Archival Records: Related Documents

Two kinds of documents are listed here:

• Those related to people or groups on whom we have information in the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. These are listed first, alphabetically by the name of the relevant person or group (shown in bold; an initial "The" in a name is ignored).
• Material on particular periods, events, issues, or themes -- or that discuss more than one person or organization (their names noted in bold). These are in order by the name of the author or published source.

Documents related to specific people or organizations

• The Body Politic and Visions of Community
  Rick Bébout, 1995 and 1996
  http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/tbpvis/tbpvint.htm

  Tracing changing notions of "community" as seen in The Body Politic (1971 - 1987), this essay also notes the concrete growth of community institutions -- from the early liberation movement to later social and religious groups, to gay-owned businesses. It looks at the impact of the Feb 1981 Toronto bath raids on an already well-organized community, and the rise of new voices rooted in more specific identities of race, age, and culture. A polemical conclusion suggests that historically useful "identity politics" may be less effective in the class wars of the mid-1990s.

  The full document is appx 13,000 words in 14 web pages, including Introduction and Contents. See also Guides for more on The Body Politic and its publisher Pink Triangle Press.

• The Archivist at Work
  Gay Archivist, Jun 1991 (unsigned)
  http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/chatlga9.htm

  A story on processing of the records of the Community Homophile Association of Toronto (CHAT,1970 - 1977), this piece offers a brief history of the city's first all-purpose "umbrella" gay organization. Additional information has been provided in footnotes. Appx 1,200 words. See also Guides.

• Jim Loves Jack
  Lesbian and Gay Archivist, Jun 1996 (unsigned)
  http://www.clga.ca/About/LGArchivist/v12/egan.htm

  An article on David Adkin's feature film on James Egan, pioneering activist from 1949 to 1964 and later, with his lover Jack Nesbit, subject of a major gay rights case before the Supreme Court of Canada.

• Kid-sex hooker prof scandal!
  The Gerald Hannon Affair, 1995-1996
  http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/hannon/ghint.htm

  This "document" consists mainly of two websites, made up of more than 60 separate pages. They were first set up in Nov 1995 to cover (and help counter) a media panic focusing on Gerald Hannon: journalism instructor; author of "Men Loving Boys Loving Men", the 1977 article that led to The Body Politic's long legal battles -- and a prostitute.

  Both sites were "archived" -- intact and largely unchanged -- to the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives website in May 1997. An introductory page and final chronology have been added as separate documents. The sites include too many pages to list here (all together, this material adds up to more than 500 kilobytes of data). Among the highlights:

  • Chronologies of the Hannon Affair: Nov 1977 to Oct 1983 and Jul 1994 through Nov 1995 (including background on the "Men Loving Boys Loving Men" case); an update through Jan 1996; and a final wrap-up to May 1997.

  • The Trials of The Body Politic, a draft chronology offering more entries (in less detail) on the paper's legal cases and other events of the time (1977 to 1985), including Toronto bath raids (1978, 1981 and 1983), and 1982 obscenity charges against Kevin Orr at Glad Day Books.

  • Major documents related to the "Men Loving Boys Loving Men" case (all of which also appeared in the 1982 Body Politic anthology Flaunting It!): Advice on consent, an introduction to the case; Men Loving Boys Loving Men itself and the editorial collective's preamble to it; Another look, a later reflection on issues of consent, coercion, power and control in relations between adults and young people; and Jane Rule's 1979 essay Teaching sexuality, on the need to acknowledge the sexuality of children -- and to teach them its responsible use.

  Many of these background documents are large (word counts are not shown). The first chronology includes links to dozens of shorter news reports, editorials, letters, and other related items. The home page of one of the original sites lists many more. Together, they let you read the story as it was reported -- or, in fact, created -- in the media.

• Remembering the RTPC
  Bob Krawczyk, Gay Archivist, Jun 1991
  http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/remrtpc.htm

  Born as the December 9th Defence Fund, after a raid on the Barracks baths on that date in 1978, the Right to Privacy Committee became Toronto's most active gay organization after the massive police sweep of four baths in one night, on Feb 5, 1981. This article traces the role of the organization, in the successful defence of hundreds of men charged in these and other raids, and in other political work.

  Written to mark the RTPC's end, on Feb 9, 1991, and to highlight RTPC records held in the Archives (see Guides), this is a good overview of a crucial period in Toronto gay politics and history. Extensive annotations, with references to related material, have been made as footnotes. Appx 2,300 words.

Documents on events, issues, or themes

• We Demand
  August 28th Gay Day Committee, 1971
  http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/wedemand.htm

  Full text, with intro and accompanying letter, of a manifesto backed up by the first big gay demonstration in Canada, on Parliament Hill, August 28, 1971. See what gripped the Canadian gay liberation movement more than a quarter century ago. Includes pics of the demo. Appx 5,200 words; 94 K total, with images.

  • What we demanded; What we got
    Rick Bébout, 1997
    http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/wegot.htm

    A follow-up to We Demand, tracking the fate of its 10 demands -- right up to 1997. Includes another photo from the 1971 demo. Appx 7,500 words, 65 K with image. Includes links to the document below.

  • What we got: The details
    Rick Bébout, 1997
    http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/wegotdet.htm

    A big background paper for What we demanded; What we got: summaries of more than 170 related stories from The Body Politic and Xtra, 1974 to 1997. Includes info on the Criminal Code (highly relevant in 1971 and still) with links to current text of some sections -- and to the the full text of an even more influential document: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 1982. Appx 18,000 words, total, in 10 separate pages. Intro page: 950 words.

• Time and Place: Toronto, 1971
  Rick Bébout, 1995 and 1996
  http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/toronto/tor1971.htm

  Excerpted from what were to have been chapters of a book on The Body Politic (born in Toronto in 1971), this paper looks at both a moment in time and a distinct urban setting, tracing forces that would shape future awareness and activism. It includes extensive material on the Church & Wellesley area -- demographically distinctive even in 1971. Appx 6,700 words of text in 12 sections -- plus 3,500 words of notes -- on a single web page. Updated in Aug 1997 with links to the two documents immediately below.

  • More on Church & Wellesley
    Rick Bébout, 1997
    http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/toronto/morecw.htm

    Further context for Church & Wellesley's distinctiveness, with key demographic data (in charts) from 1951 to 1991. Also includes a listing of selected apartment construction from 1954 to 1990. Appx 2,800 words, 5 charts, 5 photos (65 K total) -- with links to many more images, noted below.

  • Church & Wellesley: Photos
    Rick Bébout, 1997
    http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/toronto/cwpix.htm

    Intro page (appx 900 words) with links to nine other pages of photographs (and a map) of the area. Images are grouped thematically: 19th- century houses; early apartment buildings (1909 to 1932); modern apartments (1954 to 1990); the four corners of Church & Wellesley Streets; major projects (City Park, 1954; the Village Green, 1966; the Churwell Centre, 1984); and a page of random streetscapes and key sites, including the permanent AIDS Memorial. This intro page shows the full size, in kilobytes, of each of the nine photo pages.

• The Record of AIDS
  Jay Cassel (unsigned), Gay Archivist, Nov 1992
  http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/recaids.htm

  An overview of the first decade of response -- largely community-based -- to AIDS in Canada. The article notes related holdings in the Archives, including the records of the AIDS Committee of Toronto and AIDS Action Now!, and material dating back to the 1920s on control of sexually transmitted diseases. Appx 1,400 words. See also Guides.

• Victories and defeats: A gay and lesbian chronology 1964-1982
  From Flaunting It!, edited by Ed Jackson and Stan Persky, 1982
  http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/flitchro/fcint.htm

  More than 320 entries, tracing the trials and triumphs of the gay and lesbian movement across Canada up to mid-1982, when The Body Politic's anthology Flaunting It! was published. The lead page has links to 13 others (most covering a single year), including the original 1982 introduction and brief follow-up on some later developments. Lead page: 1,300 words; total for all 14 pages: 14,500 words.

• Our Silver Anniversary: Canadians have been organizing for twenty-five years!
  Gay Archivist, Jun 1989 (unsigned)
  http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/silver.htm

  An overview of some pre-1969 Canadian gay history, this article looks at the Association for Social Knowledge, founded in Vancouver in 1964, and at Gay and Two, magazines first published in Toronto that same year. Other early groups and significant court cases are noted, as well as Canada's decriminalization of homosexuality, passed into law six weeks before the Stonewall riots of June 1969. Appx 1,700 words, including footnotes.

• We're Bigger Than You'd Think!
  Lesbian and Gay Archvist, Jun 1996 (unsigned)
  http://www.clga.ca/About/LGArchivist/v12/bigger.htm

  A look at recently received archival holdings, from the 1996 (online) issue of our newsletter. Includes notes on the records of: Toronto artists and activists Clarence Barnes and Bruce Eakin; Padraic Brake, whose files contain much material assembled for a still-born lesbian and gay archives of Newoundland and Labrador; and the Campaign for Equal Families, key organization in the 1994 struggle for spousal rights recognition in Ontario.

• “Disgusting” Noises, and “Dangerous” Spaces: Tabloids, Sexualities, and Discourses of Perversion, Toronto, 1950-1962.
  In order to view and print this document, you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader .
  Bart Sarsh, Master of Arts Research Paper, Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, August, 2005.
  
  
  
  Last revised: November 15, 2005