Anti-homophobia

This subsection contains material on organizing against various forms of discrimination, exclusion, and violence faced by members of the wider LGBTQ+ communities. Throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, LGBTQ+ activists and their allies resisted the rise of the right, police brutality, vigilante violence, workplace harassment, and more.

Archival Materials

Buttons

This pin responded to the ongoing acts of physical violence, intimidation, and harassment against lesbians and gays, noting that being lesbian and gay is not a crime while "bashing" is.
Being Lesbian or Gay is Not a Crime – Bashing Is

  • Year created:

    --

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    English
Undated button calling for fight back and Gay self defense.
fight back! Gay Self Defense

  • Year created:

    --

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    English
Fight The Right

  • Year created:

    --

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    English
The Fight the Right Festival held in Toronto on May 1, 1982 was part of the organizing done to protest a rising tide of right-ing morality and ongoing police harassment and violence against gays and lesbians.
Fight the Right Festival – May 1, 1982

  • Year created:

    1982

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
This undated button by Amnesty International button supports human rights for all regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Love is a basic human right

  • Year created:

    --

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    English
This button was produced by Gay and Lesbians Against the Right Everywhere (GLARE) which organized the June 1981 Lesbian and Gay Pride march in Toronto, building on the mass resistance to the gay bathhouse raids earlier that year. The rally and march were focused on celebrating lesbian and gay lives and resisting a rising tide of right-wing bigotry, ongoing police violence, lesbian mothers losing custody of their children, firings of lesbian and gay workers, and censorship in the mainstream media. GLARE also organized against the visit of Anita Bryant to Toronto and for inclusive, anti-homophobia and gay-positive education at the Toronto Board of Education.
Never Again – Fight Back (Gays & Lesbians Against the Right Everywhere)

  • Year created:

    1981

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
This is a button protesting the bathhouse raids carried out by the Metropolitan Toronto Police on February 5, 1981 that resulted in the arrest of just under 300 men. These raids and the consequent rallies organized in protest are considered a turning point in the organizing for LGBTQ+ rights in Canada.
No More Shit! Toronto, 6 Feb 81

  • Year created:

    1981

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
The art show Still Sane hit the Vancouver art scene in 1984. It told the story of Sheila Gilhooly's entrapment within the phychiatric system in the late 60s and early 70s, when homosexuality was still a category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and sexism was rife in the profession. Twelve months later the book Still Sane rolled off the presses of the local feminist publisher Press Gang, bringing the show's compelling mix of feminist, lesbian and mad politics to a wider audience.
Still Sane

  • Year created:

    1984

  • Region:

    British Columbia

  • Language:

    English

Documents
Come Out – Rally for Rights

  • Year created:

    1978

  • Region:

    Manitoba

  • Language:

    English
thumbnail of Correspondence on Anti-Lesbophobia Sub-Committee (1995)
Correspondence on Anti-Lesbophobia Sub-Committee (1995)

  • Year created:

    1995

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    English
Dykes In the Streets

  • Year created:

    1981

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
Flyer for ‘Lesbians Fighting the Right’ Meeting

  • Year created:

    --

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
GLARE Brief to Standing Committee on Ontario Human Rights Code

  • Year created:

    1981

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
Harassment of the Body Politic Continues

  • Year created:

    1979

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
Issues & Campaigns (1992): Come Out Against a Bad Deal

  • Year created:

    1992

  • Author(s):

    Diane Kilby, Anne Molgat

  • Region:

    National (all of Canada)

  • Language:

    English
Lesbian/Gay Information Sheet

  • Year created:

    --

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
thumbnail of Lesbians are Everywhere Fighting the Right – Dykes on the Street Booklet (1981)
Lesbians are Everywhere Fighting the Right – Dykes on the Street Booklet (1981)

  • Year created:

    1981

  • Author(s):

    Lorna Weir, Amy Gottlieb, Kathy Arnup, MariRuth Morton, Judy Liefschultz, Vicki Kelman, Natalie LaRoche

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
Never Again! Fight Back! Pamphlet

  • Year created:

    1981

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
thumbnail of Open Letter to Disabled Consumer Movement
Open Letter to Disabled Consumer Movement

  • Year created:

    1986

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
The Child Custody Deal Isn’t Fit For Us

  • Year created:

    --

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English
When Political Lesbians Get Lonely, They Organize

  • Year created:

    --

  • Region:

    Ontario

  • Language:

    English

Photos

Members of the Red Berets attend the GLARE Fight the Right protest on September 26, 1981.
The Red Berets – GLARE Fight the Right Event (Toronto) – September 26, 1981

  • Year created:

    1981

  • Photographer:

    Helena Wehrstein

  • Region:

    Ontario
The Red Berets take part in the event Gays and Lesbians Against the Right Everywhere (GLARE) on September 26, 1981.
The Red Berets at GLARE Day – September 26, 1981

  • Year created:

    1981

  • Photographer:

    Helena Wehrstein

  • Region:

    Ontario