‘I WAS IN MY ROOM WHEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE’
Caught up in the police raids, two men remember the night that changed their lives
Ron Rosenes, 68 Arrested that night, the longtime community activist has received the Order of Canada for his work.
How old were you then?
I would have been 33. I was selfemployed at the time. I had my own sales and distribution company with a business partner.
What were you doing that night?
I was out playing on my own that night. I was in a very committed 15-year relationship with my partner at the time, but we gave each other permission to “go out and play” from time to time.
What were the bathhouses like?
I was at the Romans II, a big one on Bay, one of the most popular ones. It attracted a nice crowd of people of various ages — we’re talking about the early ’80s so there wasn’t a lot of drug use or that kind of thing. It was wrong and infuriating to be described as a “found-in” in a common bawdy house. There were central areas where people could relax and watch TV . . . There were dimly lit hallways with individual rooms. Group sex was not encouraged. People were encouraged to have sex one on one behind closed doors. I think that really was typical of the Roman bathhouse at the time. There may have been some public sex of some sort but not much of that went on in my recollection.
What were you doing when the police arrested you?
I wasn’t doing anything. I was not caught in flagrante delicto . . . I was just in my room, by myself, for a moment when all of a sudden all hell broke loose and doors were being knocked down.
And you felt safe there?
I felt safe. I never thought for a moment that the police would turn into the morality squad and crack down on legal activities.
What happened when you went to court?
It was nerve-racking. And my lawyer at the time, for reasons that remain a mystery to me, decided to put me on the stand, where I incriminated myself. I was found guilty. If there ever was a criminal record it was expunged. I have no criminal record as a result.
After the raid and the demonstration, was that a time of liberation?
That night, if it did not politicize me, the arrival in my life of HIV politicized me completely. I quit my work and I began 25 years of volunteer work in HIV-related advocacy. Thinking about the massacre in Orlando 35 years later reminds me that we were not safe in 1981 and that is still the case today.
‘IT WASN’T A PERFECT WAY TO COME OUT TO YOUR PARENTS’ John Burt, 69 After the raids, Burt became vice-chair of the Right to Privacy Committee and helped organize the first major pride parade in 1981.
Would you be interested in an apology?
Only for the police behaviour that night . . . The police thuggery that night was never fully addressed. And no one has taken responsibility for that. I was outraged as a human being to see my police force, who I had no contact with before, acting like thugs — smashing indiscriminately through doorways, breaking glass, stealing (jewelry) from people’s rooms . . . I never thought such things were possible. What were you doing that night? I’d like to correct the record. I don’t consider myself a “found-in.” That’s a legal term. I was a patron at a gay establishment for men only, where men socialized. Which bathhouse were you at? I was at the Richmond St. bathhouse. It was called the Richmond Street Health Emporium. It was a beautiful place. It was multilevelled, encased in glass, with a central swimming pool. It was one of the most beautiful bathhouses we’ve ever had in Toronto. It was like a hotel. And the police totally demolished it. Was it anonymous sex? Yes. You have to remember that gay men in those days didn’t have a positive image. They almost had a selfhatred. And the only way they could have gay sex was to go to an anonymous . . . safe environment. What was happening in your life then? I was a (high school) teacher at the time. I could have lost my job. So I had to make a decision that night that I had to become an activist. Sometimes, if I thought about it too much, I would have shut my mouth. But I couldn’t let that go by. Were you already out when you were arrested? No I wasn’t. That was one of the terrible things. When my family saw me on television, because I became a spokesperson, my father was in a state of shock. My mother didn’t understand what was going on. The neighbours were phoning. It wasn’t a perfect way to come out to your parents. Is Toronto fairly safe? Toronto is safe but I still hear of people getting beat up late at night on the street downtown . . . but the police today are a real improvement. I support the police.