In this episode of Late in ’88, Bronwin Parks and Elinor Svoboda sit down with Tegan Quinn of iconic alternative band Tegan and Sara to time-travel back to their shared high school years in late-’90s Calgary. Tegan talks about writing the memoir High School, uncovering secret journals that revealed just how differently the sisters experienced queerness, ambition, and teenage chaos.
Together, they unpack what it meant to grow up queer and gender nonconforming in conservative Calgary: unstructured days on transit, drugs and rave culture, the safety of moving in packs, and the sharp class divides between neighborhoods and schools. It’s a tender look at identity and the myth of the gay high school experience – and how those years shaped one of Canada’s most iconic musical careers.
Episode Resources:
Tegan and Sara Foundation [organization]
High School, a memoir by Tegan and Sara [book]
For a complete list of 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations and resources visit: https://latein88.com/resources/
Distributed by Women in Media Network
https://www.womeninmedia.network/