1977
Kingston’s first public gay rights protest
The King’s Lounge, which later became the Toucan, opened its doors on March 1st, 1977 [1]. Its former incarnation as the Grand was one of the working class bars where gay and lesbian patrons were tolerated [1]. On the opening evening of The King’s Lounge, ten or so members of the Queens Homophile Association (QHA) took to the dance floor of the new bar, saying that they wanted to “have a look at the place and see what it was like” [3]. After a few hours of fast dancing, members of the QHA started slow dancing in pairs. They were swiftly told to leave by the manager, as he objected to the sight of two men dancing together [2]. The management did not object to the women who were dancing together; the owner later commented that: “I’ve seen girls dance together frequently, but it doesn’t conjure up in my mind that they might be funny. But two men doing a dance where each partner holds each other was offensive to me and everyone in the place. I don’t have anything against these people, I just feel sorry for them. But I’m a businessman, not a sociologist” [3].
This outraged both members of the QHA and members of the community at large, who decried the management’s actions as sexist and homophobic. One of the women dancing with another woman at the King’s Lounge that night described the manager’s actions as informed by his sexist attitude that “women only go to bars to be picked up, and dance together only until men ask them to dance” [3]. Phone calls made in protest to the bar established that the manager had no intention to change his policy, except to apply it to women as well.
On March 12th, the QHA organized a picket outside the Kings Lounge to protest the owner’s actions. The 25 to 30 protesters included members of the Socialist Coalition, The Feminist-Socialist Study Group, and The Queen’s Women’s Law Caucus. Picketers held signs that said “The King’s Is Sexist”, “Anti Gay is Sick”, “Discrimination Lives Here” and “Gay is Proud”. The QHA asserted that:
“Heterosexuals have always taken for granted their right to express sexual preference and physical affection in public. The expression of such preferences and affections is natural for homosexuals as well as heterosexuals, and this is why we seek the right to engage in it publicly. We are no longer willing to hide this aspect of our selves” [3].
The protest was accompanied by approximately 130 quiet spectators. One 14 year old girl commented, “I can’t believe people would get up on Princess Street and admit they’re gay.” However, the protest had little effect on the manager of the King’s Lounge except to cause them to declare that they would no longer serve members of the QHA “if [they were] able to recognize them” [3].
This marked the first public gay rights protest in Kingston [2]. By making themselves visible, the protesters asserted that gays and lesbians were part of the Kingston community, and did an indispensable act in cementing the presence of queer people locally [3].
[1] McDiarmid, M. E. 1999. ‘From mouth to mouth: An oral history of lesbian gays in Kingston from World War II to 1980’, ProQuest.
[2] McDiarmid, M. E., and Blackbourn, V. ‘The King’s Lounge Protest’, Stones.
[3] McDiarmid, M.E. (1997). Dancing In The Street. Unherd, Spring(2), 8–9.