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Archival description
CA ON00047 F0083 · Fonds · 1980- 1997

John Grube's tapes consist of 45 seperate interviews of gay men about their lives in pre-Stonewall Toronto, in addition to 33 transcripts of Foolscap interviews. These transcripts were produced by Grube in the 1980s as well. In general terms, Grube's interviews were designed to explore memories of early gay community in Toronto, before the era of gay liberation. Topics covered in the interviews include the contours of pre-Stonewall gay culture; initiation into the gay community and/or coming out; early sexual experiences and relationships; cruising; relations with psychiatry and psychology; bar culture and gay social spaces; interaction with police; bar raids; interpersonal relationships; first contact with gay liberationists/activists; membership in gay organizations; party scene amongst older gay men; struggles with depression and substance abuse; S/M and leather culture; drag; and employment. Because not all interview subjects grew up in Toronto, the interviews cover other locations as well, mostly in Ontario.
Lionel Collier's interviews, collected mostly in the same time frame as Grube's, cover similar topics. Notably, Lionel's interest was moreso in the narration of personal histories rather than broader social trends. These interviews occassionaly touched on health and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Lionel also had a particular interest in gay liberation and responses to the Bathhouse Raids in Toronto. Many of Lionel's interviews discuss early sexual relationships. An interview with Lionel Collier from 1997 is also included in the fonds, as well as an interview conducted by the LGBTQ Oral History Digital Collaboratory's Elspeth Brown and Zohar Freeman with Lionel Collier in 2018.

John Grube