Interview with Don Franco
oral history, sm, psychiatry, bathhouse raids
Don Franco, in his 60s at time of interview, discusses his youth, family and premature exit from school to enter the workforce. Don Franco attended Victoria College at UofT at the time of World War II, but was refused entry into the Air Force due to ‘psychological troubles’. In this interview, Franco recounts his experience seeing a psychiatrist due to his gay desires, and ‘emotional instability’. Later working as a teacher, Franco also discusses sublimating his sexuality into his work. Franco was associated with various important political organizations (including the CCF, NDP and CCYM) and important political figures. The interview also covers Franco’s interest in and experiences with S&M culture, and various encounters with the police as a result of this interest. His activism for the gay and S&M communities led to his arrest in the first Barracks raid, and his house later being raided on June 6th, 1979 (having been accused of being a ‘bawdy house’). Franco expressed his gratitude that the superintendent of the school board assured him he would not lose his job after these arrests, and for receiving financial support from other members of the community to assist with legal fees. Franco’s also discusses experiences with a manic depressive lover, and the subsequent depression he fell into. Franco contrasts the differences between S&M subculture and ‘Woodshed’ scene, particularly discussing ‘Woodshed Magazine’ and the prevalence of drag in the Woodshed scene.
Foolscap Oral History Project
1984-1-5
John Grube
CLGA
PDF, WAV
English
sound and text
2016-034
Toronto 1960s, 1970s, 1980s
Oral History with Lois Stewart, 1985
Born in 1920, Lois Stewart is a political activist and retired schoolteacher who grew up in Victoria, British Columbia. After teaching in Victoria during World War 2, Lois moved to Southern Ontario, where she taught in a number of cities and towns outside of Toronto. At the time of the interview in 1985, Lois is 65 years old and living in Toronto. The interview’s themes and topics vary widely, spanning Lois’ life from roughly 1943 to 1985. She recounts her long- and short-term relationships with women her experiences in the Toronto lesbian bar culture, primarily around The Continental Hotel; her connection to and thoughts on socialism, feminism and the Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation/New Democratic Party; and her perspectives on lesbian and same-sex intimacy, sex, and love in the 1950s and 1960s.
Lesbians Making History Collective
1985
Lesbians Making History Collective
LGBTQ Digital Oral History Collaboratory
The CLGA does not hold copyright
1950 and 1960s, 1985