[URBAN NOTE] "I Sing The Body Politic"

[rfmcdonald]

Torontoist's Jamie Bradburn describes the sixteen years of publication of the Toronto GLBT publication The Body Politic in full, showing the good (fighting for human rights and GLBT equality) and the bad (talking about pedophilia as a positive good).

The year 1971 was critical for Toronto’s gay community. The federal decriminalization of homosexuality two years earlier, combined with the general spirit of 1960s activism, opened discussions on a taboo topic. In 1971, the city saw its first local performance of The Boys in the Band, a gay picnic at Hanlan’s Point, which served as the ancestor for Pride; the first gay-studies course offered by a Canadian university, presented at York; and the inaugural meetings for two activist organizations—the social-services minded Community Homophile Association of Toronto (CHAT) and the more radical Toronto Gay Alliance (TGA).

Amid these happenings, hawkers hit the streets on October 28, 1971 to launch a new publication. For the cost of a quarter, readers flipped through the debut of The Body Politic (TBP), a journal dedicated to “gay liberation.” Over the next decade and a half, TBP provoked controversy and legal battles as it attempted to look at the intellectual, political, sexual, and social issues of its community.

TBP emerged from the radical side of Toronto gay activism. While the local underground newspaper, Guerilla, published gay-centric articles, there was a sense it wasn’t the right vehicle. “They thought gay stuff was cool because it was different,” contributor and TGA member Charlie Dobie later recalled. “But the more gay content they ran, the more gay people got involved, and the more some of the straight guys felt threatened.” Jearld Moldenhauer, the founder of the pioneering University of Toronto Homophile Association and Glad Day Bookshop, was upset when his Guerilla article on a Parliament Hill demonstration was significantly altered. “We realized we needed our own voice,” Moldenhauer reflected, “and I think that was a catalyst.”

During a TGA meeting in September 1971, Moldenhauer asked if anyone was interested in launching a new paper. Several names were contemplated, ranging from “Mandala” to “Radical Pervert,” before “The Body Politic” was chosen. The paper would run on a collective model, which caused rocky moments for its early members. “Everyone had the same power,” Dobie noted, “but like a hung jury, one person had the power to block something from happening. The only way to break the stalemate was for that person to leave. And sometimes they did.”

Prepared at sites ranging from Moldenhauer’s Annex apartment to Guerilla’s offices, production on the debut issue was swift. Articles were read aloud to the collective for approval and to save on photocopying costs. Several members pitched in more than $200 to cover printing expenses. They rented an IBM Selectrix typewriter to crank out the text.