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Eugene

(61,595 posts)
Wed Jun 22, 2016, 03:52 PM Jun 2016

Toronto police chief to apologize for 1981 gay bathhouse raids

Source: The Guardian

Toronto police chief to apologize for 1981 gay bathhouse raids

Watershed moment for gay rights in Canada saw 286 men arrested
on charges of prostitution and indecency and led to mass protests
against police harassment


Jessica Murphy in Ottawa
Wednesday 22 June 2016 18.26 BST

Toronto’s police chief is set to make a historic apology on Wednesday for a string of raids on gay bathhouses in 1981 – a watershed for gay rights in Canada and the catalyst for Toronto’s annual pride parade which is now one of the biggest celebrations of its kind in the world.

On 5 February 1981, 286 men were arrested on charges of prostitution and indecency when uniformed and plainclothes police officers stormed four of the largest gay bathhouses in the city.

It remains one of the largest mass arrests in Canadian history, but the raids are now better remembered as the country’s equivalent to the Stonewall riots.

“Gay people realized that they had to band together, they had to get political, and they had to stand up for their rights,” said Ron Rosenes, who was 33 when he was arrested at the Romans II bathhouse that night.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/22/toronto-gay-bathhouse-raids-operation-soap-police-apology
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Toronto police chief to apologize for 1981 gay bathhouse raids (Original Post) Eugene Jun 2016 OP
Women strip-searched, charged in bathhouse raids reject public apology Eugene Jun 2016 #1
Anyone on the force today who was on the job back then? n/t Old Union Guy Jun 2016 #2

Eugene

(61,595 posts)
1. Women strip-searched, charged in bathhouse raids reject public apology
Wed Jun 22, 2016, 09:42 PM
Jun 2016

Source: CBC News

Women strip-searched, charged in bathhouse raids reject public apology

Six male police officers raided an all-female party at a bathhouse in 2000

By Ramna Shahzad, CBC News Posted: Jun 22, 2016 6:59 PM ET Last Updated: Jun 22, 2016 6:59 PM ET

A group of women who were strip-searched during a bathhouse raid that targeted an all-female party in 2000 have rejected Wednesday's apology by Toronto police, because they say it isn't meaningful and comes with no real change.

"We see that the apology is well-meaning and well-intentioned," said Chanelle Gallant, who was there along with about 350 other women on the night of the raid 16 years ago. "But we don't see the apology as being meaningful because it doesn't reflect a change in the actual practices of the police."

In September of 2000, six male Toronto police officers raided a party at the Club Toronto bathhouse where they barged in on women, many of whom were naked.

Gallant said the experience was "terrifying and very dangerous" for the women, "in particular members of the bathhouse who were racialized women, migrants, who did not have documentation or status (and) who had children."

JP Hornick was arrested and charged with liquor violations at the time of the raid. She says she has had her share of apologies from police since 2000.

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Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/bathhouse-raids-pussy-palace-1.3647636
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