By Sarah Thompson
Written in Spring 2023
Posted August 11, 2025 to coincide with the official launch of the Queer Life in Windsor and Essex County: A Living History portal
My name is Sarah Thompson and I worked as a research assistant for the Archives and Special Collections team of the University of Windsor’s Leddy Library for two and a half years. During my time there, I worked alongside the Windsor-Essex Rainbow Alliance (WERA) to create an online curated exhibit telling the story of Windsor’s queer history. As a bisexual woman, I was excited to share this rich local history with the rest of the community. I knew that the story we told would, for the most part, not be a positive one, but to me that made it all the more important to tell.
One of the most moving stories that I researched during this project was the story of local transgender woman Sarah Carrol. Carrol lived an incredibly difficult life before she discovered she was transgender, from dealing with an abusive, alcoholic father, to being bullied by her brothers and schoolmates, to drug abuse. Things did not come easy for Carrol, yet she persisted. I admired her strength when reading about her transition from male to female, and her eventual return home to Windsor after fleeing for years to avoid the torment.
After being elected to a local riding association of the Reform Party of Canada, Carroll was publicly open about her transition – a decision that led her family to stop visiting her. Nevertheless, she continued to try to educate the public, such as by being featured in an article detailing her life and her fight for transgender people’s rights. The public reacted horribly to her article, and the verbal attacks became so strong that she fled from Windsor to Vancouver less than a month after the article was released.
I was devastated to learn that not only had Carrol passed away in 1997 from AIDS, but the disease also made her final gender-affirming surgery impossible. What upset me more, though, was the heinous way the Windsor Star wrote about her after her death. The entire obituary article on her death used her deadname, and only referred to her with male pronouns. I was astounded: they could not respect her enough in death to even use her chosen name, despite featuring an image of her with long hair and wearing makeup.
The newspaper’s article interviewing Carrol only a few years earlier had clearly acknowledged her as a woman, despite the fact that she had not yet completed her surgeries. Yet in the article about her death the author and every individual who made a comment, including her brothers, referred to her as a man. None of her family members even attended her funeral, and one brother stated he was happy that her “second family” of BC friends had taken care of those preparations.
I searched for hours in my spare time trying to find Sarah Carrol’s grave. It ate away at me to think that she could be buried under a name that she despised, and I hated to think of how she would feel to see the way she was discussed after her death. I could find no public information on a headstone for either a Sarah Carrol or a Morris Gibb (her deadname) in Vancouver, where she was buried.
I still think of Sarah Carrol often, and the millions of other people that have met similar fates to her. During my work on this project my heart ached each time I read a story of a gay bashing or someone sharing their homophobic sentiments – but that is why this digital exhibit is so important. The Queer Life in Windsor and Essex County: A Living History portal online allows individuals to honour the fights that people like Sarah Carrol dedicated their lives to and help make sure their sacrifices are not forgotten.
This exhibit also allows us to recognize how blessed we queer people are today. Even less than 30 years ago, transgender individuals like Sarah Carrol were treated with so little dignity and respect -- but now transgender actresses can have starring roles in television shows as popular as “Euphoria” and “Orange is the New Black.”
I’m honoured to have been given the opportunity to bring a voice back to Sarah Carrol and to have helped bring awareness to the queer history of the Windsor area that is lying right under our noses. Queer representation is now more important than ever and I hope this website can show young, queer people today that there are thousands of citizens throughout Windsor’s history who have worked to make the city an accepting and supportive place for them to flourish.
I’m so thankful to the Archives and Special Collections unit at the University of Windsor for my time there, and to everyone I worked with along the way. I’m particularly thankful for Dr. Sarah Glassford and Scott Cowan, my supervisors and supporters throughout this endeavour: I could not have done this without them. Together we have created a beautiful beginning to this living history that I am excited to check on for updates as they continue this work.
If you are interested in queer history, or if you don’t think that a little city like Windsor could have a major impact on queer rights today, let us prove you wrong! Head over to the exhibit and check it out yourself: collections.uwindsor.ca/omeka-s/queer-life-windsor-essex .
Sources:
Craig, Susanne. “SHE: ‘I’ve always known I should be a woman.’” The Windsor Star (February 6, 1992): C1.
Craig, Susanne. “Transsexual elected to Reform’s board.” The Windsor Star (January 22, 1992): A3.
Crawford, Blair. “Plea for tolerance silenced by AIDS.” The Windsor Star (May 15, 1997): A8.
[Editorial] “People and attitudes.” The Windsor Star (January 25, 1992): A6.
---------------------------------------
Sarah Thompson is a graduate of the University of Windsor, having earned her concurrent Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Education degrees in 2023. In 2021-2023 she worked as a paid research assistant for the Leddy Library Archives & Special Collections. This position, part of an ongoing collaboration between Leddy Library and the Windsor-Essex Rainbow Alliance (WERA), was made possible by a seed grant from the University of Windsor’s Office of the President.
Written in Spring 2023
Posted August 11, 2025 to coincide with the official launch of the Queer Life in Windsor and Essex County: A Living History portal
My name is Sarah Thompson and I worked as a research assistant for the Archives and Special Collections team of the University of Windsor’s Leddy Library for two and a half years. During my time there, I worked alongside the Windsor-Essex Rainbow Alliance (WERA) to create an online curated exhibit telling the story of Windsor’s queer history. As a bisexual woman, I was excited to share this rich local history with the rest of the community. I knew that the story we told would, for the most part, not be a positive one, but to me that made it all the more important to tell.
One of the most moving stories that I researched during this project was the story of local transgender woman Sarah Carrol. Carrol lived an incredibly difficult life before she discovered she was transgender, from dealing with an abusive, alcoholic father, to being bullied by her brothers and schoolmates, to drug abuse. Things did not come easy for Carrol, yet she persisted. I admired her strength when reading about her transition from male to female, and her eventual return home to Windsor after fleeing for years to avoid the torment.
After being elected to a local riding association of the Reform Party of Canada, Carroll was publicly open about her transition – a decision that led her family to stop visiting her. Nevertheless, she continued to try to educate the public, such as by being featured in an article detailing her life and her fight for transgender people’s rights. The public reacted horribly to her article, and the verbal attacks became so strong that she fled from Windsor to Vancouver less than a month after the article was released.
I was devastated to learn that not only had Carrol passed away in 1997 from AIDS, but the disease also made her final gender-affirming surgery impossible. What upset me more, though, was the heinous way the Windsor Star wrote about her after her death. The entire obituary article on her death used her deadname, and only referred to her with male pronouns. I was astounded: they could not respect her enough in death to even use her chosen name, despite featuring an image of her with long hair and wearing makeup.
The newspaper’s article interviewing Carrol only a few years earlier had clearly acknowledged her as a woman, despite the fact that she had not yet completed her surgeries. Yet in the article about her death the author and every individual who made a comment, including her brothers, referred to her as a man. None of her family members even attended her funeral, and one brother stated he was happy that her “second family” of BC friends had taken care of those preparations.
I searched for hours in my spare time trying to find Sarah Carrol’s grave. It ate away at me to think that she could be buried under a name that she despised, and I hated to think of how she would feel to see the way she was discussed after her death. I could find no public information on a headstone for either a Sarah Carrol or a Morris Gibb (her deadname) in Vancouver, where she was buried.
I still think of Sarah Carrol often, and the millions of other people that have met similar fates to her. During my work on this project my heart ached each time I read a story of a gay bashing or someone sharing their homophobic sentiments – but that is why this digital exhibit is so important. The Queer Life in Windsor and Essex County: A Living History portal online allows individuals to honour the fights that people like Sarah Carrol dedicated their lives to and help make sure their sacrifices are not forgotten.
This exhibit also allows us to recognize how blessed we queer people are today. Even less than 30 years ago, transgender individuals like Sarah Carrol were treated with so little dignity and respect -- but now transgender actresses can have starring roles in television shows as popular as “Euphoria” and “Orange is the New Black.”
I’m honoured to have been given the opportunity to bring a voice back to Sarah Carrol and to have helped bring awareness to the queer history of the Windsor area that is lying right under our noses. Queer representation is now more important than ever and I hope this website can show young, queer people today that there are thousands of citizens throughout Windsor’s history who have worked to make the city an accepting and supportive place for them to flourish.
I’m so thankful to the Archives and Special Collections unit at the University of Windsor for my time there, and to everyone I worked with along the way. I’m particularly thankful for Dr. Sarah Glassford and Scott Cowan, my supervisors and supporters throughout this endeavour: I could not have done this without them. Together we have created a beautiful beginning to this living history that I am excited to check on for updates as they continue this work.
If you are interested in queer history, or if you don’t think that a little city like Windsor could have a major impact on queer rights today, let us prove you wrong! Head over to the exhibit and check it out yourself: collections.uwindsor.ca/omeka-s/queer-life-windsor-essex .
Sources:
Craig, Susanne. “SHE: ‘I’ve always known I should be a woman.’” The Windsor Star (February 6, 1992): C1.
Craig, Susanne. “Transsexual elected to Reform’s board.” The Windsor Star (January 22, 1992): A3.
Crawford, Blair. “Plea for tolerance silenced by AIDS.” The Windsor Star (May 15, 1997): A8.
[Editorial] “People and attitudes.” The Windsor Star (January 25, 1992): A6.
---------------------------------------
Sarah Thompson is a graduate of the University of Windsor, having earned her concurrent Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Education degrees in 2023. In 2021-2023 she worked as a paid research assistant for the Leddy Library Archives & Special Collections. This position, part of an ongoing collaboration between Leddy Library and the Windsor-Essex Rainbow Alliance (WERA), was made possible by a seed grant from the University of Windsor’s Office of the President.
Connect with your library