ISSUE 02
By: Lauren Klein
Hanlan’s Beach: 80+ years of Resilience On a sunny day in August, 1971, a group of queer people gathered for a picnic at Hanlan’s Point, a beach on the Toronto islands. Peter Zorzi, founder of Toronto Area Gays, described the participants as a “ragtag group sharing a sense of mission.” Others described this early gathering as a joyful occasion full of “youthful fooling around,” that involved building a gay and lesbian pyramid. Photo Credits: Nicole Lavergne
JUN.2023
These “Gay Day Picnics” at Hanlan’s point were Toronto’s first iterations of Pride. Before the bathhouse raids of 1981, the burgeoning queer community gathered on the beach to celebrate simply being gay. In spite of the light-hearted spirit, these picnics were a form of rebellion in themselves.
As Cheri DiNovo, former MPP for ParkdaleHigh Park has pointed out, queer culture was booming in the 70s. Yet despite the influence on fashion and culture, society still largely rejected the gay community. As a result, the first Pride celebrations had to take place in the margins.
Since homosexuality had only been decriminalized two years previously, spaces for queer people to come together and find acceptance were rare. CONTINUE READING ON PG 4
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