Michael Albert Phair (born August 1950) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, who served on

Edmonton City Council The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton currently has one mayor and twelve city councillors. Elections are held every four years. The most recent was held in 2021, and the next is in 20 ...

from 1992 until 2007. He was the first openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

elected politician in the province of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, as well as one of the earliest openly gay elected officials anywhere in Canada."Gay politicians come out of the closet and into the cabinet". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', November 13, 2009. In 1981, Phair was one of 56 men arrested by the

Edmonton Police Service The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is the municipal police force for the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The current chief of the EPS is Dale McFee. The service has three deputy chiefs two sworn members and a civilian member. Chad Tawfik is r ...

during a raid by the morality control unit on the Pisces Health Spa, a

gay bathhouse A gay bathhouse, also known as a gay sauna or a gay steambath (uncommonly known as a gay spa), is a commercial space for gay, bisexual, and other men to have sex with men. In gay slang, a bathhouse may be called just "the baths", "the sauna", ...

. He was convicted, but then appealed and had his record scrubbed. Following his retirement from elected politics, Phair has continued to be active in the community, including as a board member of

Edmonton Pride The Edmonton Pride Festival (commonly known as Edmonton Pride) was an LGBTQ2S+ pride festival, held annually in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...

with the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services (iSMSS) in the Faculty of Education at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

. In June 2015, the

Edmonton Public School Board Edmonton Public Schools (legally Edmonton School Division) is the largest public school division in Edmonton, the second largest in Alberta, and the sixth largest in Canada. The division offers a variety of alternative and special needs programs, ...

honoured Phair by naming a school after him citing his work with HIV Edmonton and Edmonton Homeward Trust. The school will serve students in Grades 7 through 9 with a capacity of approximately 900 students. The school opened in 2017 in the Webber Greens neighbourhood. PhairIveson27409197805 3937b46440 o

On February 25, 2016, Phair was named Chairman of the

Board of Governors. On August 16, 2019, Phair was replaced with the appointment of Kate Chisholm by the UCP government. In recognition of his community contributions, Phair received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Alberta on June 8, 2022.

References

External links

Michael Phair profile Edmonton City CouncilMichael Phair
1950 births Living people Edmonton city councillors LGBT municipal councillors in Canada Gay politicians People from Loyal, Wisconsin Towson University alumni Canadian gay men 20th-century Canadian politicians 20th-century Canadian LGBT people 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian LGBT people {{Alberta-politician-stub