Pride!

Montreal promotes an inclusive lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender environment

Story by Christine Thompson
Photos courtesy of Dimitri Devuyst

Six football fields span the Montreal city. Streets are closed off. World-class DJs blast their music and mix their beats. Fifty thousand people dance, sweat, sing, drink.  

It's not a football game. It's not a huge concert. It's not even a real football field. It's a standard lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) pride festival in Montreal, Quebec. "It's the moment when they can show their pride," Eric Pineault says, President of Montreal Pride Celebrations de la Fierte LGBTA (lesbian, gay, transgender, and allies). Montreal Pride Celebrations organizes the Community Fair, the Pride Parade, the Avenue of Health and is a member of InterPride and Fierte Canada Pride. Montreal Pride Celebrations is the only PRIDE event to happen every year.

Coined by the Montreal tourism website as "where queer history has been made," the streets are annually filled with events infused with gay pride. More than 50 years of experience has led Montreal to this point starting in 1958 when the first form of public display of affection was accepted in a Montreal nightclub among gay men. "Canada is a very liberal country," explains Suzanne Girard, director of the LGBT cultural festival Divers/Cite. However, it wasn't until 1969 that homosexuality became legal.

According to the Montreal Celebrations de la Fierte website, Mayor Jean Drapeau attempted a city "clean-up" from 1975 to 1976, targeting efforts at the gay and lesbian community. There was a raid on the Aquarius Sauna, a club in Montreal, followed by raids on other popular establishments like Club Baths, and Cristal Sauna. In 1977, raids continued as "140 gay men were arrested outside of Truxx bar."  

The "clean-up" efforts met opposition, as by the late 70s local groups begin putting together riots, protests, and parades. But not until July 15, 1990 did the anti-gay sentiments reach the brewing point. According to the site, "a group of overzealous Montreal police decided to violently break-up a party in Old Montreal." The event is referred to as Montreal's "Stonewall Riots" (the New York City raid on a gay bar). Four hundred mostly LGBT individuals were accosted leading to large-scale protests and the circulation of the nights events around the globe. "The events of July 15 led to an investigation and a series of recommendations by the Human Rights Commission and fostered a new era of cooperation and mutual respect between a newly sensitized Montreal Police Force and the LGBTA community." Over the next few years, a strong inclusive relationship between the Montreal police and the LGBT community would be developed and international recognition would occur. 

"It's the moment when they can show their pride."

In April 2004, the first legal Quebec gay marriage was held at the Montreal Palais de Justice.  In June of the same year, Canada became the third country in the world to recognize gay marriage. "Marriage rights were actually passed in other provinces before Quebec," Girard says. "Civil rights are really important in Canada. We have laws to protect homosexuals," Pineault adds. 

Now, Montreal is one of the top "queer destinations" boasting not only its many festivals, but the year-round community of The Village. In 1985, Montreal's The Village was home to the LGBT crowd providing clubs, homes, shops, and restaurants. With The Village, Montreal has emerged as one of the largest openly accepting environments for LGBTs. "They (Montreal) have a permanent gay thing," says Mickey Weems, a freelance writer for the online magazine EDGE and author of Fierce Tribe: Masculine Identity and Performance in the Male Circuit. "One of the metro stops has rainbows all in it, The Village is completely gay 24/7, and the military has been integrated across Canada." 

Divers/Cite is one example of a LGBT pride event kicking off in July. The other major events that keep the LGBT community active include the Black and Blue Festival, Montreal Pride Celebrations, FIMA (the LGBT visual arts festival), image + nation, and Bal des Boys. "These events celebrate how inclusive our community is and how much life exists outside of the illusive closet," Pineault says on the Celebrations de la Fierte website. "Montreal and the Quebec society promote creativity in its citizens," Girard adds. 

Divers/Cite began in 1993 aiming to "promote and defend GLBT rights and culture," Girard says. Today, Divers/Cite aims to celebrate diversity through culture. "Like most events, we started small and have grown in size and now are accepted on the same footing as other festivals and events," Girard comments. The LGBT festivals and events have received numerous city and provincial awards and are recognized worldwide. 

Weems was quoted on the Divers/Cite website in 2007 saying, "I have attended parties all over the US and Canada, but I have never in my life seen anything like La Grande Danse. Divers/Cite is proof that the gay community is much bigger than just the sum of its oppression." Before finishing his book, Weems visited the Montreal Pride festival to witness first hand what he had heard of as a big event. "Montreal is the biggest party I had ever been to," Weems recalls. "It's not an exaggeration. The crowds that go to Toronto are not quite the same thing. Montreal makes it into a huge public festival." 

For Weems, the festivals showcase how different LGBT individuals are. But his opinion is not to be taken as a way to create a definitive line between the illusive them and us. Weems says someone once said to him, "we are not a gay community, we are a gay population," but he views this opinion as inaccurate. "There is a lot more to us than just standing up for our rights," he explains. "We (LGBT people) do things differently. We approach masculinity and femininity differently. We approach family values different; with the same heart, but different application."  

"We are considered on the same level footing as other events when it comes to tourism. We are all part of this society which highly encourages its citizens to be creative, encouraging innovations and get up and go," Girard adds. Girard also says that LGBT communities are "indebted" to America for the strides they have made in starting open homosexual acceptance, but admits "the US is perplexing," in America's lack to continue to advance. "All forms of communities celebrate community. We are a replica of the standard whether on ethnic basis, religion, state, city, et cetera," Girard comments on Montreal.  

"There is a lot more to us than just standing up for our rights. We (LGBT people) do things differently. We approach masculinity and femininity differently. We approach family values different; with the same heart, but different application."

Pineault adds, that some people like to participate in events and some like to organize it. "When you see 135 kiosks at the community fair (during gay pride), you realize why it is so important to help the LGBTA community," he says. 

"Montreal has a strong and vibrant LGBTA community," he concludes. "It is important to empower it, help it stay alive, young, and strong. We have achieved a lot, now it is time to reach social acceptance by all." 

Have you ever attended a pride festival?