{{Short description|Canadian writer and activist (born 1951)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Tim McCaskell | image = File:Tim_McCaskell_Freedom_Flotilla_II.png | alt = | caption = Freedom Flotilla II protest in July 2011 | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1951}} | birth_place = Beaverton, Ontario, Canada | organization = Right to Privacy Committee, AIDS Action Now!, Simon Nkoli Anti-Apartheid Committee, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid | known_for = Gay rights, AIDS, and anti-apartheid activism | notable_works = ''Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism (2016)'' | education = University of Toronto (BA, 1982) | occupation = {{hlist|Educator|writer|activist}} | partner = Richard Fung }}
'''Tim McCaskell''' (born 1951) is a Canadian writer, educator, and activist involved in gay rights, HIV/AIDS, and anti-apartheid advocacy.
McCaskell began his career as a writer for the gay liberation magazine ''The Body Politic.'' After the 1981 police raids on gay bathhouses in Toronto, McCaskell organized protests and legal defense funds with the Right to Privacy Committee.
Diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, McCaskell co-founded AIDS Action Now! which organized for the rights of people with HIV, including treatment access. In 1989, he disrupted the opening ceremony of the International AIDS Conference with other activists to demand a bill of rights for people with HIV. He stated: "On behalf of people with AIDS from Canada and around the world, I would like to officially open this Fifth International Conference on AIDS!"
In the late 1980s, McCaskell advocated for the release of gay anti-apartheid activist Simon Nkoli through the Simon Nkoli Anti-Apartheid Committee. Nearly 20 years later, he co-founded and served as the spokesperson for Queers Against Israeli Apartheid.
For 20 years, McCaskell was an employee of the Toronto District School Board, working on social equity educational programs. After retiring, he wrote ''Race to Equity'' (2005) about his work at the school board. In 2016, he published ''Queer Progress'': ''From Homopobia to Homonationalism'' about his life and the gay rights movement in Canada from 1974 to 2014.
== Early life and education == Born in 1951, McCaskell grew up in Beaverton, Ontario, in a Presbyterian family.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":12">{{Citation |last=Mccaskell |first=Tim |title=Before I Was White I Was Presbyterian |date=2015 |work=Revisiting The Great White North? Reframing Whiteness, Privilege, and Identity in Education (Second Edition) |series=Transgressions |volume=105 |pages=31–39 |editor-last=Lund |editor-first=Darren E. |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-6209-869-5_4 |access-date=December 19, 2024 |place=Rotterdam |publisher=SensePublishers |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-94-6209-869-5_4 |isbn=978-94-6209-869-5 |editor2-last=Carr |editor2-first=Paul R.|url-access=subscription }}</ref> While studying at Carleton University, he became involved in anti-war activism.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":15" /> After a year, he dropped out of college and spent several years traveling through Europe, South America, and India.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=Tim McCaskell fonds |url=https://archeion.ca/tim-mccaskell-fonds-2 |access-date=December 19, 2024 |website=Archeion}}</ref><ref name=":12" />
McCaskell later completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Toronto in 1982<ref name=":9" /> and started working on his Master of Education degree a few years later.<ref name=":13" />
== Career ==
=== Gay rights activism === In 1974, McCaskell moved to Toronto.<ref name=":9" /> He became involved with the Marxist Institute of Toronto, where he focused on gay rights issues<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Janovicek |first=Nancy |date=2018 |title=Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism by Tim McCaskell (review) |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/50/article/700853/pdf |journal=Canadian Journal of History |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=331–332 |doi=10.3138/cjh.ach.53.2.rev36 |issn=2292-8502|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":15" /> and met his long-term partner, Richard Fung.<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=McCaskell |first=Tim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=haUDkAEACAAJ |title=Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism |date=2016 |publisher=Between the Lines |isbn=978-1-77113-278-7 |language=en |chapter=Getting Noticed}}</ref>
Between 1974 and 1986, McCaskell wrote for ''The Body Politic,'' a Canadian gay liberation magazine.<ref name=":9" />''<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Susan K. |date=September 2017 |title=Tim McCaskell, Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/soma.2017.0226 |journal=Somatechnics |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=309–311 |doi=10.3366/soma.2017.0226 |issn=2044-0138|url-access=subscription }}</ref>''<ref name=":5" /> After two gay activists were arrested and convicted for kissing each other in public in 1976, Gay Alliance Toward Equality and ''The Body Politic'' organized a "kiss-in" protest at the same intersection.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=McLeod |first=Donald W. |date=June 27, 2015 |title=Smooching in the streets, mincing at Queen's Park: Gay rights protests of the 1970s |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/smooching-in-the-streets-mincing-at-queen-s-park-gay-rights-protests-of-the-1970s/article_2f3da612-cda8-5da8-847c-194201b1ed1c.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023110531/https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/06/27/smooching-in-the-streets-mincing-at-queens-park-gay-rights-protests-of-the-1970s.html |archive-date=October 23, 2021 |access-date=November 10, 2024 |website=Toronto Star |language=en}}</ref> Twenty people, including McCaskell, participated in the protest.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Winsa |first=Patty |date=June 27, 2015 |title=Before Pride, there was a kiss: Toronto gay activists look back on 1976 protest |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/before-pride-there-was-a-kiss-toronto-gay-activists-look-back-on-1976-protest/article_7cc12272-f019-5573-a3a2-943ce2f8be9b.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003135346/https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/before-pride-there-was-a-kiss-toronto-gay-activists-look-back-on-1976-protest/article_7cc12272-f019-5573-a3a2-943ce2f8be9b.html |archive-date=October 3, 2023 |access-date=November 10, 2024 |website=Toronto Star |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":6" />
On February 5, 1981, McCaskell witnessed Operation Soap, a raid by the Metropolitan Toronto Police against four gay bathhouses that resulted in $35,000 worth of property damage and the arrest of about 300 men.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |date=February 4, 2021 |title=Toronto bathhouse raids: Everything you need to know about the 1981 event |url=https://xtramagazine.com/power/toronto-bathhouse-raids-40-years-194590 |access-date=December 19, 2024 |website=Xtra Magazine |language=en-CA}}</ref> In addition to reporting on the raids for ''The Body Politic'',<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Winsa |first1=Patty |last2=Powell |first2=Betsy |date=June 21, 2016 |title=Toronto police to apologize for 1981 bathhouse raids |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/toronto-police-to-apologize-for-1981-bathhouse-raids/article_34f1d733-883c-57ed-86c3-aa3ca9972d0f.html |access-date=December 19, 2024 |website=Toronto Star |language=en}}</ref> McCaskell helped to organize protests against the police and fundraise money for legal defenses through the newly-formed Right to Privacy Committee (RTPC).<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":9" /> According to McCaskell, the police had expected most people to plead guilty to avoid publicity around their sexual orientation; however, the government lost around 80% of the cases.<ref name=":10" /> McCaskell has said that Operation Soap and the subsequent activism helped to unify Toronto's gay community: “They suddenly realized, ‘Shit, we’re powerful! We can do something about this!’”<ref name=":11" />
Nearly 20 years later, McCaskell assisted in organizing protests after the police raided Pussy Palace, a lesbian bathhouse event. According to an organizer, McCaskell told her to lead the protesters in shouting: "No more shit!", the same slogan shouted by gay men in the Operation Soap protests.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Nash |first1=Catherine Jean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yHVbSAZRrY4C |title=Geographies of Sexualities: Theory, Practices and Politics |last2=Bain |first2=Alison L. |date=2009 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=978-0-7546-7852-6 |editor-last=Browne |editor-first=Kath |pages=163–164 |language=en |chapter=Pussies Declawed: Unpacking the Politics of a Queer Women's Bathhouse Raid |editor-last2=Lim |editor-first2=Jason |editor-last3=Brown |editor-first3=Gavin}}</ref>
=== AIDS activism === McCaskell became aware of AIDS through reading the US news.<ref name=":17">{{Cite news |date=August 9, 2006 |title=A 'lucky' few survived the early days of AIDS |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/a-lucky-few-survived-the-early-days-of-aids/article22504508/ |access-date=December 19, 2024 |work=The Globe and Mail |language=en-CA}}</ref> Although he was not formally diagnosed until testing became available in 1986, he suspected he had HIV as early as 1981.<ref name=":14" /><ref name=":15" /> Since the late 1980s, McCaskell has been involved in HIV/AIDS activism, particularly with AIDS Action Now! (AAN), which he co-founded.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 24, 2018 |title=Phobia about HIV still exists over 30 years after 1st AIDS case in Canada, activists say |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/aids-activism-pride-toronto-35-years-1.4719204 |work=CBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=May 21, 2009 |title=John Greyson opera Fig Trees tackles AIDS activism |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/john-greyson-opera-fig-trees-tackles-aids-activism-1.837270 |work=CBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McCaskell |first=Tim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=haUDkAEACAAJ |title=Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism |date=2016 |publisher=Between the Lines |isbn=978-1-77113-278-7 |language=en |chapter=By Any Means Necessary}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=Rachlis |first=Michael |title=Prescription for Excellence : How Innovation Is Saving Canada's Health Care System |publisher=HarperPerennialCanada |year=2004 |isbn=978-0002006613 |location=Toronto |pages=91–93}}</ref> [[File:Greyson McCaskell 31 May 13.jpg|thumb|Tim McCaskell (R) with John Greyson in 2013]] In their first protest, AAN brought coffins to the front of Toronto General Hospital, which was conducting a double blind clinical trial of pentamidine, a ''Pneumocystis carinii'' medication that had already been approved in the US.<ref name=":16">{{Citation |last=Nguyen |first=Quang |title=7 HIV |date=April 27, 2022 |work=Caring for LGBTQ2S People: A Clinical Guide, Second Edition |pages=213–304 |editor-last=Bourns |editor-first=Amy |url=https://doi.org/10.3138/9781487515249-010 |access-date=December 19, 2024 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |language=en |doi=10.3138/9781487515249-010 |isbn=978-1-4875-1524-9 |editor2-last=Kucharski |editor2-first=Edward|url-access=subscription }}</ref> AAN wanted the Canadian government to approve the drug immediately rather than require sick study participants to take a placebo in a clinical trial for a drug that AAN believed had already been proved effective.<ref name=":14" /> McCaskell has explained that AAN brought coffins because they expected the trial to kill around 10-15 study participants: "You’re going to need these caskets because you’re going to kill our friends."<ref name=":15" /> In another protest, AAN burned an effigy of the health minister.<ref name=":18">{{Cite web |last=Rau |first=Krishna |date=March 12, 2008 |title=AIDS hits a bleak birthday |url=https://xtramagazine.com/power/aids-hits-a-bleak-birthday-16271 |access-date=December 19, 2024 |website=Xtra Magazine |language=en-CA}}</ref> AAN also started bringing pentamidine into Canada from the US.<ref name=":16" /><ref name=":15" /> Eventually the trial was discontinued,<ref name=":15" /> the drug was made available in Canada,<ref name=":14" /> and the government instituted its first National AIDS Strategy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rau |first=Krishna |date=June 14, 2014 |title=2SLGBTQ+ Rights in Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-rights-in-canada |access-date=December 19, 2024 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":18" />
In 1989, McCaskell joined other AIDS activists in disrupting the opening ceremony of the 5th International AIDS Conference in Montreal. Although they had not been invited to speak, they took the stage, chanting protest slogans. As the audience cheered, McCaskell stated: "On behalf of people with AIDS from Canada and around the world, I would like to officially open this Fifth International Conference on AIDS!"<ref>{{Citation |last=Goldberg |first=Ron |title=Boy with the Bullhorn |date=September 6, 2022 |pages=163–178 |access-date=October 29, 2024 |chapter=10 Storming the Ivory Tower |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781531500993-011/pdf?licenseType=restricted |publisher=Fordham University Press |doi=10.1515/9781531500993-011 |isbn=978-1-5315-0099-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Knegt |first=Peter |date=June 20, 2018 |title=10 Canadian LGBTQ stories that need to be made into films or TV series |url=https://www.cbc.ca/arts/10-canadian-lgbtq-stories-that-need-to-be-made-into-films-or-tv-series-1.4713244 |work=CBC}}</ref><ref name=":19" /> The activists read the "Montreal Manifesto", which demanded a bill of rights for people with AIDS, including their right to be involved in decision-making around AIDS.<ref>{{Cite web |title="Montreal Manifesto" · AIDS Activist History Project |url=https://aidsactivisthistory.omeka.net/items/show/67 |access-date=November 10, 2024 |website=AIDS Activist History Project}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rancic |first=Michael |date=March 3, 2023 |title=What the radical response to AIDS can teach us in the age of pandemics ⋆ The Breach |url=https://breachmedia.ca/what-the-radical-response-to-aids-can-teach-us-in-the-age-of-pandemics/ |access-date=November 10, 2024 |website=The Breach |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref name=":19">{{Cite web |last=Pustil |first=RonniLyn |date=July 22, 2022 |title=Setting the Stage |url=https://www.catie.ca/positive-side/setting-the-stage |access-date=October 29, 2024 |website=CATIE - Canada's source for HIV and hepatitis C information}}</ref> Thirty-three years later, McCaskell was formally invited to address the opening ceremony of the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal; during his speech he advocated for conference attendees who had been denied visas by the Canadian government.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zainuddin |first=Alifah |date=July 30, 2022 |title=Activist: 'No More AIDS Conferences In Racist Countries' |url=https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2022/07/activist-no-more-aids-conferences-in-racist-countries/ |work=CodeBlue}}</ref>
In 1989, he appeared in "The Great AZT Debate" on the Toronto Living with AIDS cable access channel. The piece features McCaskell and three other men debating the benefits of AZT, an HIV medication that had recently been developed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Conrad |first=Ryan |date=January 1, 2021 |title=Cable Access Queer: Revisiting Toronto Living With AIDS 1990-91 |url=https://www.academia.edu/46903726 |journal=Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media}}</ref>
Throughout 1997, AAN participated in protests of the government's decision to end its National AIDS Strategy.<ref name=":18" /> At one point, AAN activists left a pile of empty pill bottles at the office of a member of Parliament. McCaskell stated: "These empty pill bottles are as useless to us as empty promises. For the people living in Canada, this is a day of shame."<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Armstrong |first1=Walter |last2=Pustil |first2=Ronnilyn |date=March 1, 1997 |title=Uh-Oh, Canada |url=https://www.poz.com/article/Uh-Oh-Canada-12494-5232 |access-date=November 10, 2024 |website=POZ |language=en}}</ref>
McCaskell's work as an AIDS activist was featured in John Greyson's 2009 documentary opera film ''Fig Trees'' along with South African AIDS activist Zackie Achmat.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wetzel |first=Dominic |date=Summer 2011 |title=HIV Positive: Saints, Sinners, and AIDS protest movements in Fig Trees' Queer Religion |url=https://sfonline.barnard.edu/religion/print_wetzel.htm |access-date=October 29, 2024 |website=The Scholar and Feminist Online}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Longfellow |first=Brenda |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24hnc5 |title=The Perils of Pedagogy: The Works of John Greyson |date=2013 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-4143-6 |pages=475–492 |chapter=Ten Propositions on Operatic Subversions and the “Charge of the Real” in John Greyson’s Fig Trees|jstor=j.ctt24hnc5 }}</ref>
McCaskell has been outspoken against the criminalization of HIV.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=McClelland |first1=Alexander |last2=French |first2=Martin |last3=Mykhalovskiy |first3=Eric |last4=Gagnon |first4=Marilou |last5=Manning |first5=Eli |last6=Peck |first6=Ryan |last7=Clarke |first7=Chad |last8=McCaskell |first8=Tim |date=August 24, 2017 |title=The harms of HIV criminalization: responding to the 'association of HIV diagnosis rates and laws criminalizing HIV exposure in the United States' |url=https://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/citation/2017/08240/the_harms_of_hiv_criminalization__responding_to.17.aspx |journal=AIDS |language=en-US |volume=31 |issue=13 |pages=1899–1900 |doi=10.1097/QAD.0000000000001570 |pmid=28746088 |issn=0269-9370|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 2012, he advocated against requiring people with HIV to disclose their status because he argued that it could lead people to avoid getting tested for HIV and thus cause them to unknowingly spread HIV.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 8, 2012 |title=HIV disclosure to sex partners mulled by top court |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/hiv-disclosure-to-sex-partners-mulled-by-top-court-1.1174736 |work=CBC}}</ref> He later criticized the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling that a person with HIV could be charged with sexual assault if they have condomless sex without disclosing their status while their viral load is not suppressed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Press |first=Jordan |date=October 6, 2012 |title=Court rules failure to disclose HIV not always crime |url=https://www.pressreader.com/canada/saskatoon-starphoenix/20121006/281698316970917?srsltid=AfmBOoo64bs1eHlyPhc2D-8MV-Yd2iDoGJ-Kax8YbKGP7nHj3146fK2N |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=Saskatoon StarPhoenix |via=PressReader}}</ref>
=== Anti-apartheid activism === While serving as international news editor for ''The Body Politic,'' McCaskell read a news item about Simon Nkoli's imprisonment for anti-apartheid activism in South Africa.<ref name=":5" /> McCaskell subsequently co-founded the Simon Nkoli Anti-Apartheid Committee (SNAAC) in 1986.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=McCaskell |first=Tim |date=June 22, 2010 |title=Queers against apartheid: From South Africa to Israel |url=https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/queers-against-apartheid-from-south-africa-to-israel |access-date=November 10, 2024 |website=Canadian Dimension |language=en}}</ref> SNAAC advocated for Nkoli's release, sent him money, and organized his international speaking tour after he was acquitted.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Deb |first=Basuli |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DUVWBQAAQBAJ |title=Transnational Feminist Perspectives on Terror in Literature and Culture |date=November 13, 2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-63211-5 |pages=202–203 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Fung |first=Richard |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24hnc5 |title=The Perils of Pedagogy: The Works of John Greyson |date=2013 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-4143-6 |chapter=John Greyson’s Queer Internationalism|jstor=j.ctt24hnc5 }}</ref> McCaskell and Nkoli regularly exchanged letters, some of which were featured in the short film ''A Moffie Called Simon'' (1986). After Nkoli's death, McCaskell submitted their correspondence to the South African Gay and Lesbian archives.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Houston |first=Andrea |date=March 6, 2011 |title=Reinserting queer names into black history |url=https://xtramagazine.com/power/reinserting-queer-names-into-black-history-8020 |access-date=November 10, 2024 |website=Xtra Magazine |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24hnc5 |title=The Perils of Pedagogy: The Works of John Greyson |date=2013 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-4143-6 |chapter=Filmography|jstor=j.ctt24hnc5 }}</ref>
In 2008, McCaskell co-founded Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, a group of queer pro-Palestinian activists that sought to advocate against what they viewed as Israel's pinkwashing.<ref name=":7" /> McCaskell served as the group's spokesperson.<ref name=":8" /> They marched in the annual Pride Toronto Parade over the course of several years, sparking controversy and leading some local politicians to threaten to pull funding for the event.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Spurr |first=Ben |date=March 7, 2015 |title=How Queers Against Israel Apartheid changed the course of Pride - NOW Magazine |url=https://nowtoronto.com/news/legacy-of-queers-against-israel-apartheid-has-nothing-to-do/ |access-date=October 29, 2024 |website=NOW Toronto}}</ref> In a 2010 article in ''Canadian Dimension'', McCaskell drew parallels between his activism for Palestine and South Africa and compared Israeli apartheid to South African apartheid: "South Africa portrayed itself as a multi-party liberal democracy in a region of backward authoritarian states, as does Israel... South Africa cast itself as the victim surrounded by a continent of savage and dangerous enemies, as does Israel."<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Birch-Bayley |first=Nicole |date=December 19, 2019 |title=A Queer Word: Linguistic Reclamation through Political Activism in the Case of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) |url=https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/elhdc/article/view/33456 |journal=The English Languages: History, Diaspora, Culture |language=en |volume=5 |pages=16–33 |issn=1929-5855}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> The group disbanded in 2015.<ref name=":7" />
=== Education and writing career === Beginning in 1981, McCaskell worked for the Toronto District School Board on various social equity issues, especially anti-racism. Initially, he worked as a facilitator for an anti-racist camp for high school students.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":12" /> For most of his education career, he worked for the Equal Opportunity Office to develop and implement equity-related programs, support groups, and materials.<ref name=":9" /> In 2001, McCaskell retired.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=PEARCE |first=TRALEE |date=December 8, 2013 |title=Growing old with HIV: the long-term care challenge |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/growing-old-with-hiv-an-unexpected-long-term-care-challenge/article15803366/ |access-date=November 1, 2024 |work=The Globe and Mail |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref name=":10" /> A few years later he published ''Race to Equity'' (2005) about his work with the Toronto School Board.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last=Veinotte |first=Cheryl |date=2007 |title=Review of Race to Equity: Disrupting Educational Inequality |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23767253 |journal=The Journal of Educational Thought |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=93–97 |doi=10.55016/ojs/jet.v41i1.52537 |jstor=23767253 |issn=0022-0701|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":10" />
In 2016, McCaskell published ''Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism''. The book covers both autobiographical material and the history of the gay rights movement in Canada between 1974 and 2014.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mulé |first=Nick J. |date=2017 |title=Tim McCaskell, Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism (Toronto: Between the Lines, 2016). |url=https://lh.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/lh/article/view/39425/35715 |journal=Left History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Historical Inquiry and Debate |volume=21 |issue=1 |doi=10.25071/1913-9632.39425 |issn=1913-9632|doi-access=free }}</ref> McCaskell has written for ''The Body Politic'' and ''Xtra Magazine'', two Canadian LGBTQ publications.''<ref name=":0" />''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tim McCaskell {{!}} Xtra Magazine |url=https://xtramagazine.com/contributor/tim-mccaskell |access-date=November 10, 2024 |language=en-CA}}</ref>
== Personal life == McCaskell came out as gay in 1974.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stone |first=Adam |date=September 15, 2019 |title="Try to Lay Low": Growing Up Gay in Pre-1969 Canada |url=https://teachmag.com/archives/11211 |access-date=December 19, 2024 |website=Education for Today and Tomorrow {{!}} L'Education Aujourd'hui et Demain |language=en-US}}</ref> A year later he met his longterm partner, Richard Fung, at the Marxist Institute of Toronto.<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Scateni |first=Ren |date=September 8, 2021 |title=Video Artist Richard Fung Reveals the Hidden Histories of Queer Sexuality and the Asian Diaspora |url=https://artreview.com/video-artist-richard-fung-reveals-the-hidden-histories-of-queer-sexuality-and-the-asian-diaspora/ |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=Art Review |language=en}}</ref>
In 1981, McCaskell developed health issues which he suspected were caused by HIV/AIDS and enrolled in an HIV-related research study at the University of Toronto. Around 1986, diagnostic testing became available, and the research study confirmed he had HIV.<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":14" /><ref name=":15">{{Cite web |last1=Shotwell |first1=Alexis |last2=Kinsman |first2=Gary |date=November 14, 2014 |title=Tim McCaskell Interview |url=https://www.aidsactivisthistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/aahp_-_timmccaskell.pdf |website=AIDS Activist History Project }}</ref> After McCaskell observed the side effects of AZT,<ref name=":15" /> he initially decided not to take it, against his doctor's advice.<ref name=":14" /> He initiated HIV treatment in 1992 after his CD4 count decreased.<ref name=":14" /> Having lived with HIV for several decades, his story has been included in articles about HIV long-term survivors.<ref name=":17" /><ref name=":1" /> Due to his health, he retired from his job in education in 2001.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":10" />
== Selected works ==
* ''Race to Equity: Disrupting Educational Inequality'' (2005) * “Whatever Happened to Anti-Racist Education?” ''Our Schools / Our Selves'', vol. 19, no. 3, Spring 2010, pp. 31–45. * "Pride: A Political History" in ''Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer'' (2017) * ''Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism'' (2016)
== External links ==
* [https://digitalexhibitions.arquives.ca/exhibits/show/qltp/item/1154 Interview with Tim McCaskell for the Queer Liberation Project (2011)] * [https://digitalexhibitions.arquives.ca/exhibits/show/nancy-nicol/item/648 Interview with Tim McCaskell on the Toronto Bath Raids (2000)]
== References == {{reflist}} Category:Canadian LGBTQ rights activists Category:1951 births Category:Canadian gay writers Category:People with HIV/AIDS Category:Canadian HIV/AIDS activists Category:Canadian activists for Palestinian solidarity Category:Canadian anti-apartheid activists Category:Canadian educators Category:Living people
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:McCaskell, Tim}}