/page/4/mode/2up |access-date=2023-06-14}}</ref><ref name=":9" />
When Michael Phair ran for Edmonton City Councillor in 1992, Irwin volunteered as his campaign office manager.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":6" /> Following Phair's win, Irwin stayed on for a few months to run Phair's City Hall office.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In 1995, Phair ran for a second term in office with Irwin running his campaign once more, promoting Phair's bid for reelection as "a way to silence the critics".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Herzog |first=Lawrence |date=1995-09-29 |title=Michael Phair: Forging New Alliances |pages=3 |work=Times .10 Magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/times-10-1995-09/page/2/mode/2up |access-date=2023-06-20}}</ref><ref name=":6" />
In the 1990s, Irwin and her partner, Sheryl McInnes, challenged the heteronormativity of greeting cards by stocking "lesbian and feminist cards" at their mail-order bookstore, Woman to Womon Books.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Marcie J |date=1994-08-20 |title=What's in the cards |pages=A10 |no-pp=y |work=Edmonton Journal}}</ref> Irwin and McInnes also spoke at a 1996 meeting in Edmonton, dubbed 'Alberta Through the Eyes of Women', to leverage Canada's signature on the Beijing Declaration to improve the lives of women in Alberta.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goyette |first=Linda |date=1996-05-12 |title=Alberta through the eyes of women |pages=F8 |no-pp=y |work=Edmonton Journal}}</ref>
Throughout her life, Irwin also spent time volunteering for the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Edmonton Board of Health, and the Edmonton chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=Rosa |date=1993-06-24 |title=Humble volunteers get thanks |pages=B3 |no-pp=y |work=Edmonton Journal}}</ref>
==Awards== In an interview for Womonspace News, Irwin noted that she felt the most meaningful award she received in her life was the Silver Thank You Badge from the Girl Guides of Canada as "it can only be given by people you work with in Guides".<ref name=":5" /> Irwin received both the Silver Thank You Badge and an Award of Merit from the CFB Cold Lake's Community Council for her volunteer work in 1974.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":6" />
In 1993, Irwin was recognized for her 27 years of volunteer service with the Canada Volunteer Award Medal and Certificate of Honour.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Laurel |date=1993-04-30 |title=Tireless volunteer to revieve award |pages=B4 |no-pp=y |work=Edmonton Journal}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Pratch |first=Lindy |date=Jan 1999 |title=Maureen Irwin |pages=4–5 |work=Womonspace News |url=https://archive.org/details/womonspace-1999-01/page/4/mode/2up?q=maureen+irwin |access-date=10 June 2023}}</ref> Edmonton's first openly gay city councillor, Michael Phair, was one of the people to nominate Irwin for the award.<ref name=":3" /> She was also nominated for the YWCA Tribute to Women Award (Public Affairs and Communications) for her work with the gay community in Edmonton.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />
At the 1993 Gay and Lesbian Pride event in Edmonton, the Maureen Irwin Pride Award was created in honour of Irwin's contributions to the community.<ref name=":2" /> Patricia Warren, Irwin's daughter, presented her mother with the inaugural Maureen Irwin Award for Community Service.<ref name=":0" />
==Death and legacy== On July 30, 2002, Maureen Irwin in died in Calgary, Alberta after a battle with abdominal cancer.<ref name=":0" /> She left behind her children, grandchildren, and friends.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />
== References == <references />
== External links ==
* [https://archive.org/details/edmonton-queer-history?and%5B%5D=subject%3A%22Womonspace+News%22 Womonspace Newsletter] on the Internet Archive
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Maureen}} Category:2002 deaths Category:1934 births Category:20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people Category:21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Category:Canadian LGBTQ rights activists Category:Activists from Alberta Category:People with multiple sclerosis Category:Canadian activists with disabilities Category:Royal Canadian Air Force personnel Category:Canadian lesbians Category:Canadian women civil rights activists