In spite of Canada’s so-called decriminalization of homosexuality in 1969(1), police harassment of gay, lesbian, and other queer people continued to be all too common(2). One significant series of examples of this discrimination are the many cases between 1969 and 1981 where police across Canada raided dozens of gay bathhouses(3). This exhibit explores two instances of those police raids on gay bathhouses in 1981: the raid of Pisces Health Spa in Edmonton, and ‘Operation Soap’ in Toronto. Ultimately, the raid of Pisces Health Spa resulted in the arrests of 60 men on the charge of either keeping a common bawdy-house or being a found-in of one. ‘Operation Soap,’ which was a coordinated set of raids on four different bathhouses—The Barracks, The Club, Richmond Street Health Emporium, and Roman II Health and Recreation Spa—resulted in the arrests of 306 people for the same charges(5).
The impacts of these raids on queer communities in Canada cannot be understated. To put it simply, it was the 1980s and attitudes towards homosexuality from both the public and from arms of the government, like police, were largely far from positive. This exhibit will explore several instances of misfortune faced by those arrested or otherwise impacted by the bathhouse raids.
However, these acts of discrimination did not go unchallenged. In fact, the outcry in response to the raids has been described by some as the start of a new era of gay activism(6). As such, this exhibit will also display many examples of how gay people and their allies used this act of prejudice as a way to spur on momentum for an enormous pro-gay movement. Despite the misery that these raids caused for queer people and communities, they refused to be beaten down, turning their misfortune into a movement for the good of queer people across Canada.
Footnotes:
(1): Tom Hooper, “Queering ‘69: The Recriminalization of Homosexuality in Canada,” The Canadian Historical Review 100, no. 2 (2019): 258, https://doi.org/10.3138/chr.2017-0034.
(2): Darren Hagen, “The Pisces Bathhouse Raid: Igniting Four Decades of Activism,” Edmonton City as Museum Project, May 18, 2021, https://citymuseumedmonton.ca/2021/05/18/the-pisces-bathhouse-raid-igniting-four-decades-of-activism/.
(3): Hooper, “Queering ‘69,” 257.
(4): Hagen, “The Pisces Bathhouse Raid.”
(5): Jamie Bradburn, “Toronto Bathhouse Raids (1981),” in The Canadian Encyclopedia, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/toronto-feature-bathhouse-raids.
(6): Hagen, “The Pisces Bathhouse Raid.”
Bibliography:
Bradburn, Jamie. “Toronto Bathhouse Raids (1981).” In The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/toronto-feature-bathhouse-raids.
Hagen, Darren. “The Pisces Bathhouse Raid: Igniting Four Decades of Activism.” Edmonton City as Museum Project. May 18, 2021. https://citymuseumedmonton.ca/2021/05/18/the -pisces-bathhouse-raid-igniting-four-decades-of-activism/.
Hooper, Tom. “Queering ‘69: The Recriminalization of Homosexuality in Canada.” The Canadian Historical Review 100, no. 2 (2019): 257-273. https://doi.org/10.3138 /chr.2017-0034.
Credits
Victoria Belyea