Some of the most colourful historical accounts of life for gays and lesbians we have come across are found in tabloids that date back to the 1940s. It turns out that Toronto had long been a mecca for scandal sheets with names like Flash, Hush Free Press, Justice Weekly, Tab, and True News Times. Disregarded as yellow journalism, these newspapers were largely ignored by historians and excluded from most archival records. Consequently, the CLGA has one of the few collections of some of these now-rare publications. These periodicals delighted in covering titillating stories of what were then deemed sexual indiscretions or perversions, making homosexuality a favoured topic. They often reported on cases where gays and lesbians ran afoul of the law — stories then regarded as too risqué and thus ignored by mainstream press. In one striking account we came across from 1955, police burst into a private residence where they caught “nude loverboys red-handed after a woman resident in the same building overheard their bestial lovemaking.” Sex between men was illegal in Canada at the time. As this unfortunate account demonstrates, the law provided an open invitation for officers to violate peoples’ privacy in such a profound way. Many articles crudely demonstrated the open disdain or fear with which gays and lesbians were commonly viewed. Consider titles such as “Wrong to Regard Homos as ‘Harmless Queers!” from 1950 and “Lesbian Vermin Plagues Toronto!” from 1963. Women were referred to as “gorilla girls,” men as “simpering perfumed creatures,” and both were reviled as a “cancerous menace.” Given such shrill and contemptuous representations, we were surprised to discover that the tabloids sometimes took a sympathetic view of homosexuality. For example, we found one example where they criticized the police for rumoured cases of brutality against gays and lesbians. In the 1950s, some of the tabloids even agreed to run letters and articles by pioneering gay activist James Egan, who argued for acceptance of sexual diversity (see November blog “Canada’s First Gay Activist”). We were equally surprised to discover that for many years Tab ran columns called “The Gay Set” and later “Toronto Fair-Go-Round.” On the surface, it appears these series merely dished salacious bits of gossip about the gay and lesbian scene. However, they also served as a useful social directory for homosexuals. The columns ran for a time under the nom de plume “Duke Gaylord” suggesting they were intended as a conduit of information from one non-straight to another. It turns out Tab and other Toronto tabloids intentionally used certain code words -- hidden in plain view -- to provide homosexuals with tips about places they could go to meet. Who would have thunk that seemingly homophobic rags would provide such a helpful service to the very people they took such pleasure in denigrating? Perhaps it is not all that surprising when one considers that these papers promoted themselves as a source of information for people who wanted to be in the know about things polite society would never discuss. | |
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The following blogs provide vivid accounts of discrimination perpetrated against people in Canada whose sexual identities did not conform to standards of the day. In equal measure, they provide stirring anecdotes about brave individuals who — in the face of overwhelming oppression — challenged ignorance and injustice. Archives
March 2015
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