Legislating Love

The Everett Klippert Story

Natalie Meisner

• Publisher: University of Calgary Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781773850818
• eBook ISBN: 9781773850832
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

Aspiring historian Maxine is researching Canadian social policy when she discovers the story of Everett Klippert—the last Canadian man jailed simply for being gay.

Maxine becomes fascinated with Everett's case and with discovering the man beyond the headlines, a beloved Calgary bus driver on the downtown route who took care to brighten the day of his passengers, who played on the family baseball team and was everyone's favorite uncle, and who, when he was confronted by police about his sexuality, refused to lie.

Inspired and captivated, Maxine interviews people who knew Everett Klippert. She connects with a senior at a local assisted living facility she knows only as Handsome, one of Klippert's lovers and perhaps the only person who can truly illuminate the past. At the same time, Maxine is navigating her own new relationship with Métis comedian Tonya.

Legislating Love is a heartwarming play that weaves together past and present in a multi-generational exploration of queer love. It tells the near-forgotten story of one of Canada's quiet heroes and reminds us all that the past must be remembered as we work together for a better future.

Table of contents

• Contents
• I: Legislating Love: The Everett Klippert Story
• Character Background
• The Setup
• Characters
• Setting
• II: Klippert Family Album
• III: Bringing History to Life: Everett Klippert’s Life and Times, and the Staging of Legislating Love
• Our First Step towards Equality: The Life of Everett Klippert
• Through a Mirror Darkly: The Law and Society against Everett Klippert in Legislating Love
• Director’s Notes
• Original Cast, Direction, and Crew
• Acknowledgements