What better way to celebrate Pride Month than celebrating the longstanding history of
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Two-Spirit (LGBTQ2+) community in Ottawa?
As we know, racial, sexual and gender minorities have a deep-rooted history in the cultural framework of many downtown neighbourhoods. While MTBA’s office is in the downtown Sandy Hill neighbourhood, just east of the Rideau Canal World Heritage Site (see our blog series, Strolling the Streets of Sandy Hill), the hub of Ottawa’s LGBTQ2+ Community is in Centretown, just west of the Canal.
On February 15, 2006, city councillor Diane Holmes hosted a town hall meeting with an agenda seeking input from the Community regarding the reconstruction of the Bank Street district of downtown. The consensus was in full support for designating an LGBTQ2+ friendly destination along Bank, officially named in 2011 and known today as The Village.
Well known built landmarks in Centretown have extensive history entangled with the LGBTQ2+ community. Ottawa’s first Gay bar was located at the Lord Elgin Hotel, unofficially known as the “B-Bar,” it became a popular spot for the Community at a time when undercover police officers conducted monitored identification programmes for homosexual and non-gender conforming men. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that the Community began to establish themselves transparently, with the creation of gay-friendly bars throughout Ottawa’s downtown.
The final location for the Gays of Ottawa Centre was housed in a space above a laundromat at 318 Lisgar Street, now a vacant lot, and was accessed by a set of stairs. The space could only hold 75 people and had long line ups during dances. The AIDS Committee of Ottawa was proposed to be created at this location in July 1985 as the AIDS epidemic raged.
Notable Dates in Queer History Across Turtle Island
Ottawa’s pride history dates back to June 1986, when the first gay pride celebration started out as a 50 person picnic at Strathcona Park. By 1989 pride celebrations had been extended to an entire week of dancing, sporting events, and receptions. This overwhelming support came only 20 years after Canada officially de-criminalized homosexuality in May of 1969, and long after 1973, when homosexuality was officially removed as a “disorder” from the Diagnostics and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders.
In July of 1990 the term Two Spirit (niizh manidoowag) was coined at the third annual Native American/First Nations Gay and Lesbian Conference in Winnipeg. The phrase allowed Indigenous LGBTQ+ individuals to reject Western views of gender and sexuality, and come to terms with their identity through their own culture.
1995 marks the first Canadian province (Ontario) to make same-sex couples legally able to adopt. However, marriage between same-sex couples in Ontario was not made legal until 2002.
In 1997, the first Trans festival in North America, and potentially the first in the world, Counting Past 2, ran between 1997 and 2002 in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by activist/artist Mirha-Soleil Ross, in recognition of the distinctive cultural and economic situation of Trans Communities.
We Still Have Work to Do!
But history doesn’t stop there, in fact an amendment to Bill C-4, to ban conversion therapy, was only put into effect recently in 2021, and limitations to the Blood Ban remain in effect for MSM (men who have sex with men). Furthermore, Ontario legislation has only recently assembled a Gender-Affirming Healthcare Committee, to assist in abolishing the barriers in trans healthcare in Ontario.
In order to end discrimination and create a more just and equitable society, we must continue to fight for and protect the rights of the LGBTQ2+ Community. Everyone has the right to a safe and inclusive community, including access to healthcare, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or expression. The MTBA Team is dedicated to upholding these beliefs and values and wishes all our team and those we love, a happy pride!
References:
History Slam 185: Ottawa’s LGBTQ2+ History & the Village Legacy Project – Active History
Ottawa LGBT History: The Village | The Village Legacy Project | Le Projet de legs du village
Walking tours take stroll through Ottawa’s LGBT history | CBC News
Queer History Timeline | Queer Events
Village people: Take a tour of Ottawa’s LGBTTQ+ past | Ottawa Citizen
