Oral History with Philip McLeod (July 1991)
Toronto-based gay liberation activist and community organizer Philip McLeod, interviewed by historian David Churchill in July 1991, at the University of Toronto. The first fifteen minutes of the tape features still shots of gay liberation ephemera filmed by Churchill prior to the interview with McLeod, and shots of the University of Toronto campus.
This is an interview with Philip McLeod, a gay liberationist. In this interview, Mcleod describes his early life. He was born in Montreal in 19XX, the son of Mae Moreash. He was raised in the city's Protestant Infants' Home, where his mother worked. In 1943, Mcleod enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Mcleod describes his time in the Second World War, framing the war as a critical juncture in the rise of homoerotic sentiments, but not behaviours, for many men who were conscripted or enlisted.
McLeod discusses his move to Southern Ontario following the war in the early 1950s, where he worked at the Ajax Public Library, Ryerson Polytechnic, the Toronto public school system, the London (Ontario) public library system and eventually for XYZ. He retired in 1982 and resided in Toronto, where he owned a number of houses, which he rented out to supplement his income.
Mcleod recounts the social life of gay men in Toronto at mid-century in some detail. His experience as a professional offers insight into the restrictions that working life placed on cruising. The interview documents the bars, clubs, parks, and neighbourhoods gay men congregated in during the 1950s onwards.
The interview documents various strategies of signification for gay men. McLeod recounts being cruised as a librarian in London, ON public library system, as well as the role bodybuilding periodicals played in gay life at mid-century.
The interview documents McLeod’s own shift in political consciousness following the 1981 police raids on gay bathhouses in Toronto. He offers a discussion of how the coming out process for men coming of age in the 1970s was shaped by the political movements.
Churchill, David;
McLeod, Philip
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
1940-1970
Churchill, David (interviewer)
McKinney, Cait (digitizer)
Churchill, David
mp4
English
video
Oral History Interview with Frederick Sproule (1983)
oral history, relationships, gay culture, Frederick Sproule, WWI, coming out, army, cruising, work, interior design, WWII, Toronto, drag, bars, gay liberation
In this oral history interview Frederick Sproule, 88 years old, discusses his life as a gay man in Toronto from the early twentieth century onwards. The interview begins with Sproule describing his coming out experience when he was 18 and lived in New York. He then narrates his life during World War I, his time in service, sexual experiences, relationships, cruising practices, and his attendance to gay parties. Other topics discussed in the interview include Sproule’s relation with his family, his social circle, his career as an interior designer, the changes in Toronto after WWII, drag practices of people he knew, his political stance, his rather pessimistic opinion about the gay liberation movement, the bar culture in the city, and his relationships with women when he was younger.
Foolscap Oral History Project
1983-08-16
John Grube, LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory (Elspeth Brown, PI), Zohar Freeman
CLGA
PDF, WAV
English
Sound, text
2016-034
Toronto 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s; New York 1910s, 1920s.
Interview with Phil Conron
oral history, gay culture, cruising
In this oral history interview, Phil Conron, 53 years old, discusses growing up in Toronto in the 1940s, trying to fit in with other boys in school, and early adolescent sexual experiences with other young men. He discusses his involvement with the gay social scene in Toronto in the 1950s and 60s, touching on topics that include cruising in Queen’s Park, going to parties and other gay social spaces on Toronto Island, bar culture, group sex parties, bath houses, police harassment, and a brief stint living in Vancouver in the late 1950s. Conron had long-term relationships with several men, which he outlines in brief. He also discusses his developing taste, later in life, for intergenerational relationships with young men in their early 20s. Conron briefly discusses his career, which is not identified in specific terms, and his growing participation as an actor in community theatre after his retirement.
Foolscap Oral History Project
1985-05-22
Anna Malla
CLGA
PDF, WAV
English
Sound, text
2016-034
Toronto, Vancouver, 1950s, 1960s
Oral History Interview with George Hislop (1987)
oral history, gay liberation, organisations, CHAT, University of Toronto Homophile Association, Toronto Gay Action Group, The Body Politic, GATE, activism, cruising, bars, Foolscap
In this oral history interview George Hislop, 59 years old, discusses growing up gay in Toronto from the 1930 until the 1980s. He describes his early life, first homosexual experiences, coming out, education, participation in the Toronto gay scene, and his later activism and involvement in politics. The interview follows a linear time, tracing the evolution of the Toronto gay scene since the 1940s. It details the different ways in which gay men socialized and organized through time, highlighting the particular turning points in the Canadian context, instead of arguing for a pre- and post-Stonewall narrative. He describes the formation of groups such as U of T’s homophile association, CHAT, Toronto Gay Action Group, GATE, The Body Politic, among others. He also describes the tensions between older and younger generations of gay men involved in activist organizations and the gay liberation movement. The interview also covers the relationship among gay and lesbians organizing, feminist and left activism in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as cruising in parks and theatres, gay bar culture in the city, private parties, and other forms of socializing.
Foolscap Oral History Project
1987-02-20
John Grube, LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory (Elspeth Brown, PI), Zohar Freeman
CLGA
PDF, WAV
English
Sound, text
2016-034
Toronto 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s
Interview with Bob Grimson
oral history, gay men, parties
Oral history interview with a gay man, Bob, completed as part of the Foolscap project.
Bob discusses growing up Jewish and gay in Toronto from pre-World War II onwards. He begins the interview by recounting his entrance into the Toronto gay scene after the war, describing this scene as mostly WASP and class-classified. He talks about the private parties held by members of this society and his frequent feeling as an outsider, being Jewish and poor. Bob also explains the meaning of a “gay identity,” which he relates to a cultured homosexual man and not only to a sexual practice. The interview covers Bob’s days in the Air Force, his gay experiences with other men in service while abroad, and the gay scene in Naples. Other topics include being gay at work, Bob’s moving to California in the 1950s, his coming back to Toronto in the 60s, and his brief experience as the owner of “The Quest”: the first gay-owned gay-operated bar. He also informs about cruising practices in streets, parks, bars, theatres and steam-baths.
Foolscap Oral History Project
1983-03-18
John Grube
PDF, WAV
English
Sound, text
2016-034
Toronto 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s; Naples (during WW II), California 1950s.
Interview with David Allandyle
oral history, relationships, bars
Oral history interview with a gay man, David, completed as part of the Foolscap project.
David, a 60 year old gay man at the time of the interview, discusses his long-term relationships and friendships in Toronto after World War II. He came out in the 1940s after being in service, while he studied Political Science and Economics at the University of Toronto. The interview covers David’s early life, family and friendships, being gay at work, the gay bar culture in Toronto, cruising in streets and parks in the city, occasional sexual encounters, police surveillance, his stance on psychiatric therapy, and his participation on demonstrations marching up Yonge street after the bath-house raids. David also discusses politics, defining himself as a conservative, his work experience in branch stores and in the field of interior design, as well as his rejection of the current gay culture.
Foolscap Oral History Project
1983-11-21
John Grube
CLGA
PDF, WAV
English
Sound, text
2016-034
Toronto 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s
Interview with a found-in from the 1981 Bathhouse Raids
gay men
bars
night life
public sex
baths
cruising
vice squad
police
police raids
An interview by Michael Lynch with an anonymous man, age 41, who was arrested during the bathhouse raids.
Tape one (56 mins) covers his early life in Hamilton, coming out and family life, marriage to a woman, life in Hamilton, and gay life in Toronto from the 1950s including bars, cruising locations, and casual sex.
Tape two (56 mins) covers the barracks and other bathhouses in Toronto, and details his experiences on the night of the raids, as well as the aftermath including rallies and activities of the Gay Community Appeal.
Michael Lynch
1981-03-07
Cassette Tape
English