Montreal cleans up for the Olympics
Before the 1976 Olympics, Montreal wanted to look clean. The raids on queer venues sparked resistance instead.
On 13 May 1976, a series of police raids on queer venues began in Montreal. According to the Lesbian and Gay Liberation in Canada index, officers searched five establishments by 15 May: the bars Le Taureau d'Or, Studio One and The Stork Club, the lesbian bar Jilly's and the Crystal Baths. There were no arrests.
The background was the Summer Olympics, which were to take place in the city that same summer. The authorities wanted to clean up Montreal for guests from all over the world, and that apparently included the gay and lesbian scene. Since February 1975, hundreds of people had already been arrested in bars, saunas and public toilets. In May 1976, according to historian Ross Higgins, the approach became even rougher. At Jilly's, women had to stand against the wall and were searched; the officers came armed. At times, all the city's saunas were closed. For many men, the clean-up began with an axe smashing the door of their cubicle.
The raids had an effect nobody had planned. Out of various groups, French and English, gay men and lesbians alike, the committee CHAR against repression was formed. On 19 June 1976, more than 300 people marched through the city centre, protesting against police violence. It was one of the largest demonstrations of its kind up to that time.
The resistance had a lasting effect. When the police stormed the bar Truxx in October 1977 and arrested 146 men, more than 2,000 people took to the streets. CHAR also gave rise to the association that became the most important voice for gay and lesbian rights in Quebec. Those who wanted to clean up Montreal had unwittingly awakened a movement.