1977 Police Raids
by Chloe Ouimet
During
the past 60+ years, Canada has seen some incredible social and political
changes surrounding the LGBTQ+ community. The homosexual community saw the rise
of gay pride parades, gay neighborhoods, gay rights movements, rights to
marriage, rights to adoption, etc. However, most of these only happened due to
major protests following horrendous, discriminatory acts against them.
Homosexuals have a history filled with violence and plain discrimination simply
due to their sexual preferences. These horrors will never be justified;
however, it is important to underline their importance in bringing about
positive change when it was time to fight back. History has a way of teaching
us that when something is unfair, it is often the citizens’ protests that bring
about the change that is so desperately needed. This is exactly what happened
in 1977, following police raids at two gay clubs in downtown Montreal.
In
Montreal during the 1970s, there was a perceived attempt by Mayor Jean Drapeau
to “clean up” the city before the 1976 Summer Olympics, that is, by raiding
spaces specifically made for the gay community to gather[i].
These police raids at both Truxx and Mystique clubs in January of 1977, brought
about a demonstration by thousands of homosexuals the very next day. The
protests and police raids are well documented in the Quebec Gay Archives. I
searched throughout the many photos and newspaper articles in “Raid at Truxx
1977” found in the Quebec Gay Archives, which described the abuse of power by
police officials, violence against and wrongful arrests of over 100
homosexuals. In an article by Maurice Bigio of The Gazette, it is said that the
police arrested 136 men, most of them simply for being “found-ins at a common
bawdy house”[ii].
Now, just to be clear, this is insinuating that simply by going to a gay bar,
it was considered “bawdy” or “indecent” by the Montreal police during the
1970s. By analyzing this simple idea, it becomes evident that the arrests of
over 100 homosexuals in January 1977 is a clear prejudice against their sexual orientation,
and not criminal activity. The policemen were also unreasonably equipped for
the police raid. The 50 or so “morality squad officers [were] equipped with
machineguns and bullet-proof vests”[iii] to enter
an establishment with no known criminal behavior. It is also important to
include the humiliation that followed the arrests: All of the men that were
charged as found-ins were held for over 15 hours and were administered venereal
disease tests in front of the other detainees[iv].
It becomes increasingly obvious, especially with the unjustified medical
examination, that this police raid was motivated by prejudice against
homosexuals.
Bigio
then goes on to explain that the Association pour la protection des gai(e)s du
Quebec (APGQ) asked Marc-Andre Bedard, Justice Minister at the time, to drop
all the charges and to also include “sexual orientation” in article 10 of the
Quebec Human Rights Charter[v]. This goes
to show that the horrible, unjust police raid shined a light on the
discrimination that homosexuals faced every day and demonstrated the lack basic
human rights given to them. It became obvious to me that homosexuals were
victims of invisibility in society, which was reflected in the lack of
protection of their rights and freedoms in the statutory bill of human rights.
Although this realization is saddening, it does lead to some positivity.
Following the gross injustice homosexuals faced that night, over 1000 protested
and rioted against the police raids the very next day. According to an article in
the Ottawa Citizen, demonstrations included “about 1000 Montreal homosexuals,
sympathizers and onlookers”[vi] who walked
in the city center “shout[ing] ‘fascist dogs’ and ‘gestapo’ as policemen on
motorcycles […] cleared the street”[vii]. It is
absolutely incredible to imagine that less that 24 hours after the police raid
and arrests were made, more than 1000 people gathered to protest it. Any
protest, or march, that happens usually takes weeks or months of planning. The
mere fact that the protest happened within a day shows the sense of urgency
they felt to fight back against the gross injustice they faced.
The
protests following the police raid caused an uproar of media attention. The
article by Bigio, written in October, shows that it took months before Justice
Minister Bedard started listening to the homosexuals demands to drop the
charges. The media coverage for the police raids and protests continued for
weeks and months after they occurred, showing that the raids brought about a
movement for the implementation of sensible homosexual rights and protection
laws. Before this historical, massive police raid, Bedard could not have been
quoted saying “the climate surrounding the operation along with its scope
indicates to me there is a possibility of intolerance on the part of the
police”[viii].
This quote is a historical moment for the social acceptance of homosexuals. When
a media goliath like the Gazette publishes a quote by the Justice Minister of
Quebec saying he believes homosexuals have faced prejudice by the police
department, it is obvious that it will impact the social acceptance of
homosexuals. It is common for media attention to an issue or a novel idea to
bring about social change. For example, when Christine Jorgensen, a transgender
woman from Denmark, got media attention following her sex change, it brought
about some positive social change for the transgender community as it “opened
debate on the visibility and mutability of sex”[ix].
The media served as a window to a community that was otherwise “invisible”. In
addition to social change, media and protests can work together to bring about
policy changes. In addition to considering the drop of all charges, Bedard was
planning to meet with members of the Quebec Human Rights Commission to discuss
the addition of the words “sexual orientation” to the Quebec Charter of Rights.
Accordingly, just two months after the raid at Truxx nightclub, the Quebec’s
National Assembly approved legal protection for gays and lesbians, making it
the “first major jurisdiction in North America to do so”[x].
After
reading about the events of January 1977, it is easy to say that homosexuals
faced injustice, prejudice and unwarranted violence against them during the
1970s. These prejudices brought about humiliation, careers ending, murders and
trump-up police charges for homosexuals. The 1977 massive police raid is a
prime example of the injustice they faced every day, but it also shines a light
on the power of protest and fighting for what is right. As much as I disagree
and hate the fact that these events occurred, it is hard to dismiss the
importance of the police raid in illustrating to the Montreal citizens, and
lawmakers, that change was crucial and urgent for the gay community in order to
live in a more humane society. Ultimately, the protests, riots and media
coverage of the 1977 events brought about political and social change for
homosexuals and must be used as evidence that as a society we must continue to
fight for the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQ+ community. After all, we still
have a lot of work to do.
[i] Alexandra
Ketchum, “Sexual Diversity and Social Movement(s) Histories” (Lecture, McGill
University, Montreal, QC, May 3, 2018)
[ii] 1977-10-29_gaz_pxx_truxx_bedard
“Homosexuals get hearing by Bedard”, Quebec Gay Archives, Digital Collection,
Raid at Truxx.
[iii]
“Homosexuals get hearing by Bedard”, Quebec Gay Archives
[iv] “Homosexuals
get hearing by Bedard, Quebec Gay Archives
[v] “Homosexuals
get hearing by Bedard”, Quebec Gay Archives
[vi] 1977-10-24_OTTCIT_p11_gay_protest
“Gays protest police raid”, Quebec Gay Archives, Digital Collection, Raid at
Truxx
[vii] “Gays
protest police raid”, Quebec Gay Archives
[viii] “Homosexuals
get hearing by Bedard”, Quebec Gay Archives
[ix] Joanne
Meyerowitz, “How Sex Changed” (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University
Press, 2009), 1
[x] “Montreal
gay community gets organized”, CBC Digitial Archives
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