Activist praised at ‘Hislop’s last party’

It was exactly the kind of tribute party George Hislop would’ve wanted: lots of laughter, plenty of dirty jokes and no one dressed in black — unless, of course, it was leather.

Last night, about 400 of his friends, family and admirers, among them prominent politicians, packed into a Church St. bar to remember the man hailed as one of Canada’s most influential gay activists.

“ People say to me it must take a lot of courage to be the first openly gay MPP in Ontario, and only the 200th in history,” Health Minister George Smitherman told the crowd, after being introduced as the man who put the queen back into Queen’s Park.

“ But the most enduring legacy of the work of George Hislop . . . is that the path that was paved for me as a gay man made my life in politics so easy.

“ For a little gay kid from Etobicoke he was for me a beacon of freedom.”

Hislop, who died Oct. 8 at the age of 78, was remembered by all who gathered at Woody’s as a gay rights activist who never had to come out of the closet because he was brave enough to always live outside it.

Long- time friend Douglas Elliott, who emceed what he dubbed “Hislop’s last party,” said the remarkable turnout was a testament to the man he called “ the Canadian gay community’s Rosa Parks.” Guests included Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry, former justice minister Martin Cauchon and City Councillor Olivia Chow, while speakers included federal 0NDP Leader Jack Layton, Mayor David Miller and Defence Minister Bill Graham.

“ In the struggle, he was never known as George H., he was George Hislop, he was out from the beginning,” said city Councillor Kyle Rae, who also credited Hislop with making it easier for him to be an openly gay politician.

“ He was out from the beginning. He had the ability and the courage to do that and now all of us here today can do the same thing.”

Hislop’s battles for equality were numerous and groundbreaking. He was the key architect in getting gays included in Ontario’s Human Rights Code and later in federal human rights laws. In 1970 he founded Gay Day, which evolved into the massive celebration known as Pride Week, and in 1971 he founded the city’s first gay rights group, the Community Homophile Association of Toronto.

In 1980 he became Canada’s first openly gay political candidate when he ran for Toronto City Council, and the following year he ran in the provincial election as an independent candidate to protest the 1981 bathhouse raids in the city. He was never elected, but remained a political activist until the end. In his most recent battle, which he called “ the Queen vs. the Queen,” Hislop spearheaded the fight to get the federal government to pay Canada Pension Plan benefits to widowed same- sex partners.

After his own partner, Ron Shearer, died in 1986, Hislop applied for a pension but was denied. He spent the next 19 years trying to get the rules changed. He declared victory this year after the federal government began making payments to him, despite the fact it planned to ask the Supreme Court of Canada to strike down an Ontario Court of Appeal decision. The Supreme Court challenge is expected to be heard in February.

“ George was, to me, a real leader because he stood up for what was right when it was hard to do,” Miller said. “ And our whole city has benefited from it.”