January 3 Toronto The BPFPF and the […]

Graph

When

1979-01-03

Description

January 3 Toronto The BPFPF and the GATE (Toronto) sponsored a rally and march, attended by about 350 people. George Hislop introduced the speakers and entertainers, including Joanne Kates, Gordon Montador, the Clichettes, David Maclean, General Idea, Lorraine Segato, Chris Bearchell, and the Pink Triangle Press trial defendants (Gerald Hannon, Ed Jackson, and Ken Popert). Newly elected Toronto mayor John Sewell addressed the rally; he defended the Body Politic and called for an amendment to the Ontario Human Rights Code to outlaw discrimination against gays. Sewell's carefully worded speech, delivered when the PTP case was still before the courts, caused a media uproar. Within two weeks of the event Sewell was not able to leave his office except under police guard, due to a threat made against his life. By late January, however, the majority of the hundreds of letters and telephone calls received at the mayor's office supported his stand. (See also January 7, 1979, and March 6, 1979.)