Se of legendary Toronto gay bar may soon be topped by massive tower

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 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.

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.

LGBTQ / GAY HISTORY CANADA

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.

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”).

“UNVER: THE VILLAGE”: A SERIAL KILLER, TORONTO’S GAY COMMUNY, AND A PODST THAT TRANSCENDS TE CRIME

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.

GAY

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.

TORONTO GAY DISTRICT: THE VILLAGE

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. 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.

GAY TORONTO

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.

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.

ONE OF N.L.'S FIRST MARRIED GAY UPL LOOK BACK WH PRI

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).