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“Try to Lay Low”: Growing Up Gay Pre-1969 Canada

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Originally published in TEACH Magazine, 50th Anniversary of the Decriminalization of Homosexuality in Canada Special Issue, 2019

By Adam Stone

It isn’t easy to teach the history of homosexuality in Canada. How do you communicate to modern kids the notion that something so widely accepted today was illegal within living memory? That less than a generation ago, the relationships that today are celebrated on TV and in popular song were literally classed as criminal?

It was just over 50 years ago, in 1965, that the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a ruling that labelled Everett Klippert a “dangerous sexual offender” for having sex with other men. That’s ancient history in the eyes of a child.

To help teachers tell that story, we interviewed three gay men who were there: guys old enough to remember what it was like growing up in Canada before Decriminalization. While their stories paint a picture of a world that will be unfamiliar to many of today’s students, much of their core experience—uncertainty, oppression, and shame—still resonates. Just because it is no longer illegal, that doesn’t mean it is entirely OK.

In telling these stories we hope to give teachers a new tool for exploring with their students both the history and the present-day experience of gay Canadians coming of age.

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Adam Stone is a seasoned journalist with 20+ years’ experience. He covers education, technology, government, and the military, along with diverse other topics.

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Adam Stone
Adam Stone
Adam Stone is a seasoned journalist with 20+ years’ experience. He covers education, technology, government, and the military, along with diverse other topics.

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