The bathhouse raids on 5 February 1981 proved a turning point in relations between Toronto police and the city's gay community. Pink Triangle Press also founded the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives in 1973, which today is a respected and historically important collection of LGBT material. Today, its publisher, Pink Triangle Press, puts out Daily Xtra, with editions The early 1970s also saw the emergence of Canada's first gay publication, The Body Politic, established in Toronto in 1971 and published until 1987. One year later, Toronto held its first Pride celebration with a picnic on the Toronto Islands organized by the University of Toronto Homophile Association, Toronto Gay Action Now and the Community Homophile Association of Toronto. In August 1971, the first protests for gay rights took place with small demonstrations in Ottawa and Vancouver demanding an end to all forms of state discrimination against gays and lesbians. The movement simultaneously gained momentum in Canada. York, Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
On the first anniversary of the riots, marches took place in New
The New York Police Department had attempted a raid on a popular gayīar in the heart of Greenwich Village that night, but the bar’s patrons fought back forcefully, resulting in a humiliating defeat for the police and garnering nation-wide media attention. The modern gay liberation movement in North America began in the summer of 1969 with New York City’s unprecedented Stonewall Riots, which took place in the early morning of 28 June. In 2005, Canada became the fourth country worldwide to legalize same-sex Recent years have seen steady progress on everything from health care to the right to adopt. Canada is internationally regarded as a leader in this field. While discrimination against LGBT people persists in many places, major strides toward mainstream social acceptance and formal legal equality have nonethelessīeen made in recent decades. In celebration of pride, The Canadian Encyclopedia has assembled an exhibit of articles on related issues, including a history of LGBT rights in Canada,Ī memoir of the queer theatre scene in Toronto by acclaimed playwright Sky Gilbert, a history of queer culture in Canada and an article exploring transgender persons and the Canadian health care system. In addition, LGBT artists have risen to the forefront of contemporary culture, from literature and the visual arts to theatre and film. The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Canada has made major strides toward mainstream acceptance and legal equality, with notable progress in health care, the right toĪdopt, and the right to marry.
At WorldPride 2014 in Toronto, the fourth WorldPride and the first in North America, an even larger crowd gathered.Ī lot has happened in the years since the Stonewall Riots. Within a few years, thousands were attending the annual Gay Pride parade, and by 2011 more than 1.2 million attended Pride Toronto.