Operation Soap

Operation Soap was a raid by the Metropolitan Toronto Police against four gay bathhouses in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which took place on February 5, 1981. More than three hundred men were arrested, the largest mass arrest in Canada since the 1970 October crisis,[1] before the record was broken during the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs in Edmonton, Alberta.[2]

The event marked a major turning point in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Canada; the raids and their aftermath are today widely considered to be the Canadian equivalent of the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.[3] Mass protests and rallies were held denouncing the incident.[4] These evolved into Toronto's current Pride Week, which is now one of the world's largest gay pride festivals and celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2015.

Several Toronto bathhouses had previously been raided, and other raids followed.[1] Most charges connected to the incident were eventually dropped or discharged, although some bathhouse owners were fined. Canada's "bawdy-house" law, under which the charges in this raid were laid, has never been repealed, but has only rarely been applied against gay establishments since the trials connected to the 1981 raids ended.[1]

At the time it was widely believed that the raids were approved by Attorney General of Ontario Roy McMurtry and the provincial government. In a 2007 interview, however, McMurtry said that this was not the case: "The irony of the whole thing was that I had expressed my concern to the chief of police; that it really looked like we were dissolving into a police state. The whole thing looked terrible. Without a doubt, that was one of my most frustrating experiences."[5] McMurtry subsequently served as Chief Justice of Ontario and wrote the 2003 decision of Ontario's Court of Appeal in favour of same-sex marriage.

History

Mayor John Sewell strongly supported gay rights in his 1978-80 term as Mayor. He condemned police raids, including the controversial raid on the homosexual newspaper, The Body Politic where Toronto Police confiscated the newspapers subscription lists, advertisers lists, and other user information.[6] Sewell strongly opposed these acts, however, his views ultimately cost him re-election.[7] Without strong civic condemnation of raids on homosexual establishments the Operation Soap was the first raid on a homosexual establishment after Sewell left office.

Timeline

1981

1982

By April 1983, 87 per cent of the "found-ins" charged in the Toronto and Montreal raids have been acquitted at trial; 36 individuals have been found guilty but received absolute or conditional discharges. The last remaining charge related to the 1981 raids was settled by plea bargain on February 7, 1985.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 McKenna, Terence (1981-02-15). "The Toronto bathhouse raids". CBC RADIO archives (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  2. "Hurricane season, June 2006; Massive arrests June 10 and 17 a sign of no-nonsense policing, rowdier behaviour". The Edmonton Journal. June 3, 2007.
  3. "Pride history display flaunts the past", Xtra!, June 23, 2005.
  4. Gordon, Rebecca. "Queers in Space: Communities, Public Places, Sites of Resistance." The Women's Review of Books 15.n6 (March 1998): 7(2).
  5. Makin, Kirk (2007-04-04). "The regrets of a consensus-building chief justice: Retiring Roy McMurtry muses about bathhouse, baby death and abortion cases". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  6. Sheppard, R. (1979, Jan 04). It's not illegal to be gay, Sewell tells rally. The Globe and Mail http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.torontopubliclibrary.ca/docview/1239227313?accountid=14369
  7. Baker, A., & Mulgrew, I. (1980, Sep 04). Gay issue predicted to sway civic vote. The Globe and Mail http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.torontopubliclibrary.ca/docview/1125108273?accountid=14369
  8. 1 2 3 4 Tattelman, Ira (2005-01-01). "Toronto Police Raid Gay Bathhouses". GLBT History, 1976-1987 (EBSCO Publishing). pp. 127–130.
  9. Malcolm, Andrew (1981-02-15). "TORONTO REJECTS STUDY OF RAIDS ON HOMOSEXUAL BATHS". New York Times. p. 15.
  10. Way to Go CLGRO 1975 - 2000: A Short History

External links

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