The Black Women’s Collective (BWC) operated in Toronto in the mid-to-late 1980s with a goal of fostering anti-racism and feminist activism in their own organization as well as others. While membership was open to both queer and heterosexual members under the solidarity umbrella of feminist activism, the BWC addressed the added discrimination faced by Black women in the LGBTQ+ community and even defined “lesbian oppression” in their constitution.
Learning ModuleHow have queer Black Canadians used community organizing to create support, visibility, and resilience?
How have queer Black Canadians used community organizing to create support, visibility, and resilience?
Introduction
Advocacy movements are complex. They often include people with diverse backgrounds, motivations, and lived experiences.
These movements can lead to change, but the results are not the same for everyone involved. Factors such as ethnicity, gender, class, and age can shape how individuals experience benefits or barriers within activist networks.
Within broader queer rights or anti‑Black racism activism, Black people in Canada who are part of the 2SLGBTQI+ community have not always been visible or prioritized. When large advocacy efforts do not reflect all members’ identities and priorities, smaller groups may organize together to meet those needs.
How have Black queer communities in Canada resisted racism and homophobia by establishing their own intersectional spaces and initiatives? Throughout this learning module, you will learn about examples of Black-queer rights advocacy in Canada over the past fifty years.
Content Note: A variety of umbrella terms and acronyms will be used throughout this learning module (i.e. 2SLGBTQI+, gay and lesbian, LGBTQ+, queer, etc.). These labels will vary according to the historical context and identities of who they are describing.
Legal and social change in 20th century Canada
In Canada, the beginning of the modern queer rights movement can be situated around the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1969, the federal government passed Omnibus Bill C-150, which included the decriminalization of homosexual acts between two consenting adults in a private residence. This was an early legal milestone in the recognition of human rights in Canada and reflected broader shifts in public policy under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s government.
Many important “firsts” for Canada’s queer rights movement followed in the 1970s. The We Demand march, the first recorded political action by queer activists in Canada, took place at Parliament Hill in Ottawa in 1971. That same year, some of the same activists would establish The Body Politic, a monthly news magazine that gained popularity with queer activists around the world for its coverage of gay and lesbian issues and culture.
In 2005, Prime Minister Paul Martin’s Liberal government passed the revised Civil Marriage Act, legalizing same-sex marriage in all Canadian provinces and territories. This was recognized on the global stage as a progressive policy win, which also helped to boost Canada’s international image as a forward-thinking, liberal society. Canada was the fourth nation in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, following the lead of the Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium.
Barriers for Black members of Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ community
A Black queer person is not just navigating life being queer but sitting at multiple intersections of oppression”
While groundbreaking legislation like the Civil Marriage Act helped to drive social progress, not all members of Canada's queer community benefited equally. Social and legal developments won't always have the same level of impact on the various members of a movement. This may be due to differences in identities, priorities, and lived experience.
Systemic bias within Canadian society tends to pose greater challenges and barriers for those with marginalized identities than for those with more privilege. As a result, the unique needs and perspectives of Black queer Canadians have not always been well represented within mainstream queer rights movements, particularly in predominantly white queer spaces.
Definition
Systemic bias refers to when rules or practices within a system (like education, governments, or workplaces) can unfairly benefit some groups of people while creating barriers or challenges for others. It is not about an individual holding a personal judgment or bias, but rather how biases within a system can create unfair outcomes over time.
The Body Politic controversy
One example of racial injustice was found in an issue of The Body Politic (TBP), the Toronto-based magazine introduced earlier. Operated and governed by an editorial team of white, cisgender men and one woman, TBP received praise for its reporting on homophobia and police mistreatment but also faced frequent criticism for lacking thorough representation of marginalized members of the community (even if the magazine occasionally published content by non-white contributors).
In 1985, the publication ran a controversial advertisement that included insensitive language regarding Black enslavement. The decision to publish the ad caused objection and protest amongst Black members of the queer community, as well as other queer people of colour and their allies. Community organizations for Black queer Canadians, which you will learn more about in the following section, and other groups representing queer people of colour, came together to formally challenge TBP’s editorial decision, eventually leading the magazine to remove the harmful advertisement from any subsequent issues.
Intersectionality
To understand and honour the diversity of those who support a large-scale advocacy movement, it is important to apply an intersectional lens.
Definition
Intersectionality, a concept introduced earlier in this learning module, is a way of understanding how different parts of a person’s identity like race, gender, class, sexual orientation, ability, or faith can overlap and affect their daily lives.
This visual of intersectionality shows some of ways that people can identify and how these different identities overlap to shape the lived experiences of individuals.
Looking at history through an intersectional lens helps us understand different perspectives and why changes to laws or policies alone may not address more complex social inequities. For example, a Black transgender woman might face racism, sexism, and transphobia all at once, even when laws protecting certain rights are in place. When facing such challenges to everyday life, legal developments like gaining the right to civil marriage may not have the same level of significance or impact. While the Civil Marriage Act in 2005 marked a step forward in policy, it does not remove other areas of inequality.
Some Black and Caribbean 2SLGBTQI+ people did not always feel accepted by their families or communities. This was often because of strict beliefs about gender and sexuality that were shaped by histories of colonial influence. Because of this, some people felt they could not fully be themselves or take part in their community in the way they wished.
Resilient and creative responses to injustice
To address these unique challenges, queer Black activists have often organized to create “third spaces.” These initiatives have included such groundbreaking groups as Lesbians of Colour and Zami, whose founding members were featured in an issue of Toronto-based Xtra! magazine in 1984 to discuss the need for supportive spaces for Black and Caribbean queer people who often faced alienation within predominantly white queer spaces. These inclusive groups have typically been designed to meet the needs of people with intersecting identities, providing safety, support, and opportunities for organizing and community-building.
Founding members of community groups Zami and Lesbians of Colour appear on the cover of Xtra! magazine in 1984.
Dewson House Collective: Community, resistance, and joy
Located in a two-story home in west Toronto and founded in the 1980s by activist Makeda Silvera and her partner Stephanie Martin, Dewson House Collective provided a meeting space, activism hub, and home for marginalized members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community — especially Black, Caribbean, Indigenous, and racialized queer women and trans people.
Some of the ways that the Dewson House Collective provided support to and empowered community:
- offered co-op living, mutual aid (such as childcare, shared cooking and cleaning duties) and a place to organize — this was a model of how to provide care for the members’ physical and emotional needs
- provided refuge from the alienation experienced from white queer, white feminist, and traditionally religious Black and Caribbean communities
- made room for the birth of intersectional activism groups such as Lesbians of Colour (LOC); Zami, Canada’s first organization for Black Caribbean queer people; and Sister Vision Press, a feminist publishing house for women of colour
Check out the following video from the TVO documentary Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance to learn more about the origins of this collective. In the following clip, queer Black activist, publisher, and scholar Debbie Douglas describes what led her to join Dewson House Collective in the 1980s. You will also hear from founding members of Gay Asians Toronto, an intersectional advocacy group that was inspired by Dewson:
Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance
Descriptive Transcript
DESCRIPTION: Black-and-white video footage features Debbie Douglas, an adult with curly hair, sitting in front of an ombre background. They wear a headband, a shawl, and a patterned shirt.
DEBBIE: I came out in the early 'eighties at a time when the Black community was really organizing around police violence.
[Background chatter]
DESCRIPTION: Grainy film footage shows a group of young adults and teenagers gathered around a table.
DEBBIE: As young activists, we had a vision for the kind of world we wanted to live in and really took it seriously that it was our responsibility to create that world. And so, we wanted a world that was free of homophobia, we wanted a world where Black queer people will be seen and recognized within Black struggle, and we also wanted a world where, within the larger queer community, issues of race and racism would be addressed.
[Background chatter, soft music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In grainy film footage, a young adult with black hair points and a young adult with short black hair nudges them. By their feet, a third young adult wearing eyeglasses sits, leaning against a brick wall. A fourth young adult with short black hair sits with them on wooden steps leading to the front door of a house.
DEBBIE: As we did this work, more and more we were hearing from young Black people that they didn't have any place to go, that they didn't know where to show up.
DESCRIPTION: In front of the ombre backdrop, an adult with a shaved head wears a turtleneck sweater. They have a moustache and a beard.
BEARDED ADULT: Dewson House was very much about the energy of the women who lived in that house, the women who owned the house.
DESCRIPTION: A black-and-white photograph features an adult with dark hair pulled away from their face, leaning towards an adult with long, wavy blond hair.
BEARDED ADULT: So, there was Makeda, and then her partner, Stephanie.
DESCRIPTION: A black-and-white photograph shows a three-storey detached house.
DEBBIE: Dewson House, I think, for many of us, was ground zero. It is where not only we developed our politics around being queer, it was a place where people came to party. It's the place where Black lesbians who lived in Scarborough, who were closeted from Monday to Friday in their jobs and then their families on a Friday night or a Saturday night, can come downtown and come to Dewson House and know that they would be welcome.
[Background chatter, laughing, the music stops]
DESCRIPTION: A black-and-white photograph shows two smiling adults leaning against a tree by the wall of a house. Other people stand by the wall. In front of the backdrop, the bearded adult smiles.
BEARDED ADULT: You know, it was in the front room that I first heard Nina Simone, right?
[Laughs]
BEARDED ADULT: It was in that space where I first danced with another man. Um, you know, it was in that space that Blackness and queerness and Caribbean-ness was normalized.
[Tense music plays]
DESCRIPTION: A black-and-white photograph features an adult with collar-length black hair holding a disposable cup. They stand in a group of people. In front of the ombre backdrop, an adult with short black hair wears eyeglasses and a dress shirt.
BLACK-HAIRED ADULT: I put an ad in the Body Politic for people who were interested in starting a group. And that was the beginning, for me, of Gay Asians Toronto.
DESCRIPTION: In a photograph, people march on a street. Some carry placards, and two have a red banner. Another picture features a crowd marching beneath a banner that reads, “Gay Asians of Toronto.” In front of the ombre backdrop, an adult with short white hair, a beard, and a moustache wears eyeglasses and a striped shirt.
WHITE-HAIRED ADULT: It was the first organization that was, you know, specifically looking at people who were not white. You know, "If you're white, you're all right. If you're brown, turn around."
[People cheer]
DESCRIPTION: In a photograph, an adult on a stage holds half of a bathrobe open, revealing their underwear.
WHITE-HAIRED ADULT: There just was no space for people of colour. At least that was my experience of it.
DESCRIPTION: In front of the ombre backdrop, Dr. Alan Li, of Gay Asians Toronto, wears a hooded sweater. They have short dark hair.
DR. LI: In the summer of 'eighty-two, they were actually trying to look for someone from Gay Asians Toronto to be a speaker at the Pride parade.
[Motorcycle engines rev, light music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Video footage of the parade features two people riding motorcycles. Behind them, people walk carrying banners. One reads, “Lesbian and Gay Pride Day.”
DR. LI: And the parade went through Chinatown. And of course, as Gay Asians Toronto, we... we recruited in Chinatown. We put up posters in Chinatown.
[People cheer]
DESCRIPTION: Video footage of the parade shows people walking beneath a large orange banner.
WHITE-HAIRED ADULT: That was really very affirming for me, to be marching in a parade where people all around you were cheering you. You know, and so, like, "Hello, here I am!"
DESCRIPTION: Video footage from the parade shows two people on a sidewalk, looking up into a camera. A group of smiling people walks together. An adult carrying a placard smiles and waves at a camera. Two smiling adults pose with their arms around each other, holding pink balloons.
DR. LI: For most of them who hasn't really come out, like myself, it was really a groundbreaking thing. And I think that was actually the first time that I feel really proud of my own community, to have that courage to break through those barriers.
DESCRIPTION: Video footage from the parade shows groups of people laughing and smiling. A person puts their arm around another person’s shoulders and fans them both.
The advocacy work and community building that took place at Dewson House in the 1980s helped to address the intersectional advocacy goals and concerns of lesbian and queer Black Canadians and Canadians of colour at the time.
As queer rights movements grew in Canada in the 1970s, new activist groups formed to support Black women and queer people of colour in Toronto and across Canada. Press the following tabs to explore some examples.
After emerging over three decades ago, HIV and AIDS have been a persistent threat to the queer communities – especially its Black members. The unique need to address the impact of the virus in a culturally specific and sensitive manner was represented in the AIDS Committee of Toronto’s “Black AIDS Project” in the late 1980s, which led to the establishment of the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevents (Black CAP) steering committee in Toronto 1989. The formation of Black CAP helped to build international advocacy efforts, because the connections between individuals living in Toronto with communities of their home countries overseas allowed the agency to engage with HIV/AIDS advocacy around the world. Black CAP currently continues its operations out of Toronto.
GLAD was a groundbreaking advocacy group that was founded to create safe, visible spaces for Black queer individuals to congregate and build community. Founded by activist Patricia Koine in the late 1990s, GLAD supported Toronto-based 2SLGBTQI+ individuals of African descent by documenting and celebrating their existence and providing outreach and education to their community. They were the first African group to march in Pride Toronto in 2005, championing visibility through African music and culture and advocating against racialized homophobia.
Ongoing legacy of intersectional advocacy
While important progress has been made, such as legalizing same-sex marriage and increasing visibility of various 2SLGBTQI+ communities, Black queer Canadians still need spaces and representation that reflect their experiences.
Intersectionality helps us understand that people’s identities are shaped by more than one factor at a time. When representation does not reflect this, the needs of Black queer people can be missed—even in spaces that are meant to be welcoming.
Because injustice still exists, queer Black Canadians continue to organize and build community in different ways, including through grassroots groups, artists, and some government programs.
Press the following tabs to explore some examples.
The Enchanté Network is a Canada-wide network for 2SLGBTQI+ organizations, connecting communities and providing support through training resources and grants. In 2024, to improve the lives of Black queer people in Canada, Enchanté launched the “Back to Our Roots” project to help strengthen Black queer and trans leadership, visibility, and community across Canada. This special initiative was founded in response to the lack of research being done into experiences and needs of people in Canada’s Black queer communities, with how individuals “navigate systemic inequities shaped by anti-Black racism, homophobia, transphobia, and barriers in housing, safety, employment, and representation”.
One major outcome of Back to Our Roots was the creation of Black Queer Canada, a national advocacy hub that supports connection, leadership, and resource sharing for Black queer communities. Black Queer Canada’s platform aims to connect advocacy leaders and produces freely-available educational resources that uplift the voices of Canada’s Black 2SLGBTQI+ communities.
In recent years, Back to Our Roots hosted an event in honour of the longstanding Black queer community tradition of ballroom. An essential component of Black queer heritage, ballroom culture is an underground Black and Latinx 2SLGBTQI+ tradition where individuals gather at events called “balls” to perform, compete, and celebrate identity. Participants “walk” in different categories—such as runway, face, realness, or voguing—and are judged on their style and performance presentation.
Blackness Yes! is a Toronto-based volunteer-coordinated collective that works year-round to celebrate and raise visibility for Black queer and trans creativity, community and history. The organization began in the late 1990s in response to the lack of meaningful Black representation within mainstream queer rights spaces like Pride Toronto. Its work focuses on challenging the many forms of oppression that affect the lives of Black queer Canadians including racism, transphobia, homophobia, sexism, ableism, classism, and colonialism.
Stemming from a long history of advocacy initiatives against anti-Black racism within Canadian queer communities, Blackness Yes! is a community-driven initiative that is primarily funded by two yearly events:
- Blockorama, Toronto Pride’s longest running outdoor party and multi-day celebration of African, Black, and Caribbean 2SLGBTQI+ communities in the Greater Toronto Area
- Blockobana, a music and arts festival held on Toronto’s Caribbean Carnival weekend where 2SLGBTQI+ African, Black, and Caribbean people are welcomed to celebrate their culture free from homophobia, transphobia, and anti-Black racism.
Self-check opportunity
Complete the following True or False activity and be sure to review the correct answer feedback for any incorrect responses.
Demonstration of learning
Throughout this learning module, you have been examining the longstanding tradition of intersectional community organizing by members of Canada’s queer Black community. You explored how these efforts began in the early 1980s, during the growth of the queer rights movement in Canada. You also learned how different groups have continued this work over time to create more welcoming and inclusive spaces today.
Task: Using information from this learning module as well as your own independent research, you will build a timeline of historical significance regarding modern Black queer advocacy efforts in Canada.
Note: Always be sure to use reliable and credible sources when doing any research.
You have been provided with two key dates to start and end the timeline (the introduction of federal Omnibus Bill C-150 in 1969 and modern day). You must research the history between these dates and locate a minimum of one primary source and one secondary source that discuss Black queer activism during this period in Canada. Your primary source might be archival documentary footage, an audio or video clip of a queer Black Canadian person’s experience, a historical publication such as a flyer or magazine article, or another type of source.
Based on your research, select four additional events, developments, or points of interest in queer Black Canadian history that you will plot on your timeline. For each of the new examples you plot, you will need to create a summary (one to three sentences) of what happened.
Now that you’ve plotted your dates on the timeline, you need to explain what is historically significant about each event. Explain the significance of each date and event, and the likely impact on the region’s Black queer community.
CHC2P/D - Canadian History from 1918-Present
A1.5 use the concepts of historical thinking (i.e., historical significance, cause and consequence, continuity and change, and historical perspective) when analysing, and evaluating evidence about, and formulating conclusions and/or judgements regarding historical issues, events, and/or developments in Canada since 1914
E3.3 analyse some significant events, developments, and/or systemic issues that affected Black communities in Canada during this period, and assess the impact of these events, developments, and/or issues on identities, citizenship, and/or heritage in Canada
CHV2O - Civics and Citizenship
C1.3 analyse ways in which various beliefs, values, and perspectives are represented in their communities, and assess whether they are equitably represented and/or valued
HSE3E - Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice
B1.2 demonstrate an understanding of how a variety of factors (e.g., race, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, ability) intersect in individuals to create diverse experiences of identity and social roles
C1.3 describe various racial, cultural, and national communities’ contributions to and influence on Canadian life and society
C3.1 describe the impact of historically important social movements
C3.3 describe how various social groups have created effective coalitions to achieve significant equity and social justice objectives
Akolo, D. (2025, February 17). 101 Dewson St: More than a house. The ArQuives. https://arquives.ca/101-dewson-st-more-than-a-house/ (Opens in a new window)
Bailey, S. (2026, February 1). Black queer collections: A legacy of resistance and community. The ArQuives. https://arquives.ca/black-queer-collections/ (Opens in a new window)
Banfield, D. (2026, March 10). Inside the organization putting Black Queer Canadians first — finally. NOW Toronto. https://nowtoronto.com/culture/black-queer-canada-queer-now/ (Opens in a new window)
Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention. (2026). Programs & services. https://blackcap.ca/programs-services/ (Opens in a new window)
Black Queer Canada. (2025). Black Queer Canada. https://blackqueercanada.org/ (Opens in a new window)
Black Queer Youth Collective. (n.d.). Black Queer Youth Collective. https://www.blackqueeryouthcollective.org/ (Opens in a new window)
Pimlott, J (Producer), & Gonick, N. (Director). (2025). Parade: Queer acts of love & resistance [Film]. National Film Board of Canada; TVO Docs. https://www.tvo.org/video/documentaries/parade-queer-acts-of-love-resistance-0 (Opens in a new window)
Srivastava, V., & Saisi, B. (Hosts). (2023, June 1). Trans scholar and activist explains why trans rights are under attack (No. 206259) [Audio podcast episode]. In Don't call me resilient. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/listen-trans-scholar-and-activist-explains-why-trans-rights-are-under-attack-206259 (Opens in a new window)
TVO Learn. (n.d.). Celebrating Black History and Stories. Retrieved May 27, 2026, from https://tvolearn.com/pages/black-history (Opens in a new window)