June 6 Toronto An undercover Toronto […]

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When

1979-06-06

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June 6 Toronto An undercover Toronto police officer charged teacher Don Franco with keeping a common bawdy house, for the purpose of the practice of acts of indecency, in his own home. The policeman had telephoned Franco to say that he was responding to an ad in the Body Politic. He was invited into Franco's home and discussed sexual acts with him. Franco was interested in sadomasochism, had a dungeon in his home, and advertised for partners regularly in the Body Politic. He had been one of the found-ins charged in the raid on the Barracks steam bath on December 9, 1978. When Sergeant Gary Donovan of the Police Intelligence Bureau later informed Franco's school board about the charges, Franco informed Rev. Brent Hawkes of MCC Toronto about what had happened and Hawkes made the matter public. Franco later became involved with the RTPC as membership secretary. The police raided Franco's home and confiscated various items, including membership lists of the RTPC and of the NDP Gay Caucus. The raid on Franco's home was widely condemned in the gay community, and was seen as an act of revenge on the part of the police. The case made legal history, as it was the first time in Canada that a private home had been charged as a bawdy house when there was neither prostitution nor sex with minors involved. (See also June 13, 1979; June 18, 1979; July 6, 1979; June 5, 1981; and September 24, 1981.)

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July 6 Toronto Don Franco, charged […]June 18 Toronto The RTPC and the […]June 13 Toronto Mayor John Sewell […]

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Barracks Bathhouse Toronto

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Brent Hawkes Gary Donovan Don Franco

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Gay Caucus, New Democratic Party NDP December 9th Defence Fund, Right to Privacy Committee (RTPC)Metropolitan Community Church MCC Toronto Police Intelligence Bureau (Toronto)

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The Body Politic

All Citations

Tom Warner, Never Going Back: A History of Queer Activism in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002), pp. 109–10.Karl von Harten and Peter Maloney, "Next: Your Bedroom," Metro Community News 6 (6 July 1979): 14, 16 "This Is a Common Bawdy House" (advertisement), Body Politic, no. 58 (1979), p. 2 "More Police Oppression in Ontario," SPAG News (Vancouver), 1, no. 9 (July–August 1979): 4 James Jefferson, "Charges May Invalidate Law on Adult Consent, Ruby Says: Gay Teacher's House Raided," Globe and Mail, metro ed., 16 June 1979, p. 5 Gerald Hannon, "Waiting for Trial: One Man's Ordeal," Body Politic, no. 74 (1981), p. 12 Gerald Hannon, "Toronto Teacher's Home Charged as 'Bawdy House,'" Body Politic, no. 54 (1979), p. 11 "A Fantasy Come True" (editorial), Body Politic, no. 54 (1979), p. 8 "Cops Still Holding NDP Caucus List?" Body Politic, no. 56 (1979), p. 13

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Tom Warner, Never Going Back: A […]

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