VIDEO SYNOPSISStand Together begins with an examination of the National
Security Campaigns in the 1960's when the RCMP investigated
thousands of lesbians and gays working in the public service in Canada.
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act detail investigations
of individuals as 'suspected' or 'alleged' homosexuals working in a
wide variety of public service jobs. After the Criminal Code Amendments decriminalizing homosexual acts
between two consenting adults came into effect in 1969, Gay Liberation
organizations sprang up across the country calling upon lesbians and
gay men to come "out of the closet and into the streets".
The documentary examines the activities and politics of Gay Liberation
and the changing societal attitudes towards homosexuality in the 70's
and 80's including rarely seen footage of organized gay bashing on Halloween
on Yonge Street in Toronto, and 'zaps' organized by gay liberationists.
By June 1977, the Ontario Human Rights Commission recommended the inclusion
of 'sexual orientation' in the Ontario Human Rights Code. However by
this time, there was growing opposition to gay rights from conservative
politicians, police, and religious right groups. The documentary examines
the growing backlash to gay rights, the emergence of a religious right
campaign spearheaded by Anita Bryant in the U.S. and Renaissance International
in Canada, combined with escalating police raids against the gay community.
A section of the video recounts the February 5th, 1981 bath
raids in Toronto. Operation Soap, (the
police code name for the bath raids) resulted in 286 men being arrested
and charged as 'found-ins' in raids on four gay steam baths; the largest
mafss arrest in Canadian history since the War Measures Act in Quebec.
On February 6th and 20th an outraged community
responded with demonstrations protesting police brutality. Throughout this tumultuous history, and through the voices of the individuals who were at the centre of these events, Stand Together traces the history of the Human Rights Amendment Campaign by the Coalition for Gay Rights of Ontario (CGRO). The movement resulted in a victory on December 2, 1986 when the Ontario legislature voted to include 'sexual orientation' as a prohibited ground of discrimination in the Ontario Human Right Code, making Ontario the 2nd province to enshrine such protections. Nancy Nicol |
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Section 1:National Security Campaigns |