The History of Pride in Canada - Timeline 1969 - 1993 - Part 1
Good day, my dears,
This was originally posted on Patreon & Ko-fi on June 10, 2024
This is the beginning of my series of blog posts going over what I learn while I research the history of Pride, Pride Marches, with a focus on Canadian history.
I'm going to begin with a general timeline, for myself, and you, so we have key-points in history to highlight and discuss. I'm going to split this into 1969 to 1993, and 1993 to Present. In essence, before I was born, to afterwards. This is so I can see what has changed in the 30 years I've been alive. I may split the my birth onwards into two sections if it becomes too long of a post, so birth until age 18/19 and then to age 19 to present. We shall see!
I will be highlighting some key moments, and ones I wish to focus on, in particular some moments in NS, as I am from there. I will be discussing these in future posts. These highlights are by no means meant to take away from each moment in history, nor signify any as more important than another. This is simply my own way to focus on what I can handle without becoming overwhelmed and share some of what I learn with all of you.
If you want to join along the link to where I am getting my information for the timeline below is: (My apologies for not getting other sources yet, I just know right now, I genuinely don't have the energy or time for that yet)
Queer History Timeline - Canadian Timeline
Timeline: 1969 - 1993
* May 14th, 1969 - Decriminalization of Homosexuality in Canada
* August 28th, 1971 - First Gay Rights Protest - This was a protest that happened in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver to petition the gov't for a list of 10 demands for equal rights and protections.
* August 1st, 1973 - Pride Week '73 - This was a national LGBT rights event that was held across cities in Canada, including Montreal, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Vancouver, and Toronto.
* December 15th, 1973 - Homosexuality is removed as a "disorder" from the DSM.
* January 5th, 1974 - The Brunswick Four - The Brunswick Four were arrested in Toronto. This moment is said to bring a movement of militant gay and lesbian liberation in Canada. It was also one of the first cases to gain extensive media coverage in Canada.
* June 19th, 1976 - Montreal Olympic "Cleanup" - Police regularly raided the baths, saunas, and bars that LGTBQ people frequented, in an attempt to remove signs of LGTBQ communities prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics. These raids lead to over 300 LGTBQ people and their supporters to demonstrate against the raids, with a massive protest in 1977.
* February 17th, 1977 - Pickets against CBC Halifax - The LGTBQ community in NS held their first public protest against CBC's refusal to advertise the Gay Alliance for Equality's Gayline. On February 19th, 1977, LGTBQ people in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver held pickets in a unified demonstration. CBC news later created a policy that rejected PSAs from LGTBQ organizations, which took many hears to change.
* July 1st, 1977 - First society of Queer Deaf people was formed
* October 22nd, 1977 - Montreal Raids - During the night Montreal police raided Truxx and Le Mystique. Fifty armed police officers, with bullet proof vests, machine guns, and more, arrested 146 gay men as a part of Trudeau's "War Measures Act". The men were denied access to lawyers, forced to take venereal disease tests, and held for over 8 hours. This lead to over 2000 people protesting in the streets. In an attempt to disrupt the protest, police rode their motorcycles into the crowds and assaulted protestors with clubs.
* December 16th, 1977 - Quebec adds Sexual Orientation to the Human Rights Code - In a response against the Montreal Raids, Quebec made it illegal to discriminate against LGTBQ in housing, public accommodations, and employment. Every province and territory in Canada had similar laws in place with the exception of Alberta, PEI, and the Northwest Territories.
* September 1st 1978 - Immigration Act no longer prohibits homosexuals - This moment showed a change in the language used in immigration acts to state who was welcome in Canada, and away from stating who would be prevented from immigrating to Canada.
* June 23rd, 1979 - Montreal's First Pride March - This was where the pink triangle originates, as it was before the creation of the Pride flag as we know it today.
* February 5th, 1981 - Operation Soap Police Raids - Nearly 300 men were arrested when the Toronto police raided gay bathhouses. Rallies were held in opposition and protest against the raids. These rallies are often seen as Canada's Stonewall. It took until 2016 for Toronto police to apologize for the raids.
* May 16th, 1981 - First Lesbian Pride March - Over 200 women marched in Vancouver in Canada's first lesbian pride march.
* May 30th 1981 - Pisces Raids in Edmonton - After seeking advice from the Toronto police, the Edmonton police raided the Pisces Health Spa and arrested 56 men and outed the men publicly. In response, over 100 people rallied on June 3rd as the raid was a violation of civil rights, and a waste of money. The results of these events caused Edmonton's gay community to come together. The public outrage against the police raids resulted in a community that was more acceptable of the LGTBQ community and less tolerance of infringements of civil liberties.
* August 1st 1981 - Vancouver's First Official Pride Parade - More than 1500 people attended Vancouver's first official pride parade. It is considered "official" as they finally gained a parade permit by the city to host the parade.
* April 21st 1982 - Glad Day Bookshop Raid - The oldest surviving LGTBQ bookstore in North America was raided by the Toronto Police. The owner, Kevin Orr, was charged with "possession of obscene material for purposes of resale."
* June 24th 1982 - Edmonton's First Pride Weekend - Edmonton held it's first Pride weekend with the theme "Pride through Unity". This was a big moment after the Pisces Raid that brought together the LGTBQ community in Edmonton. It wouldn't be until 1993 that Edmonton would have its first "official" Pride Parade recognized by the city.
* September 1st 1985 - First Programs to Combat Anti-Gay Discrimination - After Kenneth Zeller was murdered as a hate crime in Toronto's High Park, an anti-gay discrimination and violence program was implemented by the Toronto District School Board.
* October 16th 1985 - Moving Towards Equality - The Parliamentary Committee on Equality Rights release the report "Equality For All" where they write that they are shocked by the discrimination and hatred LGTBQ people experience on a daily basis. They recommend that the Canadian Human Rights Act be changed. They want it illegal to discriminate against anyone based on their sexual orientation. This wouldn't happen until 1995.
* December 8th 1986 - Little Sister's Bookstore Seizure - Canada Customs seized more than 500 books and magazines, deeming the literature as containing "immoral or indecent character" and utilizing a 1847 Customs Act to confiscate the "obscene" titles. It took over 2 years for Little Sister's Bookstore and $5000.00 in legal fees to get the gov't to admit that the books were seized unlawfully.
* August 2nd 1987 - Winnipeg's First Official Pride Week - Around 250 people attended Winnipeg's Gay Pride March. They had decided that if the gov't decided to include sexual orientation into the Manitoba Human Rights Code that they would have a celebratory march. However, if it was not included, then they would march in protest. The gov't voted in favor of adding sexual orientation to the code.
* February 29th 1988 - First Openly Gay Member of Canadian Parliament - BS MP Svend Robinson was Canada's first openly gay parliamentary member. It would be 6 years until Quebecois Real Menard came out in 1994. Whereas the first lesbian parliamentary member to come out was BC MP Libby Davies in 2001.
* July 1st 1988 - Halifax's First Official Pride March - Around 75 people participated in Halifax's first Pride March. However, some wore paper bags over their heads in fear of being beaten or murdered. During that year in Shelburne County the school board fired Eric Smith for having HIV. At Camp Kill Cemetery John William Tha Din was beaten to death. Police did not protect the people in the LGTBQ community that were being assaulted for being queer.
* May 17th 1990 - WHO Removes Homosexuality from Disorder List
* June 7th 1990 - Little Sister's Bookstore Constitutional Challenge - Little Sister's Bookstore challenges the Custom's censorship powers after years of seizers of their books. They state that they are discriminating against gay men and lesbians and violating their freedom of expression. 10 years later, on December 15th 2000, the Supreme Court of Canada rules in favor of Little Sister's Bookstore. They rule that Customs wrongfully targeted them and that they can continue to screen and censor material at the border, but it has to be done equally, no matter the orientation. This was a change from Customs being allowed to withhold items at their own discretion to having to prove that the item is obscene.
* July 15th 1990 - The Sex Garage Raids - The police raided The Sex Garage's After Party. This event would lead to the unification of the LGTBQ community, French and English speaking Canadians, throughout the country as activists against homophobia and discrimination of queer people. This event is also seen as Montreal's Stonewall event.
* July 27th 1990 - Two Spirit (nizh manidoowag) is coined - At the 3rd annual Native American/First Nations Gay and Lesbian Conference in Winnipeg, the term Two Spirit is coined.
* January 1st 1991 - City of Toronto Officially Endorses Pride
* August 6th 1992 - Sexual Orientation "read into" Canada Human Rights Act - After Captain Joshua Birch successfully filed a human rights complaint for being discharged from the Canadian Forces for being gay, sexual orientation was read into the Canada Human Rights Act. This means that when anyone read the section, they were to understand that the act covered sexual orientation. Federal Justice Minister Kim Campbell announced that the gov't would take the next steps to include sexual orientation into the Canadian Human Rights Act.
* October 27th 1992 - Federal Court Lifts Ban Against Gays and Lesbians in the Military - Michelle Douglass, a lesbian woman dismissed from the armed forces for being lesbian, filed a lawsuit against the military in 1990. The day of the trial, the armed forces agreed to settle. The Chief of Defence Staff issued a statement that "Canadians, regardless of their sexual orientation, will not be able to serve their country...without restriction."
* June 30th 1993 - Supreme Court Ruling: Refugees can Apply Based on Sexual Orientation - The Supreme Court ruled that gay men and lesbians could apply for refugee status. In a different case during 1993, the Supreme Court declared sexual orientation as a "Social Group" within the context of determining refugee status.
Personal Notes:
Paper Bags:
It shocks and hurts to hear that people wore paper bags over their heads while at rallies, protests, marches, and parades due to fear. However, given the constant raids and lack of rights, I can understand why they would want to protect their identity for themselves and their families. But I have to admit, I couldn't imagine this being done today, people living in such fear, at least in Canada, while at a Pride Parade.
No Police at Pride:
I will be honest, this always confused me but I understood why. I grew up in a place where we generally trusted the police. I knew this wasn't always true, and as a cis white woman, in a town with very few minorities, I've always known this is a very privileged experience. And so, for me, I generally see police at events as a necessary way for the community to be kept safe and mitigate people from ruining events by causing chaos and harm to the general public. However, again, I understand this is naïve "perfect world scenario" is not reflective of reality.
Learning about the history of Pride so far has helped me understand how much harm, damage, and deaths, police have caused to the LGTBQ community. I can glad to see that in some cases the police were held accountable. However, that certainly wasn't always the case. And once people are outed, there would be no taking that back, their lives would have changed forever, for better, or, more likely in the past, for worse.
Now, I also understand that no police refers to not policing people, their queerness, their identities at Pride as well. I absolutely love this because it's something we should be doing our best to avoid doing. You can never guarantee someone's orientation, gender, or pronouns, based on appearances alone. And truthfully, it isn't your business to assume, nor care what someone's genetalia is unless you are dating them, being intimate with them, or are their health care provider. Otherwise, it is not your business. What is your business is respecting them, treating them as an equal, and supporting, encouraging, and holding them accountable to be the best person they can be, with love, compassion and kindness.
Halifax's First Official Pride March:
Reading about the Halifax Official Pride March in 1988 and how it was simply common to be beaten, fired from your place of employment, stigmatized if you had HIV/AIDS or for being queer, honestly makes me tear up. My heart aches knowing that this is how my own province treated its own people. People who were just living their authentic lives, being genuinely who they are, only to be threatened with violence if they were out. Simply for loving someone of the same gender.
I wasn't raised this way. This wouldn't have been acceptable at all in my household or, I would like to think, my community I was raised in. I was taught that you accept a person for who they are, their race, their gender, their sexuality, none of that is to be treated differently. Just don't be a dick. That's it.
Now, please know that I am not saying that racism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination were not present or didn't occur. I simply didn't witness it personally, which I know was a privilege as I am a white cis-gendered woman, and I didn't know I was queer back then.
Violent 80s:
I spoke with a friend of mine that grew up in the Prairies in the 80s about Pride and everything I'm learning. She made it clear - the 1980s was a violent time. No one in her highschool was out of the closet as far as she knew in their farming community. That there was a reason why you stayed in the closet, because if you came out, you would be beaten back into the closet and told to stay there. This honestly baffles me because again, this is completely opposite to how I grew up. And it's so strange to me that a community that was originally immigrants from Europe is accepting of other immigrants, but not the LGTBQ community. It's most likely changed to some degree since then.
Conclusion:
I will end Part 1 here for now. Honestly, I've learned so much already and am so incredibly proud to be able to do this work, and share it with all of you. This will be the first Pride I am actually attending, and with that, I want to understand the bigger picture of how it came to be.
Pride Month for me has so far been amazing. So, so many happy moments, with some very real moments of insecurities regarding if I'm queer enough, along with identifying as a lesbian. We're not even half-way through the month yet!
I look forward to sharing more as the month goes on. I will most likely continue these Pride posts after Pride month. As, we aren't Queer, LGTBQIA, or matter only one time of the year!
Much love,
Katherine
Chubby Wubby Dragon Art