The Trials of the Body Politic

Men Loving Boys Loving Men and Other TBP Cases
...and more events of the time

1. Note on Sources
2. Men Loving Boys Loving Men
   • Main Case and other contemporaneous events
   • Warrants and Materials
3. The Lust Case

• Publication of Issue 39 (40)

  [Issue 39 of The Body Politic, dated Dec 1977 / Jan 1978, included the article "Men Loving Boys Loving Men" -- hereafter "MLBLM". RB / 17/5/97]

• Claire Hoy Toronto Sun column: "Our taxes help promote abuse of children" (40)

  [Media stories noted here are on file in the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives' collection of general periodicals. See also accession 83-010 / 04 of the records of The Body Politic and Pink Triangle Press for related materal. RB / 17/5/97]

• Toronto Sun story: "Big Brothers' gay slur fury!" (40)
• Claire Hoy column: "Kids, not rights, is their craving" (40)

• Toronto Sun editorial: "Bawdy politic" (40)
• Sun on-the-street interview column asks for reactions to "recent articles in a homosexual publication which advocated the seduction of children" (40)
• TBP issues press release asserting right to discuss controversial issues.
• Collective hires lawyer Clayton Ruby (83)

• Globe and Mail: Attorney-General Roy McMurtry "appalled" by article "as described in news reports" (40)
• CTV news: McMurtry says it will "set back the cause" (40)
• CITY-TV: Hoy says he's spoken to cabinet, premier, urging action (40)

• First community meeting to plan response to Anita Bryant visit (40)

• Sun: "Crown to study sex mag": York Crown Atty consulted by Morality Squad re laying charges (40)
• 5 pm: Five police offices search TBP office for 3 1/2 hrs. Ed Jackson calls Clayton Ruby to the scene. He offers police "admission of any evidence they might request related to the charges pending," but they refuse and take away 12 large shipping boxes of material, including business records, unopened mail, manuscripts, subscription lists and all copies of The Joy of Gay Sex, The Joy of Lesbian Sex and Loving Man, on hand as stock for the Press's book mail-order service. (40)

• Press conference at TBP office (40)

• Ruby initiates Supreme Court of Ontario action to quash warrant; tentative hearing date: 7 May 1978 (40; see further details under Warrant/Materials Cases, below)

• Globe: Joanne Kates: "Impolitic moves" (40, and copy on file; very supportive)
• The Body Politic Free the Press Fund (TBPFTPF) set up. Listed in Issue 40 with names of 10 directors, 5 men, 5 women: Chris Bearchell, Tim Guest, Heather Ramsay, Gordon Montador, Lorna Weir, David Mole, Pat Leslie, Bob Brosius, Naomi Brooks, Tim McCaskell (only Tim and Chris are on the collective). Fund is administered in trust by lawyer Lynn King of Cornish, King, Sachs and Waldman; TBP cannot tap fund for operating expenses. (4 Jan date is from Issue 83, which also says this was when support letter to subscribers went out. I say in Issue 40 that $12,000 has come in. See "Support: loud and strong," p 9 for other reactions (eg: demos, tourism boycott suggested by SF City Supervisor Harvey Milk). See also support updates Issue 41 p 5; 42 p 4; 43 p 5; and some beyond)

• Sun editorial: "Depravity": TBP "a crummy dirty publication without a redeeming feature" (40; we liked the line: see ad Issue 41, p 7)
• Charges laid against Press and officers, president Ken Popert, secretary Ed Jackson and treasurer Gerald Hannon, under Section 159, possession of obscene material for the purpose of distribution (Loving Man), and Section 164, use of the mails for the purpose of transmitting anything that is obscene, indecent, immoral or scurrilous (Issue 39). (40)
• 200 people at meeting to plan response to Bryant visit (40; is this the one where Joanne Kates saved our necks? See 10th anniv issue, Jan-Feb 1982)

• Saturday night rally at St Lawrence Mkt to protest visit of Anita Bryant; more than 1,000 attend, later march up Yonge St; largest gay demo in city to date, support for TBP one of the chants (40)

• Demo against Bryant outside People's Church; 500 attend (40)

• Ken, Ed, Gerald appear in court for setting of trial date: Jun 26, 1978 (40)

• Issue 40 appears, 3 weeks late (83)
• TBPFTPF holds benefit screening of Word is Out (83)

• Emanuel Jaques murder trial begins (41)

  [Trial of four men accused in what the media called the "homosexual orgy slaying" of 12-year-old Jaques in July 1977. RB / 17/5/97]

• 5,000 in London protest blasphemy charge against Gay News; support TBP (41)

• Hoy column: Tide turns on homosexuals (arts council to cut TBP funding, 41)

• Gay News loses appeal (42)

• Verdicts in Jaques trial; sentencing 22 Mar (42)

• Sun editorial: Peter Worthington distinguishes "decent homosexuals" from "dingbats and creeps." (45 p 8)

• Ontario Arts Council refuses TBP summer employment grant "while charges under the Criminal Code are pending" (44)

• Trial date, initially set for 26 Jun, delayed, possibly to January 1979. Crown Attorney Gerald [sic; actually Jerome] Wylie asks for time off to get married, doesn't show up for two date-setting appearances (45)

• Karsten Kossman quits Ontario Arts Council over handling of TBP grant (45)

• Anti-porn priest Brad Massman asks Brent Hawkes to testify against TBP. He refuses (47)

  [Rev. Brent Hawkes was -- and remains -- pastor of Toronto's Metropolitan Community Church (MCC). RB / 17/5/97]

• Trial date set for 2 Jan 1979. Still no decision whether Crown will proceed by summary or indictment: story says we wanted a jury trial. (46; date cited in 83)

• John Money and June Callwood (among others) have agreed to testify for TBP (83)

• TBP drops appeal against Canada Customs over Men Loving Men (not to be confused with Loving Man, seized in raid) (47, p 11)

• Sgt Mike Jennings and PC Mace Armstrong of Operation P make "rude and unpleasant" visit to Brent Hawkes (47)

• Ontario Arts Council gives TBP $1,650 grant; Sun runs stories on it for four consecutive days (see Issue 49 chronology); culture minister Reuben Baetz knocks the OAC; Ruby asks the Ombudsman to investigate Baetz (see Aug 1980, below); TBP writes Bill Davis (48; date from Flaunting It!; Issue 49 says 6 Oct)

  [William Davis was premier of Ontario. RB / 17/5/97]

• Supreme Court of Canada hears Gay Tide case (48)

  [First gay-related case ever to reach the Supreme Court, growing from the November 1973 refusal by the Vancouver Sun to run a classified ad for Gay Tide, published by Vancouver's Gay Alliance Toward Equalty. RB / 17/5/97]

• Harvey Milk and SF Mayor George Moscone assassinated by former cop Dan White.

• Raid on the Barracks, early hours of Saturday morning (50)
• Organizing meeting held Saturday afternoon by TBP, GATE, including bath owners and people charged as found-ins; issues leaflet for mass meeting (50)

  [GATE: Toronto's Gay Alliance Toward Equality. RB / 17/5/97]

• 400 attend Barracks meeting at 519 (50)

  [519: The 519 Church Street Community Centre, run by the City of Toronto and a frequent venue for gay meetings. RB / 17/5/97]

• Barracks press conference: George Hislop, Michael Lynch, Tom Warner, Michael Laking, John Lee, Mariana Valverde (50)

• Demo to protest Barracks raid. 400 people march from 519 to City Hall. Rally speakers include Alderman Dan Heap, Tim McCaskell, Brent Hawkes (50)

• "Raid!" A benefit party for The Body Politic on the anniversary of the police raid, The Dream Factory, 460 Queen Street East, after 9 pm. Sponsors: Pink Triangle Press and antinormal. Performers include: "Tony Malone of Drastic Measures with Glenn Schellenberg of The Everglades and the members of antinormal, in their first appearance as The Beds," David Buchan as LaMonte Del Monte, and David Roche. (Issue 50, and party invite, as sources)

• Provincial court trial begins at Old City Hall, before Judge Sydney Harris. Crown had proceeded summarily, not by indictment. The word "obscene" dropped from the charge related to Issue 39 [though I can't find reports of this in TBP; check Centerfold, Feb-Mar 79, for this many other details]. Testimony continues for six days. The prosecution calls seven witnesses, including the police sergeant involved in the original investigation, three psychological experts, a Catholic priest, Claire Hoy and fundamentalist minister Ken Campbell. Testifying for TBP are: sexologist John Money; psychologist Leonard Goldsmith; psychiatrist Frank Sommers; theologians James Reed, Eilert Frerichs, Clifford Elliot and Leslie Dewart; sociologist Thelma McCormack; journalists June Callwood, Bill Dampier and Paul Ogden; and Ottawa gay activist David Garmaise. Judge Harris reserved decision until Feb 14 ( 50)

• TBPFTPF rally, UTS Auditorium. Emcee: George Hislop. Performances by: Lorraine Segato; General Idea (Felix Partz, AA Bronson and Jorge Zontal); performance artists Randy and Berneche [sic; Randy Gledhill and I think Berenicci Hershorn], Marione Lewis and Lisa Steele; Clive Robertson of Centerfold [now Fuse; Lisa and Clive were co-editors]; and The Clichettes. Speakers include Joanne Kates; Gordon Montador introducing Gerald, Ed and Ken, with Gerald speaking on their behalf; David McLean [then 20 yrs old, I think, speaking on problems of gay youth]; Chris Bearchell - and Mayor John Sewell (50)
• Media coverage of trial and rally extensive, especially regarding Sewell's speech. See: "Media: getting (some of) the picture", Issue 50 p 8

• Judge Harris hears final summations from defence counsel Clayton Ruby and Crown Attorney Jerome Wiley (62)

• In a 45-page verdict, Judge Harris acquits. Wiley announces withdrawal of obscenity charge related to Loving Man (51)

• Eldon Woolliams, Tory MP for Calgary South, rises in House of Commons to cite verdict as evidence of need for stronger obscenity laws "to protect young children against this kind of propaganda." Pending Bill C-21 would prevent nude depictions of anyone under 16 (51) Toronto Star reports on verdict with top-of-page-one headline: "Now give us Wintario cash, Body Politic says," based on brief comments on past grants in post-acquittal press conference. I call Borden Spears, senior editor, demand correction (51)

• Star runs a correction, bottom of page 2: "Body Politic not seeking grant". In the same issue the Star editorialized: "Tolerance is not public support," accusing TBP of making "provocative" and "truculent" demands - based on its own false story. In emergency meeting that night, collective decides to sue the Star for libel (51)

• TBP announces suit against the Star in press conference at City Hall (51)

• In Issue 51, Mar-Apr 79 (an unscheduled double issue - to give us a break), TBP takes pgs 21-27 to reprint "Men loving boys loving men" in full, along with a 2-1/2-pg assessment, "Another look", dealing with feminist critiques (made by supporters), issues of social power, protection/ control of young people and consent vs coercion.

• Sgt Mike Jennings delivers to TBP officers notice of Crown appeal of MLBLM acquittal, authorized by A-G and citing eight errors of law (52)

• McMurtry, previously having said that an appeal could look like harassment of gay community, tells CBC Radio it is "purely a legal appeal" (52)
• Two dozen people calling themselves "Concerned Citizens of Toronto" demonstrate at Queen's Park calling for protection of children from "militant homosexuals." A lone counter-demonstrator, James Fraser of the Canadian Gay Archives, carries a placard that says "Read The Body Politic" (52)

• Playwright John Herbert announces plan to contact theatre producers to present his Fortune and Men's Eyes as a TBP benefit. James Baldwin in Paris, Carl Menninger and David Rothenberg in NYC express interest (52)
• Protests signed by members of GATE, MCC and the Int Women's Day Cttee. Freedom of Expression Cttee of Book and Periodical Development Council writes to McMurtry asking him to drop appeal (52)
• TBP, faced with appeal battle, decides to drop Star suit (52; no date given for decision; see minutes?)

• Ontario Arts Council, citing "uncertain judicial situation" of TBP and worried about "putting a young person on a Government salary ... inside such an operation," refuses summer employment grant (53)

• In its June 79 issue, TBP publishes Jane Rule's "Teaching Sexuality". "If we accepted sexual behaviour between children and adults, we would be far more able to protect our children from abuse and exploitation than we are now. They would be free to tell us .. and to have our sympathy and support instead of our mute and mistrustful terror."

• Dan White wins "twinkie defense" in murders of George Moscone and Harvey Milk; San Francisco riots; Michael Lynch declares The End of the "Human Rights" Decade in TBP's July issue (54)

• Supreme Court of Canada rules against Gay Tide (54)

• Seven activists (Ken Hancock, Harvey Hamburg, Mark Whitehead, John Alan Lee, Clarence Barnes, Jim McNeil and Don Barlow) stage "sit-in for gay justice" at A-G's office, 18th fl, 17 King St E. Main focus of protest is police harassment and stonewalling by Metro Toronto Police Commission (56; see many earlier related stories on Police Commission)

• Sit in ends, 11 am. McMurtry had written to Brent Hawkes 21 Aug, agreeing to a meeting with the gay community; on 31 Aug clarifies that he will not discuss any matter "related to cases before the Courts" (57)

• Hot Tub Club, 9 Isabella, and four private homes raided (58)

• Ontario Arts Council, for the first time overturning a council jury decision, refuses a $1,000 grant to TBP (58)

• "Mince-in" by seven men at Ontario legislature to pressure McMurtry; he says 30 Oct he'll "meet with a small group" in his office (59)

• Date set for County Court hearing of Crown appeal of 14 Feb acquittal: 7 Feb 1980 (59; no specific date given for announcement)

• Opening of Barracks trial; defence asks for adjournment to prepare constitutional challenge to bawdy-house laws (59)

• George Hislop, under charge in the Barracks case, elected by City Council to 3-yr term on Planning Board; considers Ward 6 aldermanic run (60)

• Date set for Hot Tub trial: 8 Sep 1980 (60)

• An ad, nearly a full page, appears in The Globe and Mail, signed by more than 800 people, saying "We urge the Attorney-General of Ontario to drop the appeal against The Body Politic. Not guilty means not guilty." The $9,000 ad was paid for by donations from the signatories, and placed by TBPFTPF (61)

• Hearing of Crown appeal of 14 Feb 1979 acquittal begins before County Court Judge George Ferguson. "Well-known Toronto appeal counsel" [and later A-G in the Peterson govt] Ian Scott applies for and obtains permission to intervene for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, arguing that Section 164 of the Criminal Code should be struck down as a violation of press-freedom provisions in the Canadian Bill of Rights. At the close of hearings 8 Feb, Judge Ferguson says he will rule 29 Feb 1980 (61)

  [The Liberal Party, under David Peterson, was elected to govern Ontario in 1985. Later, after out of office, Ian Scott came out publicly as gay. RB / 17/5/97]

• Groups in Halifax, Fredericton, Edmonton and Vancouver celebrate the first annual Pink Triangle Day, proposed at the 1979 national conference in Ottawa as a national gay holiday in honour of TBP's 14 Feb 1979 acquittal (61)

• In a 33-page decision, County Court Judge George Ferguson rules that Provincial Court Judge Sydney Harris made several serious errors of law in his 14 Feb 1979 decision, sets aside TBP's acquittal and orders a new trial (62)

• TBP decides to appeal Judge Ferguson's ruling to the Ontario Court of Appeal, the province's highest court (62)

• Clayton Ruby files notice of appeal, citing 22 errors of law in Judge Ferguson's decision. No date is set for a hearing (63)

• McMurtry meets with five gay activists: Peter Maloney, George Hislop, Brent Hawkes, John Alan Lee and Chris Bearchell. The A-G arrives 20 minutes late, make a few comments, and turns things over to an assistant. (63)

• Supreme Court of Ontario rejects jury trial for those charged as keepers at the Barracks. The decision is to be taken before the Ontario Court of Appeal (63)

• Montreal police raid Sauna David, lay 61 bawdy-house charges; 1,000 protest 3 nights later (64)

• George Hislop wins backing of the Ward 6 Community Organization in his aldermanic bid (64)

• Ontario Ombudsman rules on Sep 1978 complaint by TBP against Arts Council for refusing to offer summer employment grant. The ruling says the Council was justified in its concern "that a youth might find himself/herself working in a criminal environment" (66)

• In The Globe and Mail, Dr Jerry Cooper, Crown expert witness in the MLBLM trial, says "When I look at a case I always ask the lawyer what he wants. When a lawyer is happy and his client is happy, then I'm happy. ... Depending on the defence, I can find anyone insane." (66)

• Mayor John Sewell announces his support for George Hislop in upcoming civic elections (67)

• Ontario Court of Appeal rejects bid for jury trial in Barracks keepers' case. Defendants announce they will seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. (67)

• Five plead guilty to keeper charges in connection with 11 Oct 1979 Hot Tub Club raid. (67)

• Provincial Court Judge Thomas Mercer [later to try TBP, twice] dismisses charges against two accused found-in at Hot Tub Club, finds three others guilty but gives each an absolute discharge (68)

• Toronto municipal election: Hislop comes in third; Sewell loses to Art Eggleton by just over 1 percent of the vote (69)

• Seventeen men accused as found-ins at the Barracks appear "for about the 10th time" in Provincial Court, "only to be told that they will have to return again April 9, 1981 to set a date for trial." (69)

• Supreme Court of Canada refuses to hear appeal in the Barracks keepers case (69)

• In its Dec 80-Jan 81 issue, TBP begins ongoing World News coverage of the trial of five members of the UK's Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE), charged in Aug 79 with "conspiracy to corrupt public morals."

• Bill 209, to amend the Ontario Human Rights Code, introduced in legislature. Despite a 1977 recommendation in the Commission's own report, Life Together, sexual orientation is not included (70)

• Claire Hoy reports that Ontario NDP leader Michael Cassidy has said that gay rights "are not a priority at this time." A provincial election is pending (70)

  [The Ontario New Democratic Party had previously supported inclusion of "sexual orientation" as a prohibited ground of discrimination in the provincial Human Rights Code. RB / 17/5/97]

• North York alderman Ron Summers calls on city libraries to ban TBP (70)

• Issue 70 of TBP carries 1-page news analysis of 4th annual NAMBLA (North American Man-Boy Love Association) conference in Boston, in the wake of the Boston Sex Scandal, beginning in 1977.

• More than 280 arrested in Toronto Bath Raids. 3,000 demonstrate the following night; 4,000 the night of 20 Feb. Undercover police infiltrate demos, including Morality Bureau officer Richard Dewhirst, who in 1979 was involved in a washroom bust at the Parkside that led to the death of a man in custody (71, 72)

• Atty-General Roy McMurtry is quoted in the Toronto Sun, saying the gay community is not well-served by its leaders, who are "bent on confrontation," citing "an article celebrating pedophilia" in TBP (72)

• Clayton Ruby makes application before the Ontario Court of Appeal to have McMurtry cited for contempt, as attempting to influence a case before that court's 5-man panel that very day: TBP's appeal of County Court Judge George Ferguson's 29 Apr 1980 decision, ordering TBP to face retrial (72)
• The Court of Appeal rejects Ruby's contempt application - and awards McMurtry's court costs against TBP (72)

• The Court of Appeal reserves judgment in TBP's appeal of Judge Ferguson's decision (72)

• Gay Freedom Rally at St Lawrence Mkt; crowd of 1,200 addressed by Maryka Omatsu, acting director of Cdn Human Rights Commission, Jacques Bergeron of the Quebec Human Rights Commission, Toronto Labour Council president Wally Majesky, MP Svend Robinson, writers Laurier Lapierre and Margaret Atwood. Entertainment provided by The Nylons (71)

• Ontario provincial election: The Tories, in power since 1943, win 70 seats, Liberals 34, NDP 21 (down from 33). George Hislop had run as a protest candidate in Toronto's St George riding, where all major party candidates, including Tory victor Susan Fish, supported inclusion of sexual orientation in the OHRC (73)

• The Ontario Court of Appeal upholds the 29 Feb 1980 County Court decision setting aside TBP's 14 Feb 1979 acquittal (73)

• The collective instructs Clayton Ruby to seek permission for appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada (73, date from 83)

• Trial of accused Barracks keepers (George Hislop, Rick Stenhouse, Jerry Levy, Paul Gaudet and Andy Fabo) begins at Old City Hall. The Crown enters boxes of sex toys in evidence 31 Mar; brings in PC Mace Armstrong 8 Apr as an expert witness on them; he confesses ignorance. Morality Sgt Thomas Stephen also testifies (73)

• In the middle of the Barracks keepers trial, police charge Hislop, Stenhouse, Levy, US Club Bath owners Jack Campbell and Ray Diemer, and Toronto anti-cop lawyer Peter Maloney with conspiracy to possess proceeds obtained by crime, keep a common bawdy house, and sell obscene material - all those sex toys (74)

• Barracks keepers trial concludes; Judge Harold Rice reserves judgment to 25 May (74)

• Pisces Spa in Edmonton raided, 60 charged (75)

• Judge Rice says that while gay sex is not indecent, it is if anybody can see it, and convicts employees Fabo and Gaudet, acquitting Hislop, Levy and Stenhouse, as keepers in Barracks case. 2,000 protest that night at the corner of Yonge and Wellesley (75)

• Three-man panel of Supreme Court of Canada (Bora Laskin, G B Dickson and W R McIntyre) reserves judgment in TBP's appeal of 25 Mar Ontario Court of Appeal decision (75)

• 3 pm: Ten officers from Intelligence Bureau raid the Back Door Gym, Elm St, charging 3 as keepers, 8 as found-ins (including an electrician doing work on the premises) (75). Police simultaneously raid the International Steam Bath, Spadina Ave, charging one as a keeper and 9 as found-ins (TBP Newsbreak, Supplement to Jul-Aug 81 issue)

• Two-thousand protest, beginning again at Yonge & Wellesley, moving to police HQ at 590 Jarvis. Dispersing demonstrators are attacked by bashers; The Battle of Church Street ensues. Three people, including TBP's Tim McCaskell and Ken Popert (hit by a police cruiser) are seriously enough injured to require treatment. Demo results in 6 arrests, none of them of the bashers (TBP Newsbreak)

• Justices Laskin, Dickson and McIntyre rule that the Supreme Court of Canada will not hear TBP's appeal of the 25 Mar Ontario Court of Appeal decision. The order for retrial stands; TBP reports it may be back in Provincial Court by Jan 82 (78)

• In its Nov 81 issue, TBP publishes a 2-page review, titled "The subject that refuses to go away", of Paedophilia: The Radical Case, a book by Tom O'Carroll, convicted of conspiracy in the UK PIE trials.

• Last of Barracks found-in cases heard. They had "slipped through the courts without the organized community being aware it was happening"; about three quarters of the 22 charged pleaded guilty (78)

• Five charged as keepers of the Romans' II sauna after 5 Feb 81 raids plead guilty, calling legal status of those charged as found-ins into doubt (79)

• US Club Bath magnate Jack Campbell flies into town to plead guilty to conspiracy, arrange to pay a $40,000 fine in four annual installments, and flies back out, leaving others charged in the lurch (80)

• Trials of hundreds of men charged in the 5 Feb 1981 bath raids begin in earnest with case of those accused as keepers of the Richmond St Health Emporium. "For the first time the courts felt the impact of the gay community's resolve to defend itself: one after another, alleged found-ins and keepers ... entered 'not guilty' pleas." (80)

• Sgt Mike Jennings serves summonses on Ken Popert, Gerald Hannon and Ed Jackson at TBP office, ordering them to appear 21 Dec for setting of new Provincial Court trial date (80)

• Ontario legislature defeats a private member's bill that would have included sexual orientation in the Human Rights Code. Protesters handcuff themselves to railing of visitors' gallery (80)

• Date set for retrial of Issue 39 and MLBLM in Provincial Court: 31 May 82 (81)

• Toronto Alderman Joe Piccininni tries to get TBP kicked out of City Hall press gallery and out of city schools following Mar 82 cover story on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, calling it "a filthy piece of garbage." Mayor Art Eggleton supports his motion; the vote is 13 to 10 in favour, but requires a two-thirds majority to pass. (82)

• TBP published Issue 82, Apr 1982, including 2-pg Back Page called "Lust with a very proper stranger", an article by the pseudonymous "Angus MacKenzie" on the etiquette of fist-fucking. See Lust case, below.

• Senior Morality officers Sgt Thomas Stephen and Staff Sgt Peter Basset charge Glad Day Bookshop clerk (and TBP writer) Kevin Orr under Section 159 for "possession of obscene material for the purpose of sale." Charges relate to two magazines, The Leatherman and Come Watch. This charge and a May 7 raid on TBP (see Lust case), are both initiated by Crown Attorney Peter deJulio (84)

• Newly formed Toronto Gay Community Council hold press conference, shows "examples of readily available heterosexual material which had escaped the Morality Bureau's attention" (84). Later investigation shows that the same two magazines subject to charge at Glad Day are available "at 49 other milk and tobacco stores in and around Toronto" (86)

• Seven hundred demonstrators gather at Yonge & Wellesley, march to 590 Jarvis, protesting "the actions of the police, the decisions of courts, and the thrust of government legislation" (84)

• Second provincial court trial of Issue 39 and MLBLM opens at College Park before Judge Thomas Mercer. Crown calls no witnesses, Defence calls: broadcaster Patrick Watson; CBC producer Max Allen; Kingston Whig Standard editor-in-chief Michael Cobden; Peter Desbarats, dean of journalism at U of Western Ontario; Dorothy Smith, sociology prof at OISE; Lynne Cunningham, managing editor of Quest magazine; journalist Joanne Kates; U of T chaplain Eilert Frerichs; Humber College journalism teacher Eleanor Wright Pelrine; TGH psychologist Rosemary Barnes; Dr Randy Coates, U of T professors Thom Greenfield and Michael Lynch, York lecturer Lorna Weir and MCC pastor Brent Hawkes - the last six all as "avowed homosexuals" testifying to TBP's community role, Testimony covers 4 days (I think; 85 unclear on this).

• Accepting Clayton Ruby's argument that the Crown has not proven personal involvement on the part of Ed Jackson, Gerald Hannon and Ken Popert in publication of MLBLM, Judge Mercer rules that the appearance of their names in the masthead constitutes only hearsay evidence and acquits them (but not the Press) on the last day of trial (85)

• Judge Thomas Mercer finds that MLBLM "does, in fact, advocate pedophilia," but in spite of that would be tolerated by the Canadian community. He acquits the Press. Ruby cites creation of precedent: "It is perfectly legal to advocate what in itself would be unacceptable to most Canadians" (85)

• Claire Hoy in the Toronto Sun calls the decision "sick" (85)
• Rev Ken Campbell, prosecution witness in the first MLBLM trail, says "I can see that someone in the government of Ontario is out to deny the fundamental human rights of homosexuals and (TBP's) right to publish for them." He says the court should award costs to TBP. "It is a horrendous thing that a publisher should be dragged through the courts twice, acquitted twice, and still have to pay the shot. A government that plays that game should also pay for the game." (85)
• Crown Attorney Peter Griffiths tells TBP that Judge Mercer's decision is "under review" and that an appeal could be launched within 10 days (85)

• Deputy Attorney-General A Rendall Dick launches appeal of Judge Mercer's 15 Jun acquittal of the Press (but does not challenge acquittals of Ken, Ed and Gerald). Clayton Ruby calls it "the most appealed summary conviction [sic; meaning case: there was no conviction] in the history of mankind" A-G Roy McMurtry says harassment "is in no way a factor," and has "no difficulty understanding why the Crown law office would want to clarify the law." (86)

• About 80 delegates to the International Gay Association meeting in Washington picket the Canadian Embassy in protest over "triple jeopardy."

• The Globe and Mail asks in an editorial, "Does the Attorney General's office intend to go on prosecuting until it finds a court that will convict? Does it think that is justice?" (86)
• Editor (and defence witness) Michael Cobden says "if pedophilia were an issue in Kingston, then I would not hesitate to publish 'Men loving boys loving men' in the Whig Standard, with some editing, but only for stylistic reasons." (86)

• TBP reports that Kevin Orr's trial in the Glad Day case has been remanded to late 1982 or early 1983 (86)

• Tally in bath raid trials: Total charged: 304; Trials completed: 52; Wins: 214 (86)

  [Figures should have read: Total charged 304; Trials completed: 252; Wins: 214. RB / 17/5/97]

• Child pornographer? Glad Day Defence Fund ad, p 2, Issue 87 of TBP, says Kevin Orr will go to trial 28 Jan 1983, his 21st birthday.

• TBP reports it expects hearing of the Crown's appeal of the 15 Jun 1982 acquittal to happen on Jan 6 or 7, 1983 (88)

• In a meeting of the Ontario legislature's Standing Committee of the Administration of Justice, A-G Roy McMurtry says his ministry was prepared to argue the appeal before Christmas, blaming Ruby's schedule for a delay until February. "Not true," Ruby say. "I offered December and January dates to the Crown but they never got back to me. Now I don't have any time available until April. They're not in a hurry to push the appeal." (90)

• Trial of Kevin Orr opens before Provincial Court Judge David Vanek, with Crown Attorney Sal Muranda acting for the prosecution, lawyer Dianne Martin for the defence. The Crown calls arresting officer Sgt Thomas Stephen (by now affectionately known as Tommy). Kevin Orr testifies in his own defence. Judge Vanek reserves judgment to 18 Feb 1983 (91)

• In a 2-hour verdict, delivered before a courtroom from which he ordered all those under 16 barred, with guards posted at the door and with apologies to the court reporter for the "embarrassing" language she was about to hear, Judge Vanek find Kevin Orr guilty in the Glad Day case. "You were just a pawn in this game," Vanek tells Kevin, granting him a conditional discharge with 2-years probation. Dianne Martin announces the decision will be appealed (92)

• The 87% Solution: In a 2-pg feature on bawdy-house trials in its Apr 83 issue, TBP reports that of 450 cases growing from the raids in both Montreal and Toronto, 87 percent have resulted in acquittals (92)

• TBP reports in a 2-inch news brief that it "heads back to court June 13-14 ... for the Crown's second appeal of the second acquittal of the first charge ... Five and a half years and $100,000 in legal costs later, it could be back to square one" (93)

• 11 pm: Fifteen cops led by Sgt Tommy Stephen raid the Back Door Gym and arrest 9 men, 6 as found-ins, one as a keeper and 2 as "inmates" (94)

• 10 pm: 1,000 demonstrate at Yonge & Wellesley. For the first time police block the intended route south; chief marshall Bob Gallagher turns the crowd north up Yonge, where cops also try to block the way. After a 5-minute sit-in the police surrender the street to marchers who end up, again, at Police HQ, 590 Jarvis St. There are three arrests (94)

• In Issue 94, Jun 83, TBP runs a 1-page analysis, flagged Children and titled "Big Brothers: pedo-panic, role-model rigidity".

• Without warrant or writ of assistance, two RCMP officers seize 117 copies of various magazines from Glad Day - and return them the next day (95)

• Justice minister Mark MacGuigan introduced a bill to amend the Criminal Code of Canada to broaden the definition of obscenity to include "undue exploitation of sex, crime, horror or cruelty through degrading representations" (96)

• In its Oct 83 issue, TBP reports a Quebec press council case urging "objectivity on pedophilia."

• County Court Judge Patricia German, hearing the Crown's appeal of Judge Thomas Mercer's 15 Jun 82 acquittal of TBP in the second MLBLM trial, rules in a decision dated 10 Sep that the Mercer had not erred in law in dismissing charges, and upholds the acquittal (98)

• The Ontario A-G indicates in an interview that the Crown will probably not appeal Judge German's decision. "I regret as much as anyone else that the matter went on as long as it did," McMurtry told a CBC radio reporter. "If we had some reasonably clear judgment at the provincial court level this would have all been avoided."

• 12:01 am: Deadline for Crown appeal of Judge German's decision passes without action. TBP reports in its Nov 1983 issue: "After almost six years, two provincial court trials, three other separate court actions, six appeals, two trips to the Supreme Court of Canada, and more than $100,000 in legal bills, it was finally over. What had begun on December 30, 1977 with a bang ... ended with a whimper.... The 'Men Loving Boys Loving Men' case had come to an end at last. And The Body Politic had won. For good." But we go on....

• 3:15 am: Two police officers raid a TBP party, the last BYOB bash at 24 Duncan St, charging Ed Jackson and Kevin Orr with "unlawfully keeping liquor for sale." Collective member Danny Cockerline is arrested, in a little blue dress, for public intoxication and is held at 52 Division until the next morning. Jackson and Orr are to appear in court 27 Feb for setting of a trial date, "although lawyers are confident the evidence that liquor was not being sold is so clear that the case will be dismissed." (101)

• In her appeal of Kevin Orr's 4 Mar 83 conviction in the Glad Day case, defence counsel Dianne Martin argues before Ontario Supreme Court [sic; later reported as Ontario Court of Appeal] Judge Ian Cartwright that Provincial Court Judge David Vanek had erred in law, having applied the 100-year-old Hicklin test for obscenity (tendency to deprave or corrupt, which had been struck down in 1962) rather than the superseding community standards test. Judge Cartwright reserved his decision (102, p 8)

• Three of seven men, including long-time TBP contributor and now staff member Paul Aboud, charged after the 5 Feb 1981 Bath Raids with keeping a common bawdy house at the Club Baths, are discharged at preliminary hearing for lack of evidence. Jury trial dates for the others are to be set 11 May. "Is this the last of these cases?" Judge Charles Paris asks. "I'm going out to buy a bottle of champagne to celebrate." (Xtra # 3, 7 Apr 84)

• Ontario Court of Appeal Judge Ian Cartwright overturns the conviction of Kevin Orr and orders a new trial. "Orr and his counsel were 'thrilled" ... at the chance to strike down a precedent that severely limits the depiction of gay sex." A date for the second trial is not yet set (103, p 10) (No further reporting appears. I believe police failed to find Kevin to serve him with a subpoena for trial, and that the Crown let the case drop. Kevin can confirm.)

• Ed Jackson and Kevin Orr appear for trial on liquor charges following the 29 Jan 84 booze-can bust on TBP party. An additional charge, "displaying liquor to public view," had been laid a few weeks after the bust. Before trial begins, the Crown offers a plea bargain: charges would be dropped against one defendant if the other would plead guilty and pay a $100 fine. Defence counsel Robert Coates refuses. "The thought of a trial, of whatever duration, was too much for the Crown attorney. Ignoring the cop's objections, he made his Final Offer: both charges withdrawn against both people. Oh, all right...." (Xtra # 7, 2 Jun 84)

• During preliminary hearing for trial (expected to be by jury, in April 1985) on conspiracy charges laid in April 1981 against Rick Stenhouse, Jerry Levy, Peter Maloney, Ray Diemer and George Hislop, the Crown decides not to proceed, offering the defendants deals. All charges against Hislop and Maloney in connection with the 5 Feb 81 raids are dropped in return for an arrangement that prevents them suing for malicious prosecution. The mass of charges confronting the others are withdrawn in exchange for guilty pleas to one charge each. Diemer is fined $30,000 for keeping a common bawdyhouse at the Barracks; Levy $8,000 for keeping at the Club; Stenhouse $2,000 for possessing obscene material. Final cases of three men charged as keepers in 1981, employees of the Barracks and the Club, are set for late October (108, pp 9-10)

• Judge David Henry of the Ontario Supreme Court quashes the warrant used in the Back Door Gym and Sauna in April 1983. The Criminal Code section under which it was issued - a holdover from English poor laws aimed at gaming and bawdy houses - violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, he says, and is thus unconstitutional. He orders the return of all material taken in the raid.

• Provincial Court judge John Kerr hears a Crown request to postpone trial in the Back Door case: evidence seized in the April 1983 raid is now under seal (not yet returned, pending an appeal) and thus unavailable for trial. Judge Kerr refuses, ordering trial to take place as scheduled, Dec 17. Later, both defence and Crown agree to postpone to Feb 7, 1985 (110, p 13; 111, p 14)

• In a deal between the accused and the Crown, Back Door owner Alan Fetterly pleads guilty to keeping a common bawdyhouse and is fined $4,000. In return the Crown drops all charges against two other employees and eight customers arrested in the April 1983 raid. TBP reports that the bath raid trials, having begun almost exactly four years before, are now at an end and promises a wrap-up review in the April 1985 issue (112, p 12) (The wrap-up does not appear.)

  ---

  MLBLM Warrant/Materials cases

• Mr Justice Hugh Garrett, Supreme Court of Ontario, hears challenge to legality of warrant used in Dec 30, 1977 raid on TBP; reserves judgment, promised in 2 weeks (41)

• Garrett rejects application to quash warrant, assesses court costs against TBP. Press appeal to "Ontario high court" (sic) to be heard 14 Apr (42)

• 50 demonstrate outside A-G's office to protest warrant decision (42)

• Three-man panel of Ontario Court of Appeal disagrees with reasons for 15 Mar ruling, but refuses to overturn it. TBP seeks leave to appeal to Supreme Court of Canada (43)

• TBP learns that police have obtained a judge's authorization to hold seized material for a further 12-month period (43)

• Police give permission to copy materials at their office (we pay 10 cents a page) (83)

• Three-man panel of Supreme Court of Canada refuses to hear appeal of 14 Apr decision. No reasons given (45)

• TBP discovers by chance that police have warrant to search bank records (83; 47)

• Four cartons of material returned to Ruby's office, including copies of Joy of Gay Sex and Joy of Lesbian Sex, not charged (47)

• In trial, only one item - a copy of Issue 39, publicly available - is presented in evidence (83; 52)

• TBP acquitted on charge related to Issue 39. Charge related to Loving Man dropped (51)
• Ruby begins "pestering the police" for return of the material (52)

• Ruby informs the collective that "word had come down from the A-G's office - none of it was coming back" even though none could be introduced as evidence in the Crown appeal of the 14 Feb acquittal. Ruby says this is unprecedented, the statutes silent on the matter, but says we can try a court challenge. Collective decides not to proceed for now. When asked to return copies of Loving Man, no longer under charge, the A-G's office says "We'll think about it." (52)

• The porn squad would like you to have a few souvenirs: Inside front cover of TBP's June issue offers 33 copies of Loving Man for sale at $25 each, proceeds as donation to TBP (itself; not Fund). Books returned "sixteen months after the raid" (no exact date given) (53)

• TBP seeks a court order for return of material still held by the police (58). Judge Sydney Harris, acting as an ex officio justice of the peace, reserves judgment to 27 Dec (59)

• Harris orders Crown to return all material seized on 30 Dec 1977, and to cover all TBP's costs "on an exemplary, if not punitive, scale" in seeking the court order (60)

• In a Stop Press, TBP reports Crown appeal of Harris's 27 Dec materials decision (60). Notice of appeal, signed 17 Jan, is served on the Press and TBP defendants 23 and 24 Jan. No date is set for the hearing, pending outcome of the Crown's appeal of the 14 Feb 1979 acquittal, to be heard 7 Feb 1980 (61)

• Crown appeal of Harris's 27 Dec 79 decision heard before County Court Judge J Greenwood (82; 81 gives pending date as 26 Feb; 83 chronology gives date as 2 Feb 82)

• Judge Greenwood overturns Harris's decision, allowing the porn squad to keep all material, and reversed Harris's award of costs against the Crown. No appeal is allowed from this decision (82)

• In second provincial court trial of MLBLM, only one item - a copy of Issue 39 - is entered into evidence by the Crown (85)

• TBP acquitted for second time on charge related to Issue 39 (85)

• In its Nov 1983 issue, reporting the end of the MLBLM case with lapse of a deadline for final Crown appeal of a ruling upholding the 15 Jun 82 acquittal, TBP notes that "the eight remaining cartons [of the 12 seized on 30 Dec 1977] are still collecting dust in a police storeroom somewhere."

• "Operation P was authorized in February to return the numerous boxes of material... However, Project officers told TBP they were just too busy to return the boxes right now. Maybe later in May, they said, but if we really wanted the stuff we'd have to come get it ourselves." (Xtra # 6, 19 May 84)

• After pressure from TBP's lawyer, police return the last of the material. Two officers, one in plainclothes, arrive at 9 am at the paper's 54 Wolseley St office, carting boxes up the stairs - seven years, three months and fifteen days after other cops had carted it all down five flights at 24 Duncan St (115)
• (The material returned on 15 April 1985 now makes up Boxes 01 through 05 of Accession 85-008 at the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. The handwritten notes on the boxes, listing contents, were made by the police.)

  ---

  Lust with a Very Proper Stranger

  The fisting trial

• Publication of Issue 82, including "Lust with a very proper stranger." Author is "Angus MacKenzie," noted at the end as "the pseudonym of a Toronto writer who, for professional reasons, chose to author this article anonymously" (82)

• Morality Bureau Sgt Thomas Stephen and PC Ian Leaver conduct cursory 45-minute day-time search of TBP office for evidence related to Lust and, we presume, the identity of Angus MacKenzie. No material is seized (84)

• The Press and all nine members of the collective (John Allec, Christine Bearchell, Rick Bebout, Gerald Hannon, Ed Jackson, Stephen MacDonald, Tim McCaskell, Ken Popert, and Roger Spalding) are charged under Section 159 with "publishing obscene written matter" (84)

• Press conference at TBP office (after processing of defendants at Morality Bureau HQ, Yonge and Woodlawn); panel includes Clayton Ruby, Sherrill Cheda of the Cdn Periodical Publishers Assoc, and lawyer Harvey Hamburg representing the Toronto Gay Community Council (84)

• Demonstration (see under Main Chronology, above) includes chant "We are all Angus MacKenzie" (84)

• Issue 84 of TBP appears with all names in masthead replaced with large grey square reading "We are all Angus MacKenzie." Combined coverage of TBP and Glad Day cases (see above) casts nine collective member and Kevin Orr as "The Obscenity Ten" (84)

• TBP collective members appear in court for setting of trial date for Lust (having just been in court May 31-Jun 3 for MLBLM, Trial Two): 1 Nov 1982 (appearance date reported in 84; date set for trial in 85)

• After acquittal in the second MLBLM trial, the collective spends the evening "in a long and taxing discussion of legal strategies for the trial it will face November 1" (85) (Unreported was our fear that charges would be dropped against some members of the collective so they could be forced to testify as to the identity of "Angus MacKenzie," still unknown to the police.)

• Trial of all nine TBP collective members and the Press, in connection with Issue 82 / "Lust with a very proper stranger", begins at College Park before Provincial Court Judge Thomas Mercer. Crown calls only one witness: Sgt Thomas Stephen. Citing his own ruling in the May-Jun 1982 MLBLM trial that names on a masthead are "mere hearsay," Mercer asks "Why are these nine people sitting here?" and dismisses charges on the spot against all members of the collective. Over the objection of the collective, Ruby argues that fist-fucking could not be undue exploitation of sex - because, involving no genitals, it does not fit the dictionary definition of sex. This argument is apparently dismissed. Ruby calls witnesses June Callwood, CBC Radio editor Gerald McAuliffe, sociologist Dorothy Smith, physician Donald Briggs, and, in a replay from the May-Jun MLBLM trail, Rosemary Barnes, Michael Lynch, Thom Greenfield and Lorna Weir. Visibly impatient and often interrupting Crown Attorney Peter deJulio, Judge Mercer hears less than 3 hours of testimony in what was to have been a 3-day trial, and then dismisses the case against the Press that day. His written ruling is expected in late November. The Crown has 30 days from the date of that ruling to launch an appeal (89)

• In a surprise announcement, responding to a question from NDP MPP Jim Renwick in a meeting of the legislature's Standing Committee on the Administration of Justice, A-G Roy McMurtry says that Judge Mercer's 1 Nov acquittal "is not going to be appealed." The announcement is made before Judge Mercer's written ruling appears (90)

  [The acquittal was, indeed, never appealed. RB / 17/5/97]

• In a eulogy for Norman Hay, site designed of Expo 67, who died 1 Jan 1988 at the age of 63 and had written regularly under his own name for TBP, I make vague reference to the fact that he was "Angus MacKenzie." His identity as the writer of "Lust with a very proper stranger" was never revealed while he lived (except, Norman once told me, by himself - to test the liberality of some prominent dinner guests).

[Return to Jeff Lindstrom's Hotlist: The Gerald Hannon Case (list of documents in this site). RB / 17/5/97]