In all these articles, I still haven’t discussed in any real depth the laws that sent all those homosexuals and bisexuals to the stake or gallows, or into exile. Before we go any further, we’re going to have to talk about those laws.
In 1763, France officially gave up its North American colony to the British. [...]
Archive for the ‘New France’ Category
Reflections on BNA, part 5: The Laws of France and New France
Posted in British North America, New France, gay/bi men's history, history, lesbian/bi women's history on July 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Conclusion — “sodomites” and “les lesbiennes” in New France
Posted in New France, gay/bi men's history, history, lesbian/bi women's history on July 7, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
“[I wish] that this sodomite of a country were burnt, and reduced to ashes, along with everyone in it.”
– words spoken by a man named Pierre Beaudoin dit Cumberland, about New France – words that landed him in court on a charge of blasphemy in 1752
Four hundred years ago, there was no permanent European settlement [...]
Nuns, les Lesbiennes, and the Case of Esther Brandeau
Posted in New France, history, lesbian/bi women's history, trans history on July 4, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
I saved this piece for last – not because it’s my best or my worst, but to stall for time. I was hoping I would be able to find more of relevance.
Researching lesbian history is almost proverbially difficult. Most of our knowledge of male homosexuality comes from court records. Female homosexuality has rarely been [...]
Bishop Saint-Vallier’s Moral Crusade
Posted in New France, gay/bi men's history, history on July 2, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrière de Saint-Vallier – the colony’s second bishop – was a fanatic of the first order, who actually forbade women who showed bare cleavage and shoulders from marrying in his church, confessing, or having their children baptized. He also outlawed dancing between men and women (though he allowed women to [...]
Reflections on New france, part 6: The Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement and Bishop Laval
Posted in New France, gay/bi men's history, history on June 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
If Montreal’s founders – the lord Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve and nun Jeanne Mance – had been given a vision of a Montreal gay pride parade in the future, they might have packed their bags and left the island to the Iroquois who also claimed it.
Maisonneuve and Jeanne-Mance are always referred to as “pious” [...]
