Toronto’s history of queer community, nightlife, and activism runs deep. This Pride Month, some 2SLGBTQ+ Torontonians spoke with Queer & Now about how the community has changed over the decades, and shared advice for queer youth.
For decades, retired Reverend Dr. Cheri DiNovo has made waves as an activist, religious leader, and politician. DiNovo was the only woman to sign the “We Demand” rally document in 1971 during the first large-scale demonstration calling for 2SLGBTQ+ rights in Canada. Representing Parkdale-High Park as MPP from 2006-2017, she is credited with passing more pro-2SLGBTQ+ legislation into law during her career than anyone in Canadian history.
Additionally, as an ordained United Church minister, DiNovo performed one of Canada’s first legalized same sex marriage in 2001 – four years before the country legalized gay marriage. But her career started 30 years before that. She explained to Queer & Now that at the beginning of her activism career she was part of a group of “utopian hippies.”
“We could be fired for being queer. We could not be rented to. If we had children, we didn’t have access to them. I mean, basic human rights we didn’t have,” she explained. “But I mean, at that point, we thought it was pretty utopian to ask for even those kinds of basic things.”
“We won all of them and way more, and so it’s a story of hope. It’s a story [of how] just a small group of people could make a huge difference in the world.”
Debbie Douglas is a Toronto activist with a history spanning decades. Among her many accomplishments, Douglas co-founded Zami, the first Black queer organization in the city.
“The focus of Zami was to provide a safe space for young and other gay and lesbian people who are Black and/or from the Caribbean, looking for a safe space, but also an activist space,” Douglas, who is originally from Grenada, told Queer & Now.
“We were really keen on ensuring that we were addressing issues of homophobia and later transphobia in the Black community,” Douglas explained.
“We were very much involved in Black activism against anti-Black racism, and also ensuring that we had a very loud voice and took up space and presence and addressed issues of racism, anti-Black and otherwise, in Toronto’s very, very white queer community.”
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Douglas reflected on changes within racial representation in the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Toronto.
“I like to think that we played a small part in creating a space for Black queer kids to be able to come out, not only within queer community, which continues to be fairly white, but also within Black community spaces.”
This is now relevant not just through community groups like Blackness Yes, the organizers behind Blockorama, Toronto Pride’s oldest stage, but also in the leadership of large scale organizations like Pride Toronto.
“I think it has been important to see Black leadership and Black progressive leadership, because representation doesn’t always mean progressiveness, but currently this Black leadership that is at Pride, which pays attention to intersectional approaches to the work that Pride Toronto is doing,” Douglas explained.
TORONTO’S QUEER COMMUNITY: PAST AND PRESENT
Over the past five decades many things have changed for Toronto’s queer community. For example, 72-year-old producer Shane Kinnear says that the sheer number of people who openly identify as queer has dramatically increased.
“It’s just remarkable. Pride used to be a small event that took place on Toronto Islands,” he explained.
“Then there were the bathhouse raids… and that’s when a lot of men became much more radicalized and angry, and they started to march.”
While he personally received a tip that the raids were going to occur, not everyone in his circle was so lucky.
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“Some of my friends did not get tipped off, and had tremendous remorse and guilt and fear because all of their names were published in the newspaper and their pictures weren’t in the newspapers,” he explained. “There were men that never, never survived the guilt of that and the humiliation.”
The raids lead to subsequent protests against the police.
“But boy, did that backfire ultimately on the police force, because that’s when a lot of gay men just said, ‘F**k you. This is our territory, and we’re here. We’re queer. Get used to it,’ kind of thing, right?’ Kinnear explained. “It was a massive change for the gay community.”
Another change? The number of queer spaces and events in the city. Kinear explained that in addition to a few 2SLGBTQ+ friendly spaces, there were also dances held by the Community Homophile Association of Toronto (CHAT) and Gay Alliance Toward Equality (GATE) at venues like The 519 and Toronto’s Holy Trinity Church. But the queer community didn’t have as many dedicated spaces before the raids and subsequent protests.
Kinnear moved to the United States in 1984, returning to Toronto following the HIV/AIDS Epidemic to find that the crisis had decimated a lot of queer Torontonians.
“These organizations of gay men were devastated, obliterated by the crisis, and that was a major change,” Kinnear explained. “It changed the way people related to each other, [there was] tremendous fear.”
Into the 90s, Kinnear noticed another change: the commodification of the 2SLGBTQ+ community by different brands.
“When Pride was first realized, it wasn’t booze reliant, it wasn’t drugs reliant, it was an open celebration, relatively drug-free, except for marijuana, perhaps in some minor hallucinogens. But it wasn’t, it wasn’t about tripping. It was about coming together,” he explained.
“When the liquor company started to participate in Pride and all these companies, we were really objectified and became a market,” he explained.
“I remember going to one Pride event particularly. I mean, it was fun, but there were just these wild beer gardens of totally drunken crowds. It was kind of like, this is not what I thought Pride was supposed to be.”
Activist Susan Gapka has also noticed significant changes since she came out in 1999. Gapka, whose political career has largely focused on advancing the rights of transgender people, shared that the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in 2SLGBTQ+ activism has been a welcome change in the community.
Trans elder gathering during the Trans March : pic.twitter.com/6KuPuaWAza
— Susan Gapka (@SusanGapka) June 30, 2024
“For trans activism, I think I hold a special place in being a real leader on that and I had quarrels with community leaders, because after watching marriage [equality] happen, I noticed that trans people had been left out the conversation and the activism,” Gapka told Queer & Now, saying that those representing the fight for marriage equality were often homogenous: professional, predominantly white, well off, gay or lesbian.
Another change Gapka noted is the number of opportunities for young trans people.
“Just having trans people politically active and working in communities, actually having employment, and those kinds of things.”
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY
Originally from Trinidad, activist leZlie lee kam has been advocating for Toronto’s queer community for 50 years. Reflecting on their career, kam draws parallels between the past and present of Toronto’s 2SLGBTQ+ community.
“The hate is growing again against us,” kam told Queer & Now. “It’s a lot easier to come out these days, but it’s a lot more difficult for younger folks who are coming out, because for many of them, their homes are not safe.”
They explained that during the COVID-19 lockdowns many queer youth were subjected to violence.
“A lot of my friends are younger and queer now, and there’s a lot of anxiety and depression. We went through those kinds of things back in the day when we came out, but it’s nothing like what’s happening now,” they said.
This, kam explained, is why community is crucial.
“Community is what saves a lot of lives,” they explained. “Community offers support, community offers hope. Community offers love, caring, kindness and compassion.”
An advocate for what they call rainbow seniors, or elders in the 2SLGBTQ+ community, kam explained that it’s necessary to approach activism with consideration for all perspectives.
“It’s important to look at the activism work that we do, from an intersectional and intergenerational perspective, because we have to include younger folks and older folks. You know, we don’t just live in a vacuum.
Kinnear agrees, lamenting the importance of young queer people forming communities.
“Certainly for young people, it’s a way to find others that think like you and therefore can share their wisdom,” Kinnear explained.
He says that as a gay kid, there was no positive representation of 2SLGBTQ+ people.
“We were given brochures that taught us how to look out for the dangers of, you know, those creepy gay old or homosexual men preying on young men,” he explained. “With community, you began to see that there’s more people like you that had similar ideas, and they weren’t dark, wearing dark coats and hiding in the shadows.”
Douglas also reflected on the importance of recognizing spaces important to community, such as 101 Dewson St., a home in Toronto that became a hub of activism.
“The owners created a collective space where those of us who are activists could find home. It’s where lots of creative ideas and protests came from at the same time,” she explained. “It’s a place where we laughed and danced and debated and cussed out each other and loved up on each other, all at the same time.”
“Community is critically, critically important as we continue to do this work, and I think places like Dewson should be formally recognized.”
WORK STILL NEEDS TO BE DONE
Douglas says that while the queer community has made great strides towards equality, there is still work that needs to be done. This is evident when considering current political attacks against the 2SLGBTQ+ community, particularly concerning transgender rights, and the ongoing fight against anti-Black racism.
“I think that we’ve made great strides in the queer community, although we’re beginning to see the pushback and the backlash, especially around trans issues,” Douglas explained, adding that the fight for equality continues.
With over five decades of activism under her belt, DiNovo agrees.
“…my focus is trying to actually prevent violence to children… so when I speak, I think about saving little kids lives who are at risk of high risk of suicide, and that’s gender diverse children and and trans children,” she explained. “There are lots of struggles, but that’s, I think, the one that’s front and foremost for me right now.”
She explained that activism is important because, to quote American philosopher Dr. Cornel West, justice is what love looks like in public.
“If you’re going to be public, if you’re going to be honest, you’re going to speak up when somebody does something stupid, or when somebody hurts somebody, you’re not going to just slink away, you’re going to do something,” she explained.
ADVICE FOR 2SLGBTQ+ YOUTH
Douglas’ advice for 2SLGBTQ+ youth is to ensure that while they are fighting the good fight, they are also practicing self-care.
“It’s important to take care of ourselves. Self-care is part of the resistance, that self-care is revolutionary, as some of our elder sisters have told us,” Douglas shared.
DiNovo encourages young people to continue being their most authentic selves.
“Just keep living your truth, just keep being brave and courageous. You’ll never regret it. You’ll regret the moments when you weren’t brave and you weren’t courageous,” DiNovo shared. “Live your love, and live with your love, and live your love out loud would be really my advice.”
She also encourages people to continue to have conversations with people whose opinions don’t necessarily align with their own.
“Because if you don’t keep talking across those aisles, the rift just gets deeper and deeper, and then there’s no talking, it’s just fighting,” DiNovo explained.
Gapka wants to remind young people that there are people fighting for their rights and freedoms.
“We’ve been to the rodeo before. I want young queer and trans folks and their families and loved ones to know that we’re going to protect you.”
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Kinnear’s advice is simple: trust your gut and follow your intuition.
“Takes as much of life to experience as you can get your hands on,” he explained.
kam shared that living life on your own terms is also important.
“Being out is a lot of pressure, it’s also a lot of work. So, I tell young people, you don’t have to come out unless you want to, and you can live your life without coming out,” kam explained. “You can accomplish anything you put your mind to, regardless of who you are in the world.”
“My bottom line is, treat each other with kindness, caring and compassion,” kam shared. “And if you’re lucky, one day too, you will be a rainbow senior.”
