Social Movement Coalitions: Montreal in the 1970s
By Jackie Lee
By Jackie Lee
Social
movements take different shapes and develop specific identities. Most possess a
specific goal, or set of goals that relate to some sort of positive change,
likely in the shape of social or political reform. The 1970s were home to a lot
of social unrest, pushing various movements to protests, and considering different
ways of increasing their influence to achieve their goals. After studying a
multitude of newspaper clippings and articles from the Gay Archives of Quebec,
the way in which social movements develop, grow and interact with each other
becomes a really interesting phenomenon to take a closer look at. Looking
solely at the mid 1970s in Montreal, we can see efforts by both the gay rights
movement and the women’s movement that might help us understand a question that
is often debated – what might make a social movement successful?
There
might be a multitude of reasons, but one that has been extremely effective is
the merging of various groups to support each other’s causes. Social movements
must work in alliances or coalitions in order to bring about change in the
system that will be holistic and inclusive.
In
1977, the gay rights movement was struck by the brutal, armed, unforeseen raid
on the gay club Truxxx.[i] The first
clipping I want to use to discuss the idea of allied social movements is from
the Journal de Montreal in 1977. It
highlights how the policing system demonstrated homophobic behaviour and
intolerance, using the raiding of Truxxx as a recent example. The author of
this article, Roger Drouin, suggests that the police force targets and harasses
the gay community specifically, looking at both the harassment by the police at
the raid itself as well as the protest that happened in response. Drouin brings
up a point that had not been touched on in most other articles and news sources
I came across from the time: what does this mean for women? He states that this
event had a much more dramatic affect for lesbians[ii]
. He explains that women, face a double repression, being denied certain rights
due to their sexuality as well as due to their gender.[iii]
Most
other archival sources, newspaper clippings, photographs, flyers, painted this
event as one that happened to men by men. As brought up in the Journal de
Montreal article, having been written in 1977, the language alone appears
exclusive, speaking only to “gays” or to “homosexuals,” and when referring to
lesbians, specifies that they are “female homosexuals.” It discusses the 145
men that were arrested and even explicitly points to the fact that there wasn’t
a single female police officer involved in either events.[iv]
The framing of this event largely excluded women. If you might be wondering what
makes this so important, here’s why:
If
it becomes viewed that this was an event that directly hurt men, then the
responses will be ones that try to help men; that try to encourage male
identifying gay rights exclusively. The fight for greater recognition of gay
rights that was a result from the Truxxx raids ran a great risk of being
exclusive to gay men, leaving all the women who were impacted behind. This
greatly overlooks how various systems of oppression might be working together,[v]
and how collective action might be necessary.[vi]
To
contrast, a year prior to the 1977 Truxxx raid, Montreal saw social movements
take on a more inclusive attitude. 1975-1976 was struck by quite a bit of
unrest in Montreal between conflicts of gay rights and workers’ rights.[vii]
An anonymous flyer I came across, serving as an advertisement for a workers’
rights protest made by a gay rights advocacy group was successful in bridging
the apparent gaps between such social movements.[viii]
This flyer highlights how both men and women were exploited and oppressed by
the “state of bosses”[ix] and should
become allies in their causes against oppression.
The
gay community was resisting the repression by the state in 75-76 that was
trying to “clean” Montreal from certain groups, namely its gay and homeless
communities to better its reputation amongst tourists.[x]
While the gay community was trying
to fight back against the state, the women’s movement was also in the midst of
planning their annual protests of March 8th in recognition of their fight
against their double oppression and exploitation as women and as workers.[xi]
While
these two uprisings may seem quite separate in their efforts at first glance,
they were hardly mutually exclusive. Essentially – both the gay rights movement
and the women’s movement were both planning on rallying against “the Man”, the
Man representing a great variety of things: patriarchy, the State, Montreal’s
police forces, capitalism, and more. This flyer pointed to the dimensions of
oppression that each group struggled with and how their alliance may be
beneficial. It stated that the success of each movements’ protests relied on the
success of the other and stated that the gay community would be attending the
womens protest in solidarity, giving the details for others to join.[xii]
This flyer was able to recognize the similarities in oppression and struggles,
suggesting how beneficial coalition building between movements could be with
greater strength in numbers and support.
The
Combahee River collective was working at this same time as these various
protests in Montreal, being a clear example of the ways in which different
social movements, or human rights movements should be allied, and even more -
how they must be. The Combahee River Collective’s “A Black Feminist Statement”
outlines these concepts. They explain how “racial, sexual, heterosexual, and
class oppression, […] the major systems of oppression are interlocking.”[xiii] If systems of oppression are
interlocking, then the social movements addressing them are in some way and
should work together.
They
were early advocates for the idea that we cannot really “separate race from
class from sex oppression because in our lives they are most often experienced
simultaneously.”[xiv] By the mid 70s, they were promoting the
alliances of various movements in order to influence real change that mattered.
They supported liberation through the merging of socialist, feminist and
antiracist movements into one “revolution”. [xv]
While these kinds of intersectional, or “interlocking”[xvi]
as they described, ideas may appear standard to some today, their approach was
pretty progressive for the time. The cases of the Montreal Olympics or the
Truxxx raid that were happening at the same time as the Combahee River
Collective make it very clear that even in cities that we now identify as
liberal were still overwhelmingly oppressive and problematic.
Montreal has come a long way since the
mid 1970s, thankfully, but the question that should be answered is: how?
As
stated, the success of such social movements that were working hard in the 70s
are not independent from each other. The anonymous flyer that looks at the women’s
protests for workers’ rights seeks to bridge the gaps that the oppression of
gays comes from a similar place as the oppression of women in the workforce –
patriarchy, heteronormativity and the gender roles that spring from it.[xvii]
By bridging the presumed gaps between women’s rights, specifically their
working rights, and gay rights, this flyer helps connect each movement and help
mobilize more supporters for each. Highlighting the commonalities between
groups help “inspire groups to work together for a common cause.”[xviii]
By bringing the gay community into these conventionally women’s protests, they
are increasing their influence and power in opposition to the state. The more
people that say “no” to the state’s oppression, the greater chance they are at
pressuring their state to take action and make reform.[xix]
Social movements assert their power
especially when “mobilizing large numbers of people and demonstrating
widespread support for an issue,” and the merging of two social movement groups
is a great way to do this.[xx] [xxi]
The
gay community post-Truxxx raid wanted their rights recognized by the state and
the police force to be held accountable. The Gay Rights Association of Quebec[xxii]
was seeking for ways to make their point heard. Coalition forming with other
groups such as the feminist movement at this time would have surely created
more noise and greater opportunity for justice after this event. Moreover,
valuing concepts from different movements allows each to recognize its own members
that identify with multiple social movements and identities, such as those who
don’t identify as male in the Truxxx case.
The
two archival sources described highlight two approaches to social movements:
one that unites groups, and one that, intentionally or not, draws divides
between groups and even creates intragroup divides. As advocated by the
anonymous flyer, there is power in joint mobilization and unity. I am not
advocating for assimilation of movements, but we must recognize how we might be
allies to each other, and help each other overthrow the systems of dominance
that affect us all. This is how we can influence positive change that will
benefit the masses.
[i] Roger
Drouin, “Pourquoi s’acharner contre les homos,” Le Journal de Montreal, October 27, 1977.
[ii] Drouin,
“Pourquoi s’acharner contre les
homos.” « Pour les femmes homosexuelles, cette histoire prend une allure
encore plus dramatique. »
[iii][iii] Ibid.
« Selon une représentante de la gent
féminine homosexuelle, Jean d’Arc Jutras, la répression est d’autant difficile
a supporter qu’elle est doublée du fait qu’en plus d’être “dérangées” parce
qu’elles sont homosexuelles, elles on déjà des problèmes aves la reconnaissance
de leurs droits parce qu’elles sont des femmes. »
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Combahee
River Collective, “A Black Feminist Statement,” Capitalist Patriarchy and the Case for Socialist Feminism, (New
York, Monthly Review Press, 1978), 212.
[vi] Nella Van
Dyke and Bryan Amos, "Social movement coalitions: Formation, longevity,
and success," Sociology Compass, (California, 2017), 11 (7).
[vii]
“On n’est pas des maladies, c’est le systeme qui est malade,” Quebec Gay
Archives.
[viii] Ibid.
[x]
Ibid.
[xi] Ibid.
[xii] Ibid.
[xiii] Combahee
River Collective, “A Black Feminist Statement,” 212.
[xiv] Ibid.
[xv] Ibid,
214.
[xvi] Ibid,
212.
[xviii] Nella Van
Dyke and Bryan Amos, "Social movement coalitions: Formation, longevity,
and success," 6.
[xx] Ibid,
7.
[xxii] Ibid.
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