Toronto police chief to apologize for 1981 gay bathhoe raids | Canada | The Guardian

Contents:

• TORONTO BATHHOE RAIDS: HOW THE ARRTS GALVANIZED THE GAY MUNY
• 'THE CANADIAN STONEWALL': TORONTO POLICE 'EXPRS S REGRET' FOR GAY BATHHOE RAIDS
• TORONTO POLICE CHIEF TO APOLOGIZE FOR 1981 GAY BATHHOE RAIDS

TORONTO BATHHOE RAIDS: HOW THE ARRTS GALVANIZED THE GAY MUNY

The raids marked a turng pot for Toronto’s gay muny, as the protts that followed dited they would no longer endure rogatory treatment om the police, media and the public. The Augt 1977 sexual asslt and murr of shohe boy Emanuel Jaqu by several men a Yonge Street massage parlour provoked sensatnal media verage that emphasized the participatn of gay men.

In the March 1979 edn of the Metropolan Toronto Police Associatn newsletter, staff sergeant Tom Moclair’s say “The Homosexual Fad” portrayed gay men as arrogant, ant viants who reced nocent children to their liftyle. view was found among many officers by law stunt and journalist Arnold Bner while pilg a study for the cy on police relatns wh the gay muny followg the raids. man as an unntrollable sexual liberte who ms crim of lt, prostut himself, who is pable of fectg those wh whom he ntact wh by spreadg homosexualy or venereal disease.

'THE CANADIAN STONEWALL': TORONTO POLICE 'EXPRS S REGRET' FOR GAY BATHHOE RAIDS

The bathhoe raids on 5 Febary 1981 proved a turng pot relatns between Toronto police and the cy's gay muny (photo by Frank Lennon, urty Toronto Star). As prottors chanted msag such as “gay rights unt, ” a small group of mostly teenaged unter-prottors yelled back homophobic obsceni and unsuccsfully attempted to block Universy Avenue.

Though police officials claimed that the raids were merely a bt that wasn’t tend to timidate the gay muny, public outcry agast police btaly and the vlatn of.

The imprsn upon the public nnot fail to be that the police are discrimatg agast homosexuals, knowg that the relatively mor charg which have been laid agast so many people may give them major problems their private liv — hurtg.

TORONTO POLICE CHIEF TO APOLOGIZE FOR 1981 GAY BATHHOE RAIDS

Over time, the bathhoe raids me to be nsired as Toronto’s equivalent of the 1969 Stonewall rts, which patrons of a New York Cy gay bar lled the Stonewall Inn fought back agast police harassment. Though a full quiry to the raids never materialized, municipal studi prepared their aftermath helped to slowly improve the relatnship between police and the gay muny, though stras ntued. Subsequent raids of Toronto bathho, gay and lbian strip clubs and nightclubs ntued, wh raids June 1981, April 1983, Febary 1996 and September 2000.

4, 1981, the Toronto gay muny, like many muni, was somewhat actured, wh many disparate voic and factns offerg opns on how to advance their the next night marked a pivotal moment galvanizg the muny — when police officers armed wh crowbars and sledgehammers raid four cy bathho and arrted more than 250 gay men.

Fdlay said that the while chang had been slowly g wh regards to gay rights, the raids and subsequent reactn were a transformative example, those who had been volved wh the legal fence team went to the AIDS Commtee of Toronto and began to anize around "fendg ourselv agast this disease and people's prejudic around that disease, " Fdlay said. "It was our Stonewall, " he said, referrg to the 1969 raids of New York Cy's Stonewall Inn, which was popular among the cy's gay and transgenr muny. 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”).