SIDE A:
BC was born in 1929, in Fort William, Ontario. He describes his early childhood; wearing his sister’s clothing in 1935 and his family commenting on his femininity. He was very close with his mother growing up. BC’s real name is mentioned in the interview: William Edward. He goes by ‘Bill’. …
SIDE A:
BC was born in 1929, in Fort William, Ontario. He describes his early childhood; wearing his sister’s clothing in 1935 and his family commenting on his femininity. He was very close with his mother growing up. BC’s real name is mentioned in the interview: William Edward. He goes by ‘Bill’. He discusses being feminine/femme a lot of his life: he dressed up as a women at a masquerade party in 1948, and some of the men being attracted to him. A man at the ball offered to drive Bill home, Bill accepted. Driving home, they decide to drive up through the mountains. The man asked Bill if he was a man, and Bill said yes. The driver said he looks cute, and asks to have oral sex with Bill - Bill accepted. Bill describes enjoying it thoroughly, and how he ‘felt like he really loved me’. Later on, Bill met the man’s wife at a store. This made Bill feel very guilty. He also found out the man had two kids. The man to continued to ask him to have sex with him. Bill went on to work at a bank, and attempted to initiate sex with another man. This was not successful, but Bill played it off as being too drunk. Bill recalls going swimming during the Depression, and seeing other boys swimming nude and being attracted to them. An adult man noticed, and told Bill to have oral sex with him. Bill was 8 at the time. Bill was excited to do it again, but moved away and never saw him again. Bill discusses a third man he had sex with, named Dick. He also mentions another man, Elle, who Bill considered to be a ‘fruit’. Elle had a wife, but his wife knew he was gay and even knew that Bill was sleeping with him in the 1960s. Elle was also in love with Dick, and jealous of Bill’s relationship with Dick. Elle had another friend, Donnie, who was gay as well. Bill felt ‘sick’ because Donnie was so effeminate. Bill describes himself as being very cruel to Donnie. Then, the phone starts ringing. Lionel answers the phone.
Dates and locations: Toronto, Fort Williams, Port Arthur, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s
SIDE B:
Bill describes visiting Toronto while living in Port Arthur. He quit his job in Port Arthur and began going on lake boats. On the boats, he began meeting other men and taking them to bars and ‘whorehouses’ in Fort William. He was fearful of them discovering he was gay. He became attracted to one of the deckhands, and sees this deckhand mutually masturbating with another deckhand. Bill does not join. He quit the boat and, through the Seamen’s Union’ got a job on the DC Everest from Marathon, Ontario. BC fell in love with another man on the boat, Johnny. He confesses his love for Johnny, but Johnny rejected him. He ended up going up to another man’s room, but then rejecting this man. The next day, the other men on the boat made fun of him for spending time with the gay man (they use the term ‘crabapple’). The chef on the DC Everest takes an interest in him. The chef also mentions that the captain of the ship is interested in Bill. Bill arrives in Toronto and goes to visit his mother there; his mother had married and had three other children. A guy in his quarters invited him to show him ‘the hot spots’, including Retros, the St Charles, the Municipal, and the Bay House. Bill punched the gay in the face after seeing that the bars were ‘full of queers’. The man confesses his love for Bill. Bill tells the captain about the boy, and moved onto the Humber Dock. On the Humber Dock, he feel in love with the electrician. He would smell the electricians underwear. After the shipping season finished, he moved to St Catherine’s for the winter, where he met a man named Herbert. Herbert didn’t work, and instead lived with an older man. Bill and Herbert slept together, and Bill grew fond of him. Bill decided to move to Toronto. Herbert took Bill to Letros. In Toronto, Bill “broke into the gay life”. Bill moved into a home with a group of other queer people, by Park Plaza. One of his housemates, Kit, fell in love with Bill.
Dates and locations discussed: 1950s, 1960s, Toronto, St. Catharines, Marathon, Fort William, Ontario
Access Restrictions
N/A
Location - Original
CLGA only in possession of digital copy. Cassette tape retained by Lionel Collier
