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The famous qoute by then Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau
No More Raids! Video
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Same-sex rights have been discussed for decades coming to light most notably in 1965 when Everett Klippert was sentenced as a “dangerous sex offender.” Simply because he confessed to police that, “he was gay and had been having sex with men for the past twenty-four years.” And was not likely to change his sexual orientation. Having stayed in prison until 1971 even though in 1969 homosexuality was decriminalized making it a legal pastime (pastime because sexual behaviour is not a required part of anyone’s life and is therefore optional and a thing to do making it a pastime.) On December 22, 1967 then Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau made his memorable and everlasting speech involving the famous quote, “It’s certainly the most extensive revision of the Criminal Code since the 1950s and, in terms of the subject mater it deals with I feel that it has knocked down a lot of totems and over-ridden a lot of taboos and I feel that in that sense it is new. It’s bringing the laws of the land up to contemporary society I think. Take this thing on homosexuality. I think the view we take here is there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation. I think that what’s done in private between adults doesn’t concern the Criminal Code. When it becomes public this is a different matter or when it relates to minors this is a different matter.” During the 1970s much had changed or was about to change. During 1975 and 1976 there were large protests concerning the police and their raids on gay establishments called the bathhouse raids. It was a way of getting rid of the large cities ‘problems’ of homosexuality for the 1976 Olympics. http://archives.cbc.ca/500f.asp?id=1-69-599-3239(the film piece on the outrage the raids has caused. This included the firing of five Olympic committee members including a gay activist Stuart Russell. “Over the course of two years, hundreds of men were arrested in Quebec and Ontario. Arrests continued year after year, as did the protests from an increasingly angry and organized group of gays and lesbians.” To this day it is still reported of bathhouse raids by police, increasing the violence between police, gay protesters and gay-bashers. On December 16, 1977, “Quebec includes sexual orientation in its Human Rights Code, making it the first province in Canada to pass a gay civil rights law. The law makes it illegal to discriminate against gays in housing, public accommodation and employment.” By 201, all provinces and territories take this step except Alberta, Prince Edward Island, and the Northwest Territories. Throughout the late 70s men and women who came out of the closet were being fired and terminated from their places of employment. “The Ontario Racing Commission fired John Damien; the Canadian Armed Forces discharged “sexual deviant” Private Barbara Thornborrow; an Ontario high-school principal fired teacher John argue; and the same thing happened to teacher Don Jones in Saskatchewan. Throughout the 1970s, those who came out of the closet had more than moral condemnation to deal with. They had little recourse through the courts of through the normal avenues of public discourse” Since no public newspaper would even consider to publish any articles or sell ad space to gay-rights groups in fear of retaliation from the general reading population until the early 1980s.
