Gay
Montreal
Montréal's
Gay Village (French, Le Village gai) is located on rue
Sainte-Catherine Est, downtown, centred on Beaudry subway station, in
the Ville-Marie borough of the city. The Village runs approximately
from rue Berri to rue De Lorimier, a distance of nearly two
kilometres, making it the largest in North America in terms of scope
of the complete area.
Formerly a poor working-class neighbourhood, part of the Centre-South
area of the city, the area was occupied by the gay and lesbian
community after the huge expulsion of many gay businesses from an area
closer to boulevard Saint-Laurent (or "The Main" as the
locals call it). The area has been considerably brightened up, thanks
in part to recent investment from the various levels of all
governments.
Indeed, despite repression as late as the early 1990s, recent
government support of "Le Village" cannot be overemphasized.
All three levels of government are aggressively promoting the Village,
and with the accepting climate of Québec, and gay life in Montréal
as a tourist attraction. In recognition of the Village's importance to
the city, the borough of Ville-Marie recently hung a rainbow flag in
its council chambers, to say nothing of the recently rebuilt entrance
to Métro Beaudry (subway), decorated with rainbow pillars. The
Village is specifically marked on official city maps as "Le
Village".
Finally, the governments lent their support in securing the Gay Games.
The city later lost the right to hold the Games under that name
because the Federation of Gay Games considered their plans too
ambitious. Instead, Montréal Rendez-Vous 2006, the first edition of
the World Outgames, will take place in Montréal, with the 2006 Gay
Games being moved to Chicago.
Gays and lesbians live all over the highly accepting city, so their
residential density in the Village is only slightly higher than
elsewhere. However, the Village contains a variety of shops and
services targeting the community, and so serves as an entertainment
and tourism epicentre rather than as a gay neighbourhood strictly
speaking. A wide range of local media, radio and TV stations are
located in the same area as the gay community.
The Village contains a wide variety of nightlife: bars and
discotheques catering to all tastes (Montreal has more gay bars and
discotheques than Paris, and as many as San Francisco or New York),
including three very large entertainment complexes, one of which is
the largest of its kind in the world. There are also a wide range of
boutiques, restaurants, cafés, bed-and-breakfasts, and major
chain-style hotels.
The city government came under criticism recently for cutting funding
to the Divers/Cité pride celebrations, which nevertheless are ranked
among the largest and certainly the best held gay community festivity
in the world, ranking second in Canada after that of Pride-Toronto. To
be held at the same time as the OUTgames in 2006, as well as many
other events that this world-class city hosts year after year.
The Association des Commerçants et Professionels du Village (Village
Businesspersons and Professionals Association) represents the
businesspeople of the Village. The Centre communautaire des gais et
lesbiennes de Montréal (Montreal Gay and Lesbian Community Centre)
through the Mario-Racine Foundation
http://www.fondation-mario-racine.qc.ca/, is currently planning on
constructing an important community complex in the heart of the
Village.
The city also contains a number of gay establishments outside of the
Village area, particularly in areas that are historic gay
neighbourhoods (see below).
History
Originally, Montreal's gay community was centered in the western end
of the downtown area of the city, with bars on rue Stanley and rue
Drummond, and with Shaughnessy Village west of rue Guy as its
residential neighbourhood. This was seen as the mostly anglophone gay
village.
As is traditional, until the 1980's, gay life was centered around bars
and taverns, and some restaurants, who tolerated a gay clientele.
Other bars and taverns were located on rue Sainte-Catherine Est just
east of boulevard St-Laurent (know in English as Saint Lawrence
Boulevard), the area known as "the Main", the mostly
francophone gay village. One or two establishments were located in
what is now the Village gai.
The businesses in these two areas came under regular repression,
especially just before Montreal's Expo 67 World's Fair and the Olympic
Games in 1976.
In the early 1980's, some bars opened along rue Sainte-Catherine Est,
between rue Berri and avenue Papineau, in the Centre-Sud area.
Eventually, a new generation of gays also moved into the
neighbourhood, both anglos and francos. Many came from other parts of
Québec. This was encouraged by the creation of a "Quartier
Latin" (Latin Quarter, area of schools and students, like in
Paris) dominated by the new campus of the Université du Québec à
Montréal.
The phrase "Le Village de l'Est" (the Eastern Village) was
coined as a way to refer to this new concentration, referring to its
eastern geographical location from downtown, as opposed to the
traditional west end. It was also as a reference to the East Village
of New York City, which was itself coming into its own at that time as
a popular gay neighbourhood. Eventually the name shortened to simply
"Le Village gai", refecting the disappearance of gay
businesses from the west of downtown. The Village continuously
thrived, gaining popularity, the area beautified, the housing
renovated. Almost all gay businesses in Montreal are now situated in
this area.
A couple of businesses survive in the traditional western end of
downtown. However, many gays reside and are also very present in the
Plateau Mont-Royal and Hochelaga districts of Montreal. There they mix
completely in with the community at large.
The Village gai remains the heart of, and service centre for,
Montreal's LGBT community.
