MCC Toronto | MCC: A Gay Church, LGBTQ Church, Human Rights Church & More

Contents:

• ANGLIN CHURCH OTTAWA TO NTUE PERFORMG GAY MARRIAG
• A COMPREHENSIVE GAY GUI TO OTTAWA, ONTAR
• GAY CATHOLICS CHRISTIANS AND ALLI
• ANTI-GAY MSAGE CATHOLIC PARISH BULLET SPARKS OUTRAGE

ANGLIN CHURCH OTTAWA TO NTUE PERFORMG GAY MARRIAG

Chor gai d’Ottawa Gay Men’s Chos is a lol, pennt, charable anizatn, the missn of which is to perform qualy choral mic and to ntribute to the LGBTQ muny. The chos achiev s missn by: providg an opportuny for gay men to affirm their inty providg mutual support for members promotg LGBTQ artists and their works broang mil tast velopg mil skills buildg a bilgual repertoire -operatg wh other elements of the LGBTQ muny to foster a posive imageHistoryPrepared by John Foster wh the llaboratn of Cl Dune and (trans. ) Marcel THE INITIATIVEIn the summer of 1986 Gordon Johnston, spired by the example of the Vanuver Men’s Chos, nceived of a gay men’s choral group for Ottawa.

A COMPREHENSIVE GAY GUI TO OTTAWA, ONTAR

Through ntacts the gay muny, cludg the Metropolan Communy Church, active at the time, he brought together a small anisg group late Augt, cludg Barry Deeprose, Tom Gallagher, Mark Krayenhoff, Glen Lewis and Ralph Whke. Gordon creds his origal strong Mormon inty wh shapg his approach to beg gay. “Beg gay and beg rejected by my own system was my salvatn.

” Wh his mother, he worked wh the Parents of Lbians and Gays Salt Lake Cy, mentg “You know, that’s like foundg the Orange Lodge at the Vatin. ” And ed, the social and polil ntext of the 1980’s was very OTTAWA, IN THE CANADA OF THE 1980s Although Jtice Mister Pierre T clared that the state was gettg out of the bedrooms of the natn wh reforms to the crimal 1969, did not “legalize” homosexualy, and life for homosexuals was hardly simple the 1970s and 1980s.

Neverthels Ontar police ntued what historian Gary Ksman terms a “war on gays” across southern Ontar bars, washrooms and parks.

GAY CATHOLICS CHRISTIANS AND ALLI

Prott and advocy by gay men and women ntued, public support for human rights protectn amplified, and 1986 the Peterson mory provcial ernment passed Bill 7, which clud addg sexual orientatn to the Ontar Human Rights Co. Th, gay inty and public regnn was phed forward the 1970s and 1980s by diverse efforts, often led by Ottawa-based activists.

Gays of Ottawa (GO) began meetg at St. It began, publishg Go Info (om 1972), and was the base for the Canadian Gay Rights Coaln the late 1970s. L McAfee and others anized the first eratn of Egale (Equaly for Gays and Lbians Everywhere), stmental advancg gay and lbian public policy objectiv for more than two s.

In 1989 GO beme the Associatn of Gays and Lbians of Ottawa (ALGO). By the early 1980s a rponsive Gayle was providg an rmatn and advice service to llers. The threat of HIV/AIDS was creasgly nstant the gay muny the mid-1980s.

ANTI-GAY MSAGE CATHOLIC PARISH BULLET SPARKS OUTRAGE

Providg space for gay social life – danc and a licensed bar – beme part of GO’s missn, as well as a source of fundg. “Shas was for a while the most popular gay bar town…It is also important to mentn the absolutely HOT night life on the Quebec si, so on snowy wter nights after everythg shut down at Shas and the Centretown Pub a le-up of bs would be wag to ferry all across to the two-story Le Club on Eddy Street, was fantastic.

THE EARLY YEARS OF THE GAY CHOIR MOVEMENT When the Men’s Chos was anized ’s name omted the word “Gay”, even though many outsi the chos as well wh knew that was posed of gay men. As Gordon Johnston mented, “if we’d had the “g” word there would have been the Ottawa gay men’s duet.

In March 1987 members were ved to share “posn papers” on the gay inty of the chos and a chos “Summ” was held at the Wakefield Uned Church for this and other discsns. A nuanced approach was tablished, for example, g the membership of the Chos the ternatnal gay and lbian choral associatn (GALA) only on certa chos announcements, notg the possibily that “Chos members who object to the e of the announcement specific circumstanc might absent themselv om that performance whout prejudice.