Prairie Obscenities: Feminism, Moral Conservatism, and Queer Suppression in Canadian Law

Kyler Chittick situates the evolution of Canadian obscenity law within the regional context of sex-related moral panic in early 1980s Alberta. While Towne Cinema Theatres, Ltd. v. The Queen (1985) and R. v. Butler (1992) are often treated as discrete milestones in obscenity jurisprudence, he argues that both emerged from a provincial climate marked by moral conservatism, rights-based legal challenges, and intensified anxieties about sexuality. Drawing on the controversies surrounding screenings of Dracula Sucks (1978) and Caligula (1979), he shows how federal-provincial tensions over censorship converged with broader struggles among civil libertarians, religious conservatives, and feminists. Alberta’s distinctive legal and political climate—exemplified by the Pisces bathhouse raid (1981) and local feminist efforts paralleling U.S. anti-pornography ordinances—has been overlooked in accounts of obscenity law. By recovering this context, he demonstrates how Towne Cinema informed LEAF’s intervention in R. v. Butler and how a “feminist” legal framework, initially mobilized against straight pornography, came to reinforce conservative sexual morality and disproportionately target queer sexual expression. Ultimately, the article traces how the queerness of Dracula Sucks—its ambiguity, excess, and resistance to fixed identity—was already subject to institutional and industry scrutiny, prefiguring Butler’s contradictions and the enduring anti-queer legacy of Canadian obscenity law.

Speaker Bio:

Kyler Chittick (he/him) is a Ph.D. Candidate (ABD) in the Department of Political Science and a Graduate Principal Instructor in Women's & Gender Studies at the University of Alberta, where he won 2022 and 2024 Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarships. He also teaches in the women's studies and political science programs at NorQuest College. His research interests land at the intersections of queer theory and critical sexuality studies, particularly as they pertain to law and social policy, film and media history and theory, contemporary political theory, and continental philosophy.

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Date: Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Time: 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Location: Roundhouse (Allard Hall) | MacEwan University
All are welcome to attend. ASL interpreter available upon request. 

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Queer Horizons: A Speaker Series Exploring 2SLGBTQ+ Research and Community Work 

The Queer Horizons speaker series, presented by the MacEwan Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity, profiles research and community work focused on 2SLGBTQ+ identities, issues, and topics. All events are free and open to everyone on campus and in the community. 

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2SLGBTQIA+ History Month Canada

2SLGBTQIA+ History Month Canada celebrates history and achievements of queer Canadians. @2SLGBTQIAHistoryMonthCanada on instagram