Lesbian and Gay Rights in Canada: Social Movements and Equality-Seeking, 1971-1995 (Heritage)

To the expanding literature on lesbian and gay rights in Canada, Miriam Smith contributes this fascinating analysis of trends in the movement towards equality for sexual minorities in the last quarter of a century. Using archival material that has largely been ignored, as well as interviews with Canadian activists, Smith investigates the ways in which the lesbian and gay movement has changed in response to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Smith demonstrates that equality-seeking was well entrenched as a strategy and ideology in lesbian and gay rights networks prior to the adoption of the Charter. However, in the wake of the Charter, the movement has shifted from one form of equality-seeking to another, from a strategy primarily based on building a social movement to one based on achieving concrete legal and policy victories. Rather than focusing on win/loss ratios before the courts under the Charter or on the analysis of legal cases, the work centres on the impact of the Charter from the perspective of those within the movement itself. Unlike the existing literature on the lesbian and gay rights movement in Canada, Smith's study presents an analysis of the evolution of federal-level social organizing based on primary sources. Smith also discusses the unique nature of Quebec politics, which is often overlooked in the context of lesbian and gay activism in Canada. Lesbian and Gay Rights in Canada is an excellent analysis of an important and rising social movement in Canadian politics. A great number of people assisted in the research and writing of this book. My greatest debt is to the people who agreed to be interviewed, mainly activists from the lesbian and gay rights movement. Their names are listed in the references. They were interviewed in Ottawa, Vancouver, and Toronto, in homes, restaurants, and offices. In some cases, they provided me with dinner and with material from their own files as well as their opinions and memories. Without their generosity, this book could not have been written. Research funding was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#410-95-0899) and the GR-6 Fund of Carleton University. Dan Cohn, Ann Penner, and Christian Rouillard served as research assistants. Mark Wood and other volunteers at the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives in Toronto assisted in the location of archival materials. Ron Dutton of the Archives Collective in Vancouver provided important materials on British Columbia. A number of people and organizations passed on materials from their own files, including the CLGRO, CUPE's Pink Triangle Committee, the December 9th Coalition, EGALE, Don Harm, Diane Kilby, LEGIT, David Rayside, and Lorna Weir. Deborah Mclntosh prepared the list of sexual orientation cases under section 15 of the Charter that appears in Appendix I and co-authored pages 133-4 as part of our article, 'Warming Up to Rights: Early Lesbian Charter Strategies.' I would like to thank her for permitting their appearance here. Virgil Duff and Margaret Williams of the University of Toronto Press believed in this book from the beginning. I would also like to thank the Canadian Journal of Political Science for permission to reprint some pages from my article 'Social Movements and Equality-Seeking: The Case of Lesbian and Gay Rights in Canada/ xii Acknowledgments

To the expanding literature on lesbian and gay rights in Canada, Miriam Smith contributes this fascinating analysis of trends in the movement toward equality for sexual minorities in the last quarter of a century. Using archival material that has largely been ignored, as well as interviews with Canadian activists, Smith investigates the ways in which the lesbian and gay movement has changed in response to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Smith demonstrates that equality-seeking was well entrenched as a strategy and ideology in lesbian and gay rights networks prior to the existence of the Charter. However, in the wake of the Charter, the movement has shifted from a strategy primarily based on building a social movement to one is based on achieving concrete legal and policy victories. Rather than focusing on win/loss ratios before the courts under the Charter or on the analysis of legal cases, the work centres on the impact of the Charter from the perspective of the experience of those within the movement itself.

Unlike the existing literature on the lesbian and gay rights movement in Canada, Smith's study presents an analysis of the evolution of federal-level social organizing based on primary sources. Into the discussion Smith also introduces Quebec politics as a unique cultural entity and one that is often overlooked in the context of lesbian and gay activism in Canada. Lesbian and Gay Rights in Canada is an excellent analysis of an important and rising social movement in Canadian politics.

To the expanding literature on lesbian and gay rights in Canada, Miriam Smith contributes this fascinating analysis of trends in the movement toward equality for sexual minorities in the last quarter of a century. Using archival material that has largely been ignored, as well as interviews with Canadian activists, Smith investigates the ways in which the lesbian and gay movement has changed in response to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Smith demonstrates that equality-seeking was well entrenched as a strategy and ideology in lesbian and gay rights networks prior to the existence of the Charter. However, in the wake of the Charter, the movement has shifted from a strategy primarily based on building a social movement to one is based on achieving concrete legal and policy victories. Rather than focusing on win/loss ratios before the courts under the Charter or on the analysis of legal cases, the work centres on the impact of the Charter from the perspective of the experience of those within the movement itself.

Unlike the existing literature on the lesbian and gay rights movement in Canada, Smith's study presents an analysis of the evolution of federal-level social organizing based on primary sources. Into the discussion Smith also introduces Quebec politics as a unique cultural entity and one that is often overlooked in the context of lesbian and gay activism in Canada. Lesbian and Gay Rights in Canada is an excellent analysis of an important and rising social movement in Canadian politics.

Three years ago there was only the closet: the sub-culture, the ghetto, in which we gather to seek anonymity and acceptance, and above all to meet other gays.