Oral History with Pat Murphy, 1986

Oral History with Pat Murphy, 1986

Pat Murphy was born in 1941 to an Irish-Catholic working-class family in Toronto, Canada. Murphy trained as a nurse and worked initially at Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital in 1964, where she had her first lesbian relationship with a co-worker. The interview covers Murphy’s transition to activism and community work initially through Canadian Homophile Association of Toronto. The interview examines dissensions between lesbians and gay men in the political movements of the 1970s and 1980s. Murphy outlines her role as a public figure of the lesbian movement; her activism in WAVAW (Women Against Violence Against Women); and the opening of the bar, The Fly-By-Night. Murphy also details her involvement as one of the Brunswick Four, a popularly-reported series of arrests which informed the Royal Commission on Toronto Police Practices.

Lesbians Making History Collective

1986

Lesbians Making History Collective

LGBTQ Digital Oral History Collaboratory

The CLGA does not hold copyright

oral history

1950s to 1970s, 1986