April 30 Winnipeg A woman complained […]
When
1980-04-30
Description
April 30 Winnipeg A woman complained to police after she accidentally picked up a copy of The Joy of Gay Sex in a Winnipeg bookstore, mistaking it for The Joy of Cooking. Police threatened to prosecute Coles and Classic bookstores for selling obscene material unless they removed the books The Joy of Gay Sex and The Joy of Lesbian Sex from their shelves. The bookstores complied. Manitoba Attorney General Gerry Mercier came under fire for supporting the informal banning of the books; Mercier had promised to prosecute any booksellers found selling them in Manitoba. GFE vowed to fight the ban. (See also November 1, 1980.)
All Events
November 1 Winnipeg More than 150 […]All Places
WinnipegAll People
Gerald MercierAll Organizations
Campus Gay Club, University of Manitoba, Gays for Equality GFEAll Monograph
The Joy of Lesbian SexThe Joy of Gay SexAll Citations
"Winnipeg Police Force Removal of Books," CCLA Canadian Civil Liberties Association News Notes (Toronto), 19 June 1980, p. 1.Gregg Shilliday, "Warning about Sex Book Defended," Winnipeg Tribune, final ed., 2 May 1980, p. 9Bill Lewis, "Manitoba PCs Under Attack After Banning Gay Sex Books," Body Politic, no. 65 (1980), p. 10Bill Lewis, "Cops Threaten Classics [sic], Coles Stores Remove Gay Sex Guides," Body Politic, no. 64 (1980), p. 10Brian Gory, "Gays Challenge Sex Book Ban," Winnipeg Free Press, 2 May 1980, p. 1"Gay Books' Ban Triggers Petition," What's Happening (Winnipeg), 1, no. 1 (November 1980): (3)Ingeborg Boyens, "Gay Sex Books Called Obscene, Mercier Threatens Prosecution," Winnipeg Free Press, 9 May 1980, pp. 1, 4
