From the Bathhouse Raids to Black Lives Matter: 40 Years Since Brent Hawkes' Hunger Strike

Queer Devotions

Today is a special bonus episode to commemorate and contextualize the 40 years since Brent Hawkes' went on a 25-day hunger strike in protest of the Bathhouse Raids, which was the second largest mass arrest in Canadian history. On February 5th, 1981, police arrested hundreds of men at gay bathhouses in the city, brutalizing them and causing thousands of dollars in property damages. The city erupted immediately in protest and a new LGBTQ movement was born with it.
I spoke with Brent and asked him about what gave rise to these protests, the immediate aftermath, and the trajectory of the raids in conjunction with Black Lives Matter and calls for racial justice within the queer community.
There are many helpful resources to learn more about this:
Track Two: Enough is Enough is a groundbreaking documentary about the raids, which is available on Xtra Magazine's YouTube channel.
Professor Rinaldo Walcott wrote up a piece. called "Black Lives Matter, police and Pride: Toronto activists spark a movement" for The Conversation and it's a great introduction to the protests.
This is a longer video of the Pride shutdown, where Black Lives Matter Toronto issues their demands. It is horrifying to watch as the crowd boos the protestors.
This is an academic investigation into the media discourse surrounding how queerness is situated as White: Queer inclusion precludes (Black) queer disruption: media analysis of the Black lives matter Toronto sit-in during Toronto Pride 2016.
I mentioned the activists Sandy Hudson (https://twitter.com/sandela), Syrus Marcus Ware (https://twitter.com/TrudoLemmens), Janaya Khan (https://twitter.com/janaya_khan) and Alexandria Williams.
Credit for Audio:
Track Two: Enough is Enough by filmmakers Harry Sutherland, Gordon Keith and Jack Lemmon, which has a fascinating history. If you'd like to learn more about it, Xtra Magazine has written up it's history: https://www.dailyxtra.com/track-two-58046.
Black Lives Matter sit-in at Toronto Pride 2016 | 4K, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57NbmDL06gU&ab_channel=cheatingthesystem21
Black Lives Matter Chant at the 2016 Pride Parade, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d4Q3EfPD4w&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=XtraMagazine.
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