"We Had Become a Community":Gays of Ottawa (go) and the Birth of Community, 1971–7.
Canada's lesbian and gay rights movement had an inauspicious birth, starting as it did with the "We Demand" rally, held on a rainy, cold Saturday in August 1971 on a near-empty Parliament Hill. In response, a number of gay men gathered in Ottawa to found Gays of Ottawa (go). Rapidly, go became a pro...
| Published in: | Canadian Historical Review Vol. 99; no. 4; pp. 594 - 623 |
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| Format: | Article |
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University of Toronto Press
Dec2018
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=133235314&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 133235314 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00083755 CHR jtl: Canadian Historical Review issn: 00083755 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Dec2018 vid: 99 iid: 4 pid: 678 pub: University of Toronto Press artinfo: ui: 133235314 10.3138/chr.2016-0001 ppf: 594 ppct: 29 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 223KB tig: atl: "We Had Become a Community":Gays of Ottawa (go) and the Birth of Community, 1971–7. aug: au: Graydon, Michael E. su: Public demonstrations Gay rights movement Gay people Gay people in the civil service Royal Canadian Mounted Police sug: subj: Public demonstrations Gay rights movement Gay people Gay people in the civil service Royal Canadian Mounted Police keyword: bath raids gay history gay rights lesbian and gay history rcmp descentes dans les saunas droits des gais GRC histoire de l'homosexualité histoire des lesbiennes et des gais ab: Canada's lesbian and gay rights movement had an inauspicious birth, starting as it did with the "We Demand" rally, held on a rainy, cold Saturday in August 1971 on a near-empty Parliament Hill. In response, a number of gay men gathered in Ottawa to found Gays of Ottawa (go). Rapidly, go became a prominent organization within the country's gay rights movement, remaining in operation until 1995. Born into an era when homosexuality was deeply stigmatized, lesbians and gays in Ottawa experienced additional anxieties due to rcmp efforts to remove homosexuals from the federal civil service. Convincing this anxious population to organize – to realize its potential as a community – was the task go set itself. Based on a comprehensive study of go from 1971 to 1995, this article considers events that go executive members believed to be instrumental to creating community. It focuses on the years 1971–7, during which go hosted community dances to foster a sense of community. More importantly, go directly lobbied Ottawa City Council and resisted Ottawa Police actions against gay men. As a result, go came to believe that "we became the community." Le mouvement en faveur des droits des lesbiennes et des gais au Canada est né sous un mauvais jour, puisqu'il a commencé par le rassemblement « We Demand », tenu sur une Colline du Parlement presque déserte, un samedi pluvieux et froid d'aoÛt 1971. En réaction, un certain nombre d'hommes gais se sont réunis à Ottawa pour fonder l'association Gays of Ottawa (GO), qui est vite devenue une organisation de premier plan au pays au sein du mouvement en faveur des droits des gais et qui a continué d'exister jusqu'en 1995. À une époque où l'homosexualité était profondément stigmatisée, les lesbiennes et les gais d'Ottawa ont connu d'autres angoisses dues aux efforts de la GRC pour chasser les homosexuels de la fonction publique fédérale. GO s'est donné pour mission de convaincre cette population anxieuse de s'organiser — de réaliser son potentiel en tant que communauté. Reposant sur une étude détaillée de GO de 1971 à 1995, le présent article traite d'événements qui, selon les dirigeants de GO, ont contribué à la création d'une communauté. Il se concentre sur les années 1971 à 1977, au cours desquelles GO a organisé des danses communautaires pour stimuler le sentiment d'appartenance. Chose plus importante, l'association a fait pression directement auprès du conseil municipal d'Ottawa et a résisté aux interventions de la Police d'Ottawa contre les hommes gais. En conséquence, GO en est venue à croire qu'elle « était devenue la communauté ». à venir] pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Canadian Historical Review is the property of University of Toronto Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Canadian Historical Review holder: University of Toronto Press dt: @attributes: year: 2018 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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