The Window Gallery
558 Church Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
On exhibit until June 8, 2025

The first gay march in Canada took place in Ottawa on August 28, 1971.

This iconic photo was taken by Jearld Frederick Moldenhauer. In his account of the event, most of the protest signs were made in Toronto by Toronto Gay Action members, including Jearld himself. The event was done on a shoestring budget, so many of the signs were made with cheap materials: white cardboard sheets, ‘magic markers’, and stapled to sticks of pine. Due to the torrential downpour during the demonstration, most of the paper signs were destroyed by rain within minutes.

The banner leading the demonstration was constructed of letters sewn onto an old lace blanket. By all accounts, this banner no longer exists.

As a tribute to all of the 2SLGBTQIA+ trailblazers who have carved the path for queer community members in Canada, I chose to restore and recreate the "Canada True North Strong & Gay" banner. I used lace as a stencil on canvas to pay tribute to the original materials. I diligently revived the original typography based on archival records, and then hand-painted the text using enamel paint.

I hope this banner can live on for future generations of queer activists.

Special thanks to Sonja and Kelly at Akasha Art Projects for the invitation, and to One Properties for sponsoring the space for this show. Additional thanks to Daniel at The Arquives and Craig Jennex for their research assistance, and to Jearld for his consent to use this photo. Thanks to Craig Baines for hemming the banner, and to Adam Leger for his assistance with installation and photography.

To view footage from the first gay march in 1971, please check out this video from the CBC archives.

CBC Metro morning interview (05/13/2025)

CBC 6:00 News Toronto interview (05/13/2025)

IN Toronto Magazine (05/27/2025)

TorontoToday (05/27/2025)