My name is Hamish Copley. This site began as a side-project to a novel I was writing. As I did historical research, I decided I wanted a place to put up information that I discovered along the way. That’s how the idea for a historical website first came about.
At first I thought I’d only be popularizing the work of professional historians — my background is in literature, not history. As I began to delve into this history, I realized that very few LGBT histories of Canada stretch back to before 1950, virtually none to before the 20th century. What little there is before that (most around New France) was so riddled with errors when compared with the primary sources that I was astonished it could pass peer review.
This bothered me, because I’ve always believed that history is crucial to our understanding of the world. It’s my belief that recovering history is crucial for community-building. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans history tends to get forgotten in any country, and Canadians of any stripe are often dangerously ignorant of their own history, so in this country our history gets forgotten twice. The brief and mangled histories that predated the twentieth century are not sufficient to help us understand who we are.
That’s why I went to the archives, and the electronic resources. What’s here is a combination of my own research, plus the research of those few souls who’ve made a foray into the forgotten places of our past.
I intend to use this space sometimes for political information, too — letter-writing campaigns, boycotts, etc.
I will try to update every two months. My last update was August 27, 2017.
The Name
Montreal was founded in 1642, under the name of Ville-Marie. Six years later had its first trial — the first trial in all of what would later be Canada — for homosexuality.
A drummer with the French army was sent to court in Quebec City for having sex with another man. History does not record either the drummer’s name nor his partner’s, but since his partner wasn’t brought to trial, he is believed by some to have been First Nations.
The Header Image
Left-to-right, the three images are:
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- An 1813 map of York — modern-day Toronto — that shows, along with the rest of the city,”Molly Wood’s Bush.” This is the core of Canada’s oldest gay neighbourhood, now known as “Church and Wellesley.”
- An 1886 article in La Presse, entitled “The Noctural Association,” detailing with horror the cruising ground behind city hall in Montreal.
It’s one of the first newspaper moral crusades against homosexuality.
- A 1923 picture of Cadieux Street. At the time this was taken, Cadieux (now called Bullion) was at the heart of the Red Light District, the largest neighbourhood for homosexuals and prostitutes in Montreal.
Hamish – hello from the Archives gaies du Québec! I did remember our conversation about your site, and so I looked you up. My congratulations – it is great. Would you mind if we linked to it from ours?
You can write to me directly if you like – I am not a great blogger!
Iain
Thank you! and certainly! It’d be an honour.
This site will update as I do the research. I’ve been updating three times a week up until now, which is a little too much, and it’ll have to be once a week from now on.
Like your site! You say:
A 1923 picture of Cadieux Street. At the time this was taken, Cadieux (now called Bullion) was at the heart of the Red Light District, the largest neighbourhood for homosexuals and prostitutes in Montreal.
It is actually now called de Bullion (name changed in mid 1920s). I think the photo is of the area below Dorchester (Rene Levesque).
Hallo Hamish — your roommate (I believe he said?) tipped me off to your site while he was attending my Castro tour in San Francisco last week. I look forward to delving into your historical musings and learning more about gay Canada.
Thank you. I greatly appreciate it!
You’re site is fantastic! I stumbled upon it just doing a little research, and I’ve been reading sections all night. I’m hooked! Great writing!
Thank you! It’s been on hiatus a long time because I’ve been insanely busy these last two years. I have been slowly researching a next article and plan to post it in the not-so-distant future.
Hi Hamish–I was hoping to get in touch about some research stuff re: two-spirit traditions in Canada, but your email doesn’t seem to work. Is there another way to send you a message?
Hello! This site has long been on hiatus. I’m just getting back to it now. I’m far from an expert on two-spirit traditions, but if you wanted to ask, you could contact me at hydwn (at) hotmail (dot) com. I might be able to dig up some resources, or at least figure out resources to answer your questions.
Thank you so much for making this! I was doing a research project on this topic, and this is the holy grail of knowledge!
I just discovered your work and am very impressed by it. Is there any chance of publication? There is very little gay Canadian History available and some of it is marred his heavy doses of Queer, Feminist and Marxist theory.
I’ve thought about it over the years, and I still work on this site when I can, but I work very long hours these days at my day job and so I haven’t had time to look into it 😦
THE MOST FAMOUS HOMOSEXUALS OF THE HISTORY
1. The Man Prague (5000 A.C.)
2. Sappho of Mytilene (600 A.C. – B.C.) Greek poet
3. Socrates (470-399 A.C. – B.C.) Greek philosopher
4. Plato (427-347 A.C. – B.C.) Greek philosopher
5. Alexander the Great (356-323 A.C. – B.C.) King of Macedonia
6. Wu (140-87 A.C. – B.C.) Chinese Emperor
7. Julius Caesar (100-44 A.C. – B.C.) Roman Emperor
8. Adriano (76-138 D.C.) Roman Emperor
9. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Holy and Father the Catholic Church
10. Benedict IX (1012-1056) Pope
11. Richard the Lionheart (1157-1199) English king and Crusader
12. Eduard II (1254-1327) English king
13. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Renaissance artist, inventor and Italian scientist
14. Michalengo Buonarrotti (1475-1564) Architect, sculptor and painter Italian
15. Montezuma II (1480-1520) Aztec emperor
16. Julius III (1487-1555) Pope
17. Ieyasu Tokugawa (1542-1616) Japanese Shogun founder of the Edo Shogunate
18. John Alexander Normandy (1545-1640) French journalist and poet
19. Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) British statesman
20. Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) English poet and playwright
21. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Playwright, poet and English actor
22. Christina Alexandra (1626-1689) Swedish queen
23. Philippe of Orleans (1640-1701) French Prince of Bourbon Dynasty
24. Peter the Great (1672-1725) Tsar of All Russia
25. Frederick the Great (1712-1786) King of Prussia and military leader
26. Madame de Staël (1766-1817) French writer and intellectual
27. Lord Byron (1788-1824) British poet
28. Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) Danish poet and writer
29. Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) Euro-American writer and journalist
30. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Euro-American philosopher and poet
31. Herman Melville (1819-1891) Euro-American writer
32. Walt Whitman (1819-1892) Euro-American poet
33. Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Russian composer
34. Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) French poet
35. Edward Carpenter (1844-1929) British author
36. Chief Crazy Horse (Tashunca Witko) (1849-1877) Chief tribe Oglala Sioux Chief
37. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) English writer and playwright
38. Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) Songwriter and English artist
39. Sir Alfred Douglas (1870-1945) English writer and poet
40. Marcel Proust (1871-1922) French writer
41. Sergei Diaghileff (1872-1929) Russian Ballet businessman
42. Willa Cather (1873-1947) Euro-American writer
43. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette (1873-1954) French writer
44. Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) American writer and poet
45. William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) British writer and playwright
46. Alice Babette Toklas (1877-1967) Euro-American writer
47. Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970) British Writer
48. Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) Novelist, essayist and British writer
49. John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) British economist and Nobel Prize
50. Ernst Röhm (1887-1934) German Nazi Military
51. Thomas Edward Lawrence -Lawrence of Arabia- (1888-1935) British soldier
52. Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) Poet, diplomat, and feminist pedagogy Chilean
53. Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) French naturalist and writer
54. Vaslav Nijinsky (1890-1950) Russian ballet dancer
55. Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962) British writer
56. Cole Porter (1893-1964) Euro-American composer
57. Bessie Smith (1894-1937) American black singer
58. Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) Poet, playwright and prose writer Spanish
59. Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) German actress and singer
60. Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-1987) Belgian-American british writer
61. Salvador Novo (1904-1974) Poet, essayist, playwright and Mexican historian
62. Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986) British author and writer
63. Greta Garbo (1905-1990) Swedish nationalized American actress
64. Frieda Kahlo (1907-1964) Mexican artist and Activist
65. Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973) Writer and poet
66. Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) Writer, teacher and French philosopher
67. Bayard Rustin (1910-87) American Human Rights activist
68. Alan Turing (1912-1954) British mathematician
69. Tennessee Williams (1914-1983) Euro-American playwright
70. Chavela Vargas (1919-2012) Mexican singer
71. Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975) Writer, poet and Italian film director
72. Truman Capote (1924-1984) Euro-American author
73. James Baldwin (1924-1987) Novelist, essayist, playwright, poet and social critic
74. Gore Vidal (1925- ) Euro-American writer
75. Andy Warhol (1928- ) Plastic artist and American filmmaker
76. Harvey Milk (1930-1978) Euro-American political
77. Andy Warhol (1930-1987) Euro-American Pop Artist
78. Audre Lorde (1934-1992) African-American writer and activist
79. Alejandra Pizarnik (1936-1972) Argentina poet
80. Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993) Russian dancer
81. Ian Mckellen (1939- ) British actor of stage and screen
82. Antonio Arbulú Neira (1944- ) Peruvian psychologist
83. Freddie Mercury (1946-1991) Pop British singer/songwriter/musician
84. Elton John (1947- ) British Singer/songwriter/musican, singer
85. Pedro Almodovar (1949- ) Film director, screenwriter and producer Spanish
86. Juan Gabriel (1950- ) Mexican singer and composer
87. Janis Ian (1951- ) Euro-American Singer/songwriter/musician
88. John Travolta (1954- ) Actor, singer, dancer and pilot American aviator
89. Nathan Lane (1956- ) Euro-American actor
90. Martina Navratilova (1956- ) Czech tennis champion
91. Miguel Bosé (1956- ) Spanish actor and singer
92. Ellen Degeneres (1958- ) Euro-American Comedian/actor
93. George Alan O’Dowd (1961- ) Singer, musician and British disc jockey
94. Melissa Etheridge (1961- ) Euro-American Singer/songwriter/musician
95. Tom Cruise (1962- ) American Actor
96. Alan Cumming (1965- ) British Actor
97. Ricardo Fort (1968-2013) Singer, actor and producing Argentinian
98. Ricky Martin (1971- ) Singer, songwriter, actor and Puerto Rican writer
99. Nein Patrick Harris (1973- ) Actor, singer and the American director
100. Leonardo di Caprio (1974- ) Actor and producer of American cinema
101. Cristian Castro (1974- ) Singer, actor and Mexican composer
102. Pablo Ruiz (1975- ) Argentine singer
103. Emiliano Rafael Boscatto (1981- ) Conductor argentine television
104. Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (1985- ) Portuguese footballer
Dear Hamish
I see it’s a year since you worked on this site, so maybe you won’t respond.
Yesterday being the anniversary of Passchendaele, I was mooching around the web trying to find out more about my grandfather, Charles McDonell. I trhink he is the one you are talking about re The Men in Gidlow’s circle as what you say fits with the family story. Do get in touch if you want to gollow up.
Great website, by the way.
Beverley
Hello,
I would like very much to know about him. I am very slow to work on this site, but I am continuing with it, and my next research project is World War I
Hamish, is there a way to contact you directly? I and a colleague have spent a number of years doing our own research on Canadian LGBTQ+ history (including archival research) and I nearly fell of my chair when I came across your material which goes so much further back in time and in detail than anything else published I have come across. . Ron
Hello, and sorry for the slow response. My time to work on the website has been very little lately (though I am still working on it!). I can contact you, if you had any questions.
Hi Hamish, I’m a researcher and writer based in Montreal looking into topics that you have written about. You have such an incredible collection here and I’d love to speak to you about some things that I’m working on and learn more about your work. Can I get in touch somehow?
Thanks so much for all your work on this! – Lucy.
Hello! My life has made it very difficult to work these days, so I’ve only been checking in every six months or so – my apologies for the very late response. But if you are still curious, I am happy to discuss it!
Hi Hamish,
Apologies for my own late reply, I hadn’t realized that you had replied. I would love to talk – tried to reach you through someone at the AGQ but I don’t think we connected. If you are up for discussing your research, do email me sometime – you can get me at lucyuprichard (at) gmail (dot) com. I recently referenced your work in an article of my own about Elsa Gidlow and wanted to let you know:
http://www.articulationmagazine.com/montreals-sappho/