Erin Gallagher-Cohoon

Current: PhD candidate, Department of History, Queen's University

Previous work completed in Department of History, University of Saskatchewan: "Dirty Little Secrets: Prostitution and the United States Public Health Service's Sexually Transmitted Disease Inoculation Study in Guatemala" (2016), awarded the Graduate Thesis Award (MA) for Humanities and Fine Arts

Erin Gallagher-Cohoon grew up in Edmonton, Alberta in a queer family. After completing an M.A. in History specializing in histories of medicine and human experimentation, she decided to turn the historical gaze on her own life, asking: Where do families like mine fit in the narrative of Canadian history? Why are queer families perceived to be a solely modern phenomenon? And how might we highlight the vibrant (and at times painful) histories of children raised, nurtured and lovingly connected to queer parents and queer communities? Her PhD research examines the history of queer parenting and queer family formation in Canada, questioning the cultural and legal constructions of the categories of 'family' and 'parenthood.'