Learn about the Davie Street Village and the fight for LGBTQ and gay rights across Canada.
Contents:
- ELEVEN AMAZG PHOTOGRAPHS THAT TELL THE GAY HISTORY OF TORONTO
- LGBTQ / GAY HISTORY CANADA
- “UNVER: THE VILLAGE”: A SERIAL KILLER, TORONTO’S GAY COMMUNY, AND A PODST THAT TRANSCENDS TE CRIME
- GAY
- TORONTO GAY DISTRICT: THE VILLAGE
- GAY TORONTO
- ONE OF N.L.'S FIRST MARRIED GAY UPL LOOK BACK WH PRI
ELEVEN AMAZG PHOTOGRAPHS THAT TELL THE GAY HISTORY OF TORONTO
* toronto gay history *
“Toronto is so much gayer than thks, ” says Jane Farrow, one of more than 100 ntributors and edors who ntributed to the new anthology Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer. Allan Garns was an early hot spot for both gay cisg (the tre provid ver for hookg up) and for surveillance (that’s a policeman pictured next to the central founta). The Toronto’s Island beach have been popular statns for the gay muny sce the 1950s, around the time this photo of late activist Philip McLeod ( strip) and his iends was taken.
LGBTQ / GAY HISTORY CANADA
Disver Toronto’s bt gay bars, queer events and LGBTQ culture wh Andrew Murphy, programmg director of the Insi Out LGBT Film Ftival. * toronto gay history *
In the early 1960s, major papers like the Toronto Star and the Globe And Mail wouldn’t touch the subject of homosexualy, wh the exceptn of publishg articl that had to do wh hysteria about the queer muny. The story was about the staff at the Kg Edward Hotel tryg to keep patrons of Letros Tavern, a gay bar across the street, om equentg the hotel’s washrooms. In the openg lyrics, “Tell her that I’m happy, tell her that I’m gay, ” Shane’s e of the word “gay” was thought to be a subtle nod to the queer scene, as wasn’t yet beg ed a sexual ntext mastream vernacular.
LGBT teams ma possible for queers to reclaim public space, and their rise wh the cy gave Toronto a reputatn as a hub of queer sports, pecially as lol teams formed relatnships wh gay leagu across North Ameri. On Febary 5, 1981, police raid a number of Toronto bathho, plac of sanctuary for gay men, and arrted hundreds of people, many of whom hadn’t yet e out to fay or iends. The rts began the early morng hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar the Greenwich Village neighbourhood of Manhattan, and ntued for six days outsi of the Christopher Street bar, surroundg streets and the nearby Christopher Park.
“UNVER: THE VILLAGE”: A SERIAL KILLER, TORONTO’S GAY COMMUNY, AND A PODST THAT TRANSCENDS TE CRIME
After years of stg abandoned on Church Street, the buildg that once hoed one of Toronto's most inic gay nightclubs uld soon transform i... * toronto gay history *
In the summer of 1971, a group of gay and lbian activists anized Toronto’s first Gay Day piic at Hanlan’s Pot Beach, the most wterly of the Toronto Islands (today known as Toronto’s unofficial “gay beach”). It was a groundbreakg event anized by Toronto Gay Actn, the Communy Homophile Associatn of Toronto and the Universy of Toronto Homophile Associatn, wh around 300 people om neighbourg ci as far away as New York Cy and Detro attendg to show their support. The raids on The Club Baths, The Romans II Health and Recreatn Spa, The Barracks and The Richmond Street Emporium were a vlent culmatn of a six-month unrver operatn by police known as “Operatn Soap, ” an anized mpaign to ph gay bathho and bars out of bs.
Mass protts and ralli were held nouncg the bathhoe raids, which evolved to Toronto’s current Pri Week, which is now one of the world’s largt gay pri ftivals and celebrat s 40th anniversary 2020. Before beme Toronto’s only clothg-optnal beach, Hanlan’s Pot was a notor gay cisg ground, so ’s ltle surprise that would play host to Toronto’s first unofficial piic celebratg Pri. In her jt-released book The Queer Evangelist, Cheri DiNovo rells the emergence of a thrivg gay scene Toronto at the time and lbian nightclubs masqueradg as “Ladi’ Baseball Leagu” to avoid police raids.
Gary Ksman, who was actively volved anizg wh the Lbian and Gay Pri Day Commtee 1981 and was the ordatg marshal for the June 28 march (Pri’s first), says Pri would not have happened whout the mass ristance to the police that followed the bathhoe raids that brought LGBTQ- muni out onto the streets. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a “nvent” of gay men who drsed as nuns “to target the moral nservative right-wg, ” performed an exorcism of the police.
GAY
A gui to Toronto's gay scene cludg reviews of gay bars and clubs and a list of the bt hotels. * toronto gay history *
Sex worker Peggy Miller and gay activist Danny Cockerle, formerly a wrer for monthly gay magaze The Body Polic, among others, found Maggie’s as a support work. Maggie’s anizer Ellie A Kur says that “There was a lot of overlap between street-based sex workers the Downtown east and gay sex workers particularly and around the village.
Led by Michael Lynch, a long-time gay activist, wrer and person livg wh HIV/AIDS, a meetg is held the fall of 1987 to look at problems of medil accs to dgs faced by people wh HIV Toronto.
TORONTO GAY DISTRICT: THE VILLAGE
Gay men are at a higher risk of HIV transmissn, acrdg to the Public Health Agency of Canada, but medil experts have lled for a genr-ntral screeng policy, argug the chance of HIV gettg to the blood supply is low.
“We gathered on Yonge Street – blockg traffic as we lay down on the pavement – to ll attentn to the AIDS epimic the ernment and media refed to take serly, bee was mostly ‘disposable’ people (homosexuals and traveno-dg ers) who were affected.
“Havg been alerted that the homophobic owners of a rtrant had recently kicked out a queer uple on a date, we took over the rtrant en masse – kissg and makg out ont of all their clients – promisg to return every day if they ever acted that way aga. While the bathhoe raids helped set motn a gay rights revolutn Toronto, the Psy Palace raids rried out by ps ls than 20 years later would change policg.
GAY TORONTO
As part of a settlement won by the Toronto Women’s Bathhoe Commtee at the Ontar Human Rights Commissn, the Toronto Police Service were required to enhance their efforts to rec gay officers and adopt a “genr-sensive” policy. A piic is anized by Toronto’s first queer activist anizatns – the Universy of Toronto Homophile Associatn (UHTA), Toronto Gay Actn Now, and the Communy Homophile Associatn of Toronto (CHAT). Toronto’s first “Gay Day Piic” is held at Hanlan’s Pot on Sunday, Augt 1st, as a fundraiser to send activists to Ottawa for a 2nd anniversary march markg Polic formed.
By 2014, 18 teams 3 divisns play wh more than 300 anized Pri events take place, but the Fourth Annual Gay Conference for Canada and Quebec is held Toronto. Teenager Emmanuel Jacqu is raped and murred above Yonge Street, and a strong backlash is levelled agast the Toronto gay be first provce to clu sexual orientatn s Human Rights . The Supreme Court l that unr the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Human Rights Act, gays and lbians nnot be exclud om enterg the Canadian Forc.
ONE OF N.L.'S FIRST MARRIED GAY UPL LOOK BACK WH PRI
To celebrate the theme “Come Out”, the para Grand Marshals are members of “support groups to gays and lbians the g out procs” para starts at Carlton Street at Church, mov over to Yonge, up to Bloor and back over to Church. ”Grand Marshal John Fisher, Executive Director of Egale Canada, was regnized for his hard work and ditn to issu of jtice and equaly for lbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transgenr people across the untry.