The state of the “common gaols” in the future Canada did not escape notice. In one petition signed by a number of judges – including Alexander Wood – the Toronto prison was causing prisoners “to suffer more than the laws sanction or humanity approve.”
At the same time, there’d been a movement afoot for some years [...]
Archive for August, 2007
Life in the Provincial Penitentiary at Kingston 1841-1867
Posted in British North America, gay/bi men's history, history on August 26, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
“Sodomites” in Canada before 1841
Posted in British North America, gay/bi men's history, history on August 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Homosexuality was rarely talked about in early Canada, and when it was, it was described a foreign vice. If there had been a stereotype of the English homosexual, it would probably be a stereotype imported from the metropolis – the decadent aristocrat, raised in “effeminate” wealth and luxury. Indeed, when the first homosexual [...]
Alvaro Orozco Needs Help
Posted in politics on August 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Although this is mainly a historical website, today I’m hoping to bring the public’s attention to Alvaro Orozco, who had his refugee claim rejected because he couldn’t prove he’s gay.
Orozco figured out his sexuality early, and fled his native Nicaragua — where homosexuality is illegal and anti-gay violence rampant — at the age of 12. [...]
A Note About Updates
Posted in history on August 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
When I first established this site, I wanted to put enough material out there to solidly establish it, and so I was updating three or four times weekly. That was a little too much.
I’m now going to update every Sunday — after this Sunday, which I’m taking off as a vacation — not just because [...]
George Herchmer Markland
Posted in British North America, gay/bi men's history, history on August 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
George Herchmer Markland was the closest thing to royalty that existed in the Canadian colonies. Born in 1790 at Kingston, in what was still the Province of Quebec before it became Upper Canada, Markland grew up in ease and comfort, and was educated by the Family Compact’s patriarch himself, the Anglican Bishop John Strachan.
At 20, [...]
