Gens Hellquist

Gens Douglas Hellquist (October 12, 1946 – September 28, 2013) was a Canadian activist and publisher, noted for his prominent role in founding and developing the organized LGBT community in the province of Saskatchewan.

Background Born in North Battleford and raised in Saskatoon, he was working in social services in Saskatoon in 1971. With no visible LGBT community in the city, in that year he placed a classified advertisement in the Vancouver newspaper The Georgia Straight seeking other people interested in forming a gay group.

Saskatoon Gay Action He soon received two responses, and the three men soon established a Saskatoon chapter of the Gay Liberation Front. In Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission v Whatcott, the Supreme Court of Canada ultimately upheld the Tribunal's ruling with respect to two of the pamphlets.

Journalism In 1983, Hellquist established the city's LGBT magazine Perceptions, serving as its first publisher and editor. and served on the boards of the Canadian AIDS Society and the Saskatchewan AIDS Network.

Death Hellquist died on September 28, 2013,