GATE

Mid 70s, Gay Alliance Toward Equality demonstration at the old courthouse. Left to right are Bill and Greg holding the banner, unidentified man sitting near the lion, and Gary at the mike. Below are random participants at either the same rally or possibly another one.

Below: GATE contingent at mass rally against wage controls, Stephen centre right

Below: Terry and Greg at a GATE information table and at right, the last issue of Gay Tide, GATE's newspaper.
This scrappy bunch raised money – sometimes literally nickels and dimes at a time – to mount a legal challenge to the Vancouver Sun's refusal to print an innocuous notice of a gay meeting. We've come a long way since then but it still dismays me how many younger members of the gay community these days have little idea what went into getting the legal rights and protections we have now, and how quickly those rights can be erased. Just take a look at the last four years down south.