Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer

by Stephanie Chambers (Editor), Jane Farrow (Editor), Maureen Fitzgerald (Editor)

Toronto is home to multiple and thriving queer communities that reflect the dynamism of a global city. Any Other Way is an eclectic and richly illustrated local history that reveals how these individuals and community networks have transformed Toronto from a place of churches and conservative mores into a city that has consistently led the way in queer activism, not just in Canada but internationally.

From the earliest pioneers to the parades, pride and politics of the contemporary era, Any Other Way draws on a range of voices to explore how the residents of queer Toronto have shaped and reshaped one of the world’s most diverse cities.

Any Other Way includes chapters on: Oscar Wilde’s trip to Toronto; early cruising areas and gay/lesbian bars; queer shared houses; a pioneering collective counter-archive project; bath house raids; LBGT-police conflicts; the Queen Street art/music/activist scene; and a profile of Jackie Shane, the trans R&B singer who performed in drag in both Toronto and Los Angeles, and gained international fame with her 1962 chart-topping single, ‘Any Other Way.’

Genres: Queer, Nonfiction, LGBT, History, Canada, Sociology, Anthologies

367 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2017

Reviews

[Angelica LeMinh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went to the launch of this book at U of T, and it feels like U of T-well-meaning, but older and white, working from a lens of affluent distance, and not terribly well-edited or curated. I'm glad it's here, but I feel like a lot of recent and diverse history has been omitted/acknowledged in a way that American movies deal with racism and homophobia-setting both against each other, and all of it in the past so the dominant message is "look how far we've come". Visiting the Jackie Shane mural and recently re-released box set of his music, listening to the CBC podcast Uncover-The Village (season three) will give you a lot of this knowledge in a more actively engaged way, and draw clearer connections to how these issues still manifest today.

[Russell Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any Other Way, How Toronto Got Queer is an anthology of writings grouped by related subject, rather than chronology. The topics range from Toronto gay history, favorite hangouts and how they became that, the challenges faced by queers of color, the iconic moments in Toronto gay history, spirituality, and finally, comments from random folks about whether Toronto is, indeed, a queer city or not. The book at times, by its nature—using various authors—slows down, and I felt, with a few of the selections, that they would never end or that they were poorly conceived. Most readings, though, are powerful, entertaining, informative, and move along swiftly. Although this book would most likely be appreciated fully by the LBGT et al citizens of Toronto, others can be entertained and empowered and learn from the lessons it teaches. I purchased it while on vacation in Toronto, remembering a previous trip twenty years before when I attended the Toronto Gay Pride parade, and reading this book invoked fond memories as I recognized the street names, the neighborhoods, and a few of the incidents described. For queer readers, for historians, for queer-supporters, and for just about anyone else who wants or needs to learn about the struggles and triumphs of the gay community, this is a valuable book. And I think that only the hardest of hearts will be moved by at least one of the essays. My favorite was Lengua Latina: Queer Palabras en Toronto, an eloquent tribute to and by gay women of Hispanic heritage.

[Craig Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer is a compilation of short essays about the city’s gay history. The book was divided into subjects such as Spaces; Emergence; Resisting, Sharing, Organizing; Sex; Rights and Rites; and Pride, among many others. Essays were indeed short–most of them either two or three pages–which I found on many occasions would abruptly end just as the story became interesting. How disappointed I was to turn the page only to find a few remaining lines. Because of these frequent abrupt hatchet-job endings I got the idea that the contributors must have submitted more than their maximum word count, leaving the editors to make the cuts whenever that quota was reached. While I am not ignorant of local gay history, it still would have been nice to read more about the 1981 bathhouse raids or the obscenity charges brought against Glad Day Bookshop. In spite of the haphazard way the essays were edited I have to consider that this might have been the intent. What better way to entice readers to learn more about gay history than by titillating them with only a snippet of a story?

My favourite essay was by Kate Zieman about a lesbian couple of 47 years, nicknamed Queenie and Ted. I would have loved to learn more about them and seen their bequest to the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. These two women lived in the Broadview and Danforth area. I know this part of Toronto and since their past addresses were given, I was able to use Google Maps to plot their moves from apartment to apartment. Queenie and Ted weren’t celebrities but just one of the many lesbian or gay couples that lived under our noses in pre-Stonewall Toronto. Sadly, such were the rigid rules about sex-appropriate clothing in the 1950’s that Ted was “banned from working in the front office with the rest of the women because she refused to wear a dress.”.

As a conservative I have a problem with gays who try to jump through hoops in order to justify their predilection for having sex in public parks. Jake Tobin Garrett tries, and fails, in his essay Desire Lines. It doesn’t help his case that the page layout placed his line “Public sex in parks is illegal” as the first line on a new page. What a way to shoot yourself in the foot when you’re trying to convince others–especially straight people, police and judges–that you have a right to use a public park to engage in illegal activity.

The only essays I found to be lagging–and at three pages, they had to be really boring–were the ones about fringe political causes. As the LGBT+ label grows ever longer (doesn’t anyone else see how patently ludicrous it is to keep adding letters to this dissonant string which is not even a pronounceable acronym), people who are not attached to this string of letters and numbers are going to feel excluded. Fringe politicos with self-given names tend not to be the best writers. They are annoying.

Andrew Zealley wrote one of the most enjoyable essays, Chalking It Up to Experience, about the bathhouse scene. Too bad the editors misspelled his surname as Zeally in the contributors’ profiles. I also liked Fiona MacCool’s essay on the women’s bathhouse scene, The First Rule of Pussy Palace.

Any Other Way excelled with its essays on early Toronto queer history, sharing lesbian and gay bar life and the stories of the social scene. I enjoyed the accompanying photos, mostly in black-and-white, and the diverse scope of history, showing that queer history in Toronto encompassed all ethnicities and religions.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was full of interesting tidbits about the history and experiences of LGBT+ folks in Toronto. I learned a lot, and feel like I'll go back to reference parts of this in future, too. It could have used a little more of the B & T in LGBT, though. I don't think Toronto Bisexual Network (TBN) was even mentioned (!) and it's a fairly long-running and large organization at this point. There are definitely chapters in the book covering the same time period as it has been active for.

Like any anthology, it has standout chapters, some good and some mediocre contributions, and a few duds. I definitely agree with one of the other reviews here that wishes the book didn't have such an identity crisis (ha ha); it wants to be both a history and an anthology of personal stories. I feel like tighter editing/submission guidelines would have kept it more focused. It wasn't always quite what I expected when I heard about it and picked it up, but overall I enjoyed it and am glad I read it.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like this book has been part of my identity for the past 5 months. Every day I would read a passage and learn something new about the city's complicated, euphoric, rich, sad, resistant queer history.

So much of it stuck with me from the random facts (there was a Loblaws at Barbra Hall Park?) to the infuriating tales, like the police stings in gay bar basements that ended with a casualty or the incredibly invasive Pussy Palace raids in 2000.

My only wish is that this book was several volumes long and just kept going and going. I'll never look at Toronto the same way again.

[Javier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me laugh, cry, think, and scream. An absolutely must read for any queer person in Toronto. I loved the diversity of the book, the various perspectives and the unpretentiousness of all the historical accounts. It was easy to read given the short essays, and it was never dry. It gave me a much better understanding of our queer community in Toronto, and dare I say it, even made me a little bit nostalgic. 10/10 would recommend.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this - though slowly over a number of months. One essay at a time. As an anthology - it's a bit uneven in terms of quality of writing and not everything could keep my interest. As a lesbian who came out in Toronto in the very early 90's and had a lot of gay male friends through the 80's, this reflected my experience and brought up a lot of memories and filled in some gaps in my knowledge of LGBT organizing at that time. For those reasons... I gave the book a 4 star but I agree with reviewers who are frustrated by the stories that aren't included and looking for a true history of queer Toronto. This is more of a snapshot in time and of many of the well known organizers, performers, writers of that era. At least 25% of the authors or stories were familiar to me and I haven't lived in Toronto for over 23 years now.

[Mary MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

This important collection features a wide array of known, and little known, queer Toronto stories. Memoirs mix with traditional historical research with first person accounts are featured prominently. My favourite entry was Jennifer Coffey's moving account of waitressing at Fran's restaurant in the 1970s. Coffey's evocative portrait of her late night drag queen regulars gives us a compassionate glimpse into the lives of this bravely visible queer community. The story is so compellingly detailed you can almost smell the coffee.

[Julia]

While the stories in here are valuable stories to be told about Toronto’s queer community, the way the book is set up is very strange. It’s trying to be a history book and an anthology at the same time, and while I appreciate getting to hear queer history from people who actually experienced the time period they’re discussing, I wish it was more of an objective history of the city’s queer community. A lot of the stories feel unnecessary and too personal for what I thought the book was going to be. Might come back to it later, might not, we shall see.

[Matthew Calvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a terrific collection of essays discussing many interesting facets of Toronto’s LGBTQ community. What makes it fun is that, as a Torontian from 2010 onwards I can picture the streets, intersections and buildings where landmark queer spaces exist/existed. Thoroughly enjoyed this book!

[Paige Mcburney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would actually rate this somewhere between a 3 and a 4. I loved learning about a lot of these histories but it was mainly focused on white gays and lesbians. I would have liked to read more stories about bisexuals, people of colour, trans folks and more people along the sexuality and gender spectrum.

[Jonathan Pavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a very interesting read as a Torontonian myself. Though the anthology has a mixed bad of essays and wrote ups, overall I learned a lot about my cities history and I am thankful for that. Also the conclusion really ties up the thread between the stories well

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read to get a very diverse view on the queen history of Toronto and the work that still needs to be done. It is made up of a ton of small stories, mini autobiographies that shed a light into the lives of others.

[Fiona Cashell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll start by saying I am glad this book exists and am happy I read it.

The collection of essays, newspaper articles, and interviews bring to life the pivotal moments of the push for LGBT equality. This is complemented by the works depicting daily life in Toronto throughout the 20th century. It was great to learn the significance of locations I am familiar with and how they have evolved over time. The "Resisting, Sharing, and Organizing" section is by far the strongest, with the selected works leading into each other well and offering multiple perspectives on the same events. Other stand out works in the book include "Hanna and Saied's Story" by Kamal Al-Solaylee, "Queer and Cripple in the 6ix" by Andrew Gurza, "'Avoir le cul entre deux chaises'" by Yvette Perreault, and "LGBTQ2S Parenting: Some Milestones" by Mariana Valverde.

There were, however, definitely some blind spots in the anthology. While a number of works lament the lack of diversity among the central organizations of the gay liberation movement, the selected works are dominated by white cis authors and subjects. Additionally, there is a noticeably high number of authors with some affiliation to the University of Toronto. The works focus on the development of queer specific spaces, but I would have also been interested in learning more about being queer in Toronto's corporate world. There are mentions of increased homelessness in the area surrounding Church/Wellesley, but the fact that 25-40% of homeless youth in Canada identify as LGBTQ2S+ is not explored (https://www.the519.org/education-trai...).

I hope future editions of this book are published and that they will explore the aforementioned topics more, as well as exploring the legacy of BLM protesting at the 2016 Pride Parade, including more trans and 2 Spirit narratives, and showing how COVID-19 has reshaped queer spaces again. As is, I believe this book is a great jumping off point to better understand local history and prompt the reader to do more of their own research.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must read for Toronto! Such a great range of stories, view points and styles.