Queer Toronto

It’s not just The Village. Well before Church Street and Wellesley Street East became the hub of Toronto’s 2SLGBTQ+ communities, queer people gathered — either covertly or discretely — in places like Allan Gardens, Hanlan’s Point, and bars on Yonge Street. In more recent years, queer spaces have shifted from The Village to neighbourhoods like “Queer West.”

Toronto’s puritanical attitudes towards sex, drinking, gambling, prostitution, and socialism left its mark on neighbourhoods. For 2SLGBTQ+ people, stigmatization drove them to congregate in secret. By the 1960s, queer spaces like the St. Charles Tavern on Yonge Street were well established, but also subject to homophobia and police spying.

2SLGBTQ+ Torontonians advanced their movement for civil rights in the 1970s, but their advocacy was met with harassment and aggressive policing, such as the 1981 bathhouse raids. The 519 Community Centre on Church Street became a hub of queer organizing and the focal point of The Village. The election of queer city councillors, HIV/AIDS activism, and the popularity of Pride Week improved relationships between 2SLGBTQ+ communities and local institutions.

Today, The Village is no longer the residential centre for Toronto’s 2SLGBTQ+ residents, and many of the city’s queer events have moved elsewhere, including Queen Street West. “Queer West” emerged in the early 2000s, providing alternatives for queer nightlife, such as the Vazaleen party. Other 2SLGBTQ+ communities have formed in digital spaces, homes, collectives, and pop-up parties like New Ho Queen. Queer Toronto is everywhere.