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Canada Post celebrates Hanlan’s Point Beach in Toronto with new stamp

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For nearly a century, queer and transgender people have gathered at Hanlan’s Point Beach in the Toronto Islands, making it one of the oldest surviving LGBTQ2S+ places in the world. That history is now being recognized in a new stamp issued this week by Canada Post.

The Crown corporation recently launched a Pride Month campaign honouring four historical turning points in the movement for queer and transgender rights in Canada. 

Hanlan’s Point Beach has been a gathering place for LGBTQ2S+ people since at least the 1930s. It hosted an event advertised as “Toronto’s first gay picnic” on August 1, 1971, which is considered to be the first large-scale queer celebration in Canadian history and the country’s first Pride celebration.

It was held after LGBTQ2S+ organizations from across the country met to finalize a “We Demand” letter which called for changes to federal laws and policies concerning queer and transgender people. 

Hanlan’s Point Beach provided the community at the time with a space to come together and raise awareness about an upcoming a rally on Parliament Hill which happened later that month and became a defining moment in the fight for queer and transgender rights in Canada.

The site was awarded a commemorative plaque by Heritage Toronto in 2024.

From left to right: Gerald Hannon and Ed Jackson at Hanlan’s Point Beach during the Gay Days picnic in 1978. (Courtesy of Ed Jackson)

“Over the many decades, there’s almost no part of the Canadian queer experience that hasn’t touched this place in some way, shape, or form,” Travis Myers with the group Friends of Hanlan’s told CityNews. “Queer racial justice groups gathered here in the ’80s and ’90s. HIV/AIDS organizations fundraised here at the onset of the epidemic. Even queer religious groups gathered here to do communion in secret.”

“While queer history can sometimes feel frozen in time, Hanlan’s is incredibly unique in that it is a place that still exists today,” he added. “Within the past few years, we’ve seen moments where this beach, and the community space within it, has almost been destroyed through ignorance of decisionmakers. By telling the stories of this place loud and proud, nobody can use the excuse of ignorance any more.”

Beachgoers have taken issue with rising anti-queer violence in recent years, along with ecological disrepair and a now abandoned plan by the City of Toronto to build a concert venue alongside the beach.

Canada Post has released a new stamp celebrating Hanlan’s Point Beach. (Canada Post)

The colourful stamp was illustrated by queer artist Tim Singleton and designed to reflect the history of the site. It features a shirtless man with an 1970s-style moustache and chest hair. His arm is wrapped around another man, suggesting some type of intimacy.

“Beyond the obvious, the shortline and the skyline, the stamp had to depict something more intangible: community,” Myers explained. “As the drafts came along, Tim was able to bring that to life spectacularly. For anyone who has been to this place in the present or in decades past, you can feel your experience reflected in the vibrant look of the stamp.”

Hanlan’s Point is one of four sites that are being recognized by Canada Post this Pride Month. The others include: Truxx Bar in Montreal, Club Carousel in Calgary and the 3rd North American Native Gay & Lesbian Gathering near Beausejour, Manitoba.

“Each stamp shines a light on a particular moment and location, its significance then and now, and its role in working toward equality and freedom for all,” a spokesperson for Canada Post said.

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