October 22 Montréal More than fifty […]

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1977-10-22

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October 22 Montréal More than fifty policemen, some wearing bulletproof vests and armed with machine guns, raided the Truxx and La Mystique bars (1424–26, rue Stanley), and arrested 146 men, charging them with being found-ins in a common bawdy house. The arrested men included two lawyers, fifteen teachers, and a school director. The owner of Truxx, Giuseppe Salvaggio, was charged with keeping a common bawdy house. Eight charges of gross indecency and two of possession of illegal drugs were also laid. All of the men charged were taken to police headquarters and held for fifteen hours without bail, and were subjected to compulsory VD testing. All but one of the men pleaded not guilty to the charges. Charges against most of the found-ins were dropped, but only after five years. On December 14, 1982, the charges against 120 men were dismissed after the Crown Attorney advised the judge that he would not be proceeding with the case as it would cost "too much money." This was the largest mass arrest in Canada since the War Measures Act was invoked during the FLQ crisis in October 1970. It came only one week after Montréal had hosted the First National Congress of Gay Men and Lesbians in Québec. Truxx reopened, was renovated, and attracted larger crowds than ever (including women), but the bar closed for good on March 19, 1978. Truxx, a twenty-one-minute film by Keith Lemmon Sutherland Communications Corporation, documented the raid and was shown in the official programme of the Toronto Festival of Festivals in 1978. (See also October 23, 1977; October 26, 1977; October 28, 1977; October 31, 1977; November 2, 1977; November 4, 1977; December 15, 1977; May 8, 1978; May 26–28, 1978; June 17, 1978; June 28–July 3, 1978; September 1978; October 19, 1978; ; November 13–December 8, 1978; November 17, 1978; August 21, 1979; and April 2, 1980.)

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April 2 Montréal Municipal Court […]August 21 Montréal The Quebec Court […]November 13–December 8 Ottawa The […]October 19 Montréal Near the first […]September Toronto Truxx, an […]June 28–July 3 Halifax "Building […]June 17 Montréal Two hundred people […]May 26–28 Montréal The Ligue des […]May 8 Montréal The trial of Giuseppe […]December 15 Québec, Qué. The Québec […]November 4 Montréal About forty […]November 2 Montréal More than 300 […]October 31 Montréal A Committee of […]October 28 Montréal Québec Justice […]October 26 Montréal ADGQ held a […]October 23 Montréal Two thousand […]

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Canada Le Mystique Truxx Montreal

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Giuseppe Salvaggio

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Keith Lemmon Sutherland Communications Corporation Service de police de la Ville de Montreal/Montreal Police Service

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Truxx War Measures Act

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Tom Warner, Never Going Back: A History of Queer Activism in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002), pp. 114–15.Roger Spalding, "The 87% Solution," Body Politic, no. 92 (1983), pp. 12–13 Stuart Russell, "Thousands Take to the Streets in Protest: Police Raid Truxx, 146 Arrested," Body Politic, no. 39 (1977–78), pp. 1, 5 "Police Raid Montreal Gay Bar," Workers' Action, no. 33 (1978), p. 3 "Police Raid Gay Club," Hamilton Spectator, 22 October 1977, p. 1 "Montreal Police Had No Choice but to Raid Gay Bar—Chief," Edmonton Journal, final ed. 27 October 1977, p. 16 C.L. (Claude Leblanc), "La plus importante et la plus militante manif!" Gai(e)s du Québec: Bulletin, 1, no. 5 (November 1977) : 1 Terry Last, "The Police Raid on the Gay Bar" (letter), Montreal Star, 28 October 1977, p. A6 Ross Higgins, De la clandestinité à l'affirmation: Pour une historie de la communauté gaie montréalaise (Montréal: Comeau & Nadeau, 1999), pp. 129–33 "Heavy-handed Raid on Homosexuals" (editorial), Montreal Gazette, final ed., 26 October 1977, p. 6 Philip Goulston, "Victoire pour 120 'trouvés' du Truxx: Cinq ans plus tard," Sortie: la journal gai (Montréal), no. 4 (1983), p. (17)Rick Gill, "MUC Police Bust Gay-bar," Georgian (Concordia Univ., Montréal), 25 October 1977, p. 1 John Fitzgerald, "Clout: What Police Raid Means to Homosexuals," Montreal Gazette, 17 November 1977, p. 41 "Déjà vu: The Truxx Raid, Montreal 1977," Body Politic, no. 71 (1981), p. 11 Comité de communication de l' ADGQ, "Editorial: Retrait de toutes les accusations!" Gai(e)s du Québec: Bulletin, 1, no. 6 (December–January 1977–78): (1–4)Comité de communication de l' ADGQ, "Editorial: À bas la répression des flics!" Gai(e)s du Québec: Bulletin, 1, no. 5 (November 1977): (2–4)Stuart Carre, "Police Deny Harassment of Gays in Mtl.," McGill Daily (McGill Univ., Montréal), 28 October 1977, p. 3 Glen Allen, "Truxx Trucking Comes to End" (column), Montreal Star, final ed., 20 March 1978, p. A3

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Tom Warner, Never Going Back: A […]

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