LGBT RIGHTS

A brief history of the struggle for LGBT rights in Canada

by Darren Edgar

The inspiration of the Stonewall Inn riots on June 28, 1969 resounded for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people around the world, resulting in Canada’s first gay rights march taking place in Ottawa in 1971.

This was followed by protests in 1975 and 1976 after police raided gay establishments in Quebec and Ottawa in preparation for the Montreal Olympics.

On February 5, 1981, Toronto police officers descended upon four downtown bathhouses as part of a coordinated effort dubbed “Operation Soap.” Over 300 men were arrested under archaic “bawdy house” laws. It was the largest mass arrest in Canada since the invocation of the War Measures Act during the October Crisis of 1970.

Community activists called for a public protest to take place the very next night. By midnight 300 protesters were blowing whistles, brandishing signs, and chanting slogans. Quickly the crowd swelled to 1,500 and marched south along Yonge Street, bringing traffic to a standstill.

As the crowd marched south through downtown, police had formed an ineffective barricade with their cruisers. The growing throng continued marching toward 52 Division police station, chanting “Fuck you, 52!” A crowd of 3,000 was met by 200 police officers protecting the front of the building.

Police successfully turned back the crowd, which then marched toward the provincial legislature, a source of recent ire within the LGBT community after failing to pass legislation, which would have updated the Human Rights Code to include sexual orientation.

On February 20, a more orderly protest of 5,000 people took place. And on March 6, an indoor Gay Freedom Rally was held in St. Lawrence Market, drawing more than 1,000 people and effectively becoming Toronto’s first pride event.

The push for LGBT rights continued with the addition of sexual orientation as prohibited grounds for discrimination to the Ontario Human Rights Code in 1986 but it was not added to the Canadian Human Rights Act for another ten years.

In 1992, Canada lifted its ban on homosexuals in the Canadian Forces. In 1994, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that gays and lesbians could apply for refugee status based upon their sexual orientation. In 1995, Ontario became the first province to allow gay and lesbian couples the right to jointly adopt children. In 2005, Canada sanctioned same-sex marriages.

In February 2011, the House of Commons passed NDP MP Bill Siksay’s Bill C-389, which would have amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender identity under federal anti-discrimination laws but it died in the Senate when Parliament was dissolved and an election called. So far, only the Northwest Territories offers protection on the basis of gender identity.