May 26 Toronto The Islander, a […]

Graph

When

1977-05-26

Description

May 26 Toronto The Islander, a weekly newspaper for Blacks, published an article entitled "June Wedding for Faggots." The article concerned the marriage of two Black gays in a Toronto church. Bromley Armstrong, who was a member of the OHRC, published The Islander. Gay groups including GATE (Toronto), CHAT, and GO protested to Armstrong, calling for him to either apologize for the slur or resign from the commission. On June 2, 1977, the newspaper's editorial director, Errol Townshend, published an editorial that attacked gays and supporters of gay rights. Then, on June 9, the newspaper published a letter from Brian Mossop, the president of GATE (Toronto), demanding that Townshend apologize to the paper's gay readers. Mossop was in turn attacked in print with Townshend's reply: "We're so sorry we hurt your feelings, darling. But we're not going to kiss and make up tonight. We're not in the mood (smile). You know what we mean. Now, drop dead. But get one thing straight before you do: Blacks and your crowd are not in the same boat." Meanwhile, Armstrong said that while he would not allow derogatory epithets in the paper, "As a newspaper publisher I did not, and I will not, limit free expression of opinion in the pages of The Islander..." (See also Summer 1978.)