Fighting Back
by Anonymous
by Anonymous
Homosexuals fighting back after raid is an article by Joel Ruimy, published by the Montreal Gazette
(Thursday October 27th 1977), that reports on the incident that occurred at
Truxx, a former bar in Montreal, on October 22nd 1977. The article essentially
focuses on three aspects of the raid; first it examines the perspective of the
victims of the raid (the gay community), next it looks at the response from the
police department regarding accusations that labelled the raid unjust, and
finally, it demonstrates inconsistencies in the force’s justification of the
raid. In this paper, I will argue that the Truxx bar raid was motivated by homophobia,
specifically targeting Montreal’s gay community. I will also suggest, that the
attention drawn to this particular raid had made the prejudicial behavior of
the police force increasingly transparent, which in turn, helped promote a
social movement to demand fair treatment of sexually marginalized communities
in Montreal.
This essay will first examine the event according to the article,
looking at the three main aspects suggested above. Next it will test the case
facts, examining the context in which the article was written and look at the
implications of the reported event to justify the validity of the above thesis.
The gay community in Montreal was understandably enraged by the
Truxx bar raid. According to the article the community was “prepared to
publicly denounce the arrest, detention and legal charges against about 140
patrons of Truxx Cruising Bar during the weekend”[i].
Such a response seems quite rational considering the unnecessary use of
excessive force during the raid. Police had entered the bar equipped with
machine guns and bullet proof vests. Some customers were charged with gross
indecency, possession of drugs, but the majority faced accusations of found-ins
at a common bawdy house. In addition to this, the article highlighted that the
accused were also tested for venereal diseases and at the station they were
packed 20 to a cell, which were designed to hold 2 people normally[ii].
The police did provide an explanation for some of their actions.
According to the article, the MUC police stated that being equipped with
machine guns and bullet proof vests was standard protocol for any major raid
and due to the sheer volume of people arrested combined with the slow process
of judging each individual one at a time, MUC department was forced to overfill
their cells. As for the reasoning behind the raid itself, the police chief
stated “we had received numerous complaints about the activities inside the
club and we were obliged to act”[iii]. To
further their case, the officers also mentioned that those who were arrested on
gross indecency, were partaking in fellatio on the dance floor. The police
claimed they had made an effort to contact the owner of the club to discuss the
issue prior to the raid, but apparently he had not been interested in the
meeting[iv].
Considering the facts provided in the article, the raid becomes
increasingly questionable. In the last section, Ruimy finds several
inconsistencies in these statements. He found that the club owners had attested
that they were never contacted by the police department prior to the raid and
furthermore, he would never have allowed felatio to take place on the
dancefloor. Though, he doesn’t explicitly say it, Ruimy’s article foreshadows
the conclusion that this incident occurred purely on homophobic grounds. Yes,
it was standard policy for officers to be equipped with machine guns and bullet
proof vests during any major raid. But why was it necessary to conduct such a
raid? The only premise for any type of action was based solely on complaints
about activities inside the club, which indeed deserved some of the
department's attention. However, it is illogical to run such a large scale operation
when there were no reports of any dangerous weapons or even criminals inside
the club. The only other explanation for such behavior is that the raid was
targeting Montreal’s gay community, with the intent to stop further gatherings
of this kind. But before coming to such conclusions, it is important to look at
the context of Montreal in the 1970’s to fully understand the situation. I
spoke with Joel Ruimy, the author of the article, and he recalled that “gays
were seen as “vice” lawbreakers in those days”. He also remarked that “gays
were frequently targeted while the city’s (then) notoriously raunchy straight
strip clubs were left alone”. In this context, the Truxx incident was one of
many biased persecutions and so, the first part of my thesis suggesting that
the raid was targeting queer individuals is no surprise.
Looking at the second part of my thesis, I suggest that the Truxx
incident had drawn important attention to the issue of gay repression, and that
it inspired a movement. In the article Ruimy refers to Eric Hill’s activism
(one of the victim’s he interviewed that planned to “write letters to
everybody” in response to the raid) as the ‘new mood’ of the gays. Indeed, the
new mood of actively responding to such injustices seemed to be proliferating
in Montreal after this incident. The raid did attract an array of attention,
the article highlights that the president of the gay protection association of
Quebec denounced the raid, and that officials at the provincial justice
department, the Quebec Human Rights Commission and the Civil Liberties Union,
were looking into the case. This volume of attention from high level
organizations had likely been captured by the severity of the raid, as the
article stated it was “said to be the biggest mass arrest since the FLQ crisis
of October, 1970”[v]. Clearly,
the raid and the press reports had illustrated the issue for all Montreal
citizens to see, but what was to be the consequence of such an event? The next
day a protest of 2,000 people took place. Andrea Zanin noted that following
this demonstration the anti repression committee took action and that “By December 15, bill 88 was voted into law, making
Quebec the second society in the world (after Denmark) to forbid discrimination
on the grounds of sexual orientation”[vi]. The Truxx
raid seemed to be the last button that the gay community (and those who
supported equality) were willing to let police push. By persecuting so many
gays with a clear bias, Montreal’s police force inadvertently exposed
themselves and inspired a movement that would forever lessen their capacity to
repress this community.
Zanin, Andrea. "Montreal
Gay Village Information - Tourist Information about the City of Montreal Gay
Village with Links to Montreal Gay Village Websites." Polybius at The
Clickto Network. Accessed May 17, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20080328224920/http://www.go-montreal.com/areas_village.htm.
“Homosexuals fighting back after raid” Quebec
Gay Archives, 1977 Digital Collection, Raid at Truxx.
[i] “Homosexuals fighting back after raid” Quebec Gay Archives, 1977
Digital Collection, Raid at Truxx.
[ii] “Homosexuals fighting back after raid” Quebec Gay Archives, 1977
Digital Collection, Raid at Truxx.
[iii] “Homosexuals fighting back after raid” Quebec Gay Archives, 1977
Digital Collection, Raid at Truxx.
[iv] “Homosexuals fighting back after raid” Quebec Gay Archives, 1977
Digital Collection, Raid at Truxx.
[v] “Homosexuals fighting back after raid” Quebec Gay Archives, 1977
Digital Collection, Raid at Truxx.
[vi] Zanin, Andrea. "Montreal Gay Village
Information - Tourist Information about the City of Montreal Gay Village with
Links to Montreal Gay Village Websites." Polybius at The Clickto Network.
Accessed May 17, 2018.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080328224920/http://www.go-montreal.com/areas_village.htm.
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