For much of the last century, Toronto was not a welcoming place for many of the people who called it home. But across the city, small pockets of safety and community emerged in unexpected places.
One of them was the Continental Hotel — a gathering place for lesbian women in the mid-20th century, and also home to arrangements between queer women and Chinese men who, due to exclusionary immigration laws, were often unable to bring their families to Canada. These relationships offered companionship, protection, financial support, and, for many, a way to survive in a city that marginalized them both.
Today, the Continental Hotel is gone, but its story remains part of Toronto’s hidden social history.
