SIDE A:
There is music playing in the background of this interview. Lionel recalls the night of the Bathhouse raids, his participation in the protests, and feelings of fear (the raids happened when Collier was 21). Bob’s hot tubs were raided in 1978 - the first raids were at the Barracks prior to t…
SIDE A:
There is music playing in the background of this interview. Lionel recalls the night of the Bathhouse raids, his participation in the protests, and feelings of fear (the raids happened when Collier was 21). Bob’s hot tubs were raided in 1978 - the first raids were at the Barracks prior to that, while the hot tubs were being constructed. The tubs went forward with construction despite these raids, as the police said they only raided the Barracks because of the S&M. Bob Slea was born August 4, 1948. (may have stated 1938) in Niagara Falls. His mother stayed at home, his father was a carpenter. Both parents were English. His mother was a Jehovah’s Witness, and his father was a member of the United Church. Bob did not attend church much. Bob says his exposure to religious attitudes were not ‘brainwashing,’ rather ‘take it if you want it’ Bob never celebrated birthday, or Christmas as a kid - instead, ‘presents all year around” as his parents were “very generous with their children’. He says he had nothing ‘bad to say’ about his religious upbringing. He still attends church to this day occasionally. As a kid, the ‘word gay wasn’t in anybody’s vocabulary at the time. You were ‘artistic’” Bob also had a gay brother. At age 11, Bob became aware he was interested in men, which made him feel ‘quite strange’ - no one ever spoke about men being attracted to other men. Around age 14, at the ‘backyard boys club’, boys would sleep overnight in a hut in the backyard where they would experiment with each other, but none of the boys turned out to be gay later in life. No one really talked about being gay, per Bob - in fact, the boys would often feel a sense of shame the day after. Bob recalls being attracted to one particular girl while travelling, whom Bob fell in love with - but he did not have sex with her until after he married her. He was aware he was still attracted to men, but wanted a family and thought it would work out with her. She was aware that he was attracted to men, and she too hoped it would change after they married. However, it did not change - they separated 3 or 4 times over the 20 year marriage. The couple had one daughter and then divorced in 1981. He discusses Letros and Club 511 (which he mistakenly calls it Club 501) on Yonge St. He says that was the first public place where men could dance together. The night it opened, uniformed police were in the club - but. Bob felt that in those days, there was a good rapport between the police and gay men. Not too long after that, the Jukebox opened on Wellesley, owned by two lesbian women - the second place where two men or women could dance together. Bob worked at a lot of dance studios. As a kid, his brother worked at the National Ballet of Canada, and was a best man for Celia Franca’s wedding. Bob started taking summer ballet courses - although he did not enjoy ballet. He was much more interested in ballroom. Bob was never very close with brother, and was never able to sit down with him and talk about being gay. Bob feels he was quite obviously gay (mannerisms, the things he liked, etc.) so his brother must have known - but his brother seemed to not want to befriend Bob. Bob would often attend gay bars with his dance colleagues, and felt that at dance studios they ‘preferred gay people’. Bob’s recalls a cruising experience on the subway and at Broadview and Danforth, where a man approached him and asked him if he was gay - Bob at the time (likely around 1958) did not know what ‘gay’ meant. Bob found him attractive as Bob was attracted to older men at the time. The man invited Bob to his house (near Greenwood) and Bob spent the night with him. This was before Bob was married. While attending the clubs, Bob thought ‘gee I really want to own one of these clubs’. Bob discusses the workflow of attending the bars, and how he would meet many more people at the bar then compared to the time of interview. Bob mentions his friend “Jim Greene” - “I thought he was the only Black person in Toronto” - “never saw a Black person walking down Yonge St.” He also mentions seeing other Black drag queens performing at 511, including performers impersonating Eartha Kitt. Bob and Jim Greene opened a gay brunch club, after attending one of the brunches, you’d have to host the brunches. This became a major way to meet people — “An excuse to get together on a Sunday” - with 30 or 40 members. Seeing the success of this, the two opened a Dinner club where people would attend restaurants. At that time, Bob was living on Sherbourne by Dundas. Bob could not remember how they advertised, a lot of it was through word of mouth - he mentions that he may have possibly advertised in One magazine. Noted Montreal was much more open at that time, when recalls saw men kissing one another and meeting many Lesbian women while visiting Montreal. Bob lived with a McGill student while visiting Montreal, and worked at an elevator in Simpsons, but eventually had to leave because of his poor French. Bob also lived in Puerto Vallarta for three years. Bob recalls Peter Marshall’s parties - Collier mentions dinner plans with him. Bob notes that a lot of the gay party throwers were connected to the CBC, does not want to mention their names. He remembers attending parties in The Red Lion Room, in 1961 (also the year his daughter was born) - it did not remain open long. Bob also recalls a couple of taverns across from City Hall, with drag queens. Particularly recalls and describes Geraldine, a vibrant, happy and very funny drag queen that performed at these taverns. Also recalls large busloads of men who would visit the taverns in this area, who were very rough/often alcoholics. The drag queens ‘ran the place’, and were very accepted despite the patronage. Bob Slea recalls it as very rowdy (no fights, but lots of laughter and shouts, etc.) and a lot of fun. Bob remembers a lot of alcohol on the scene, even moreso than at time of interview. Bob feels people are drinking less at time of interview for health reasons, and also due to increased popularity of smoking marijuana. Bob recalls another drag queen, Brandy, who he thinks was one of the first queens to perform professionally. Brandy lived by Jarvis and Huntly, across from the police headquarters. Brandy dealt with a lot of trouble travelling between their apartment and the Warwick Hotel, being harassed by police who though they were a sex worker. He notes that one would often dress up for Letros and even St Charles, and also that there was good Chinese food at the restaurant at the St Charles.
Dates and Locations mentioned: Toronto, Puerto Vallarta, Montreal, Niagara Falls, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s
SIDE B:
Bob reminisces for the disco scene. He notes the big change from sitting at a table to drink to standing up at a bar, and how this changed the bar scene significantly Bob felt that Peter Marshall ‘seemed to [be] a very quiet, shy person’ despite throwing such parties, yet ‘no-one seemed to know what he did’. Bob only ever saw Marshall at the St Charles and Letros. Bob used to go to Burlington, where a man had a yacht and a club. Bob went twice, often declined invitations because of the distance. Bob could not remember his name. Bob describes Peter Marshall’s parties in further detail. Bob recalls living with a lover on Jarvis St. One time, this lover thew a gay dinner party, and Bob saw (at age 20) his brother as a guest at the party. This was the first time him and his brother confronted each other about their sexualities face to face. They had suspected it, as they often would mention mutual gay friends. Bob’s lover knew whom he was inviting. This made Bob feel very uncomfortable. Bob also recalls the circular bar at the St Charles, and discusses the increased sociability of the bar. Bob discusses the Ford hotel, which had a gay organist and the ‘cruisiest bathroom in town’. Bob would meet men at the pub there, and then take them to a room. Bob noted that the rooms were very expensive - and some rooms didn’t even have a full bath. Bob stayed there often, and met a lot of people there. The bar was a ‘sing along bar’ where the organist would play music and patrons would sing along songs like ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’. Bob mentions ‘you would see every gay man in town there at some point’. Before being known as a gay bar, the St Charles was really known as a quality Chinese restaurant - ‘you wouldn’t be embarrassed to tell anybody you were going for dinner at the St Charles.’ Bob visited it the night it closed, and mentioned their was a sale where they were selling chopsticks, etc. to patrons. Bob recalls never wanting a permanent lover. He was ‘promiscuous’, and could not contemplate being with just one person. Bob also discusses affairs, with a German lover and another man for a year and half. Bob feels that, as long as he can remember the “Gay Ghetto” has “always been in this area”, but also notes that when he opened the baths on Isabella, it was not known as a gay area. The baths were an empty factory for Evangeline. They leased the second floor because they wanted to be by Bloor and Yonge. The venue next door (which is Comrades at time of interview) was a straight bar that Bob believes was named Dominoes. Bob intended to open a club downstairs, with the baths upstairs. Bob met his other lover at a party at 110 Maitland, which he said was an ‘all gay building’ Bob notes that CBC was once a big part of the community, but since things have ‘spread out, things have grown’. He discusses the construction of the City Park apartments, and how it attracted gay men (Bob lived at City Park) as well as the discussion of ‘Vaseline tower’. Bob also discussed militant gay men at Stonewall, fighting the police, throwing bricks, etc. by Christopher St. It sounds as though Bob may have been at Stonewall. Bob worked as a sex worker at age 17 or 18, while visiting New York. There he met an actor at a club who worked for NBC. Bob was staying at a YMCA (The “Sloan House”). The man (who’s name was Art) invited him to parties, and clubs and back to his place. Bob mentions sex in clubs in New York, and a much more liberated atmosphere. Bob felt ‘repulsed’ by Art, but still lived with him at his apartment. He would introduce Bob to men who wanted to sleep with him, and Bob would agree - often much older than him (35 or 40 years old). Bob applied for papers to move to the States and was looking for work. Bob recalls that one morning, after sleeping with one of those men, the man had to leave early in the morning for church as he was a priest. Then, the man said he would not see him again because it was ‘very expensive’. It turned out Bob’s partner (Art) was charging the men money to sleep with Bob, unbeknownst to Bob. Then, Bob began hustling on 42nd and 8th in New York; he says ‘I never really had any trouble’. At time of interview, he mentions there are a lot of drugs in that area. But in those days, he says it was all sex no drugs. Bob was never harassed by straight people, and never felt bothered while hustling in New York. Bob spent 3 or 4 months in New York, living with Arthur. Bob’s parents knew he was in New York at the time, and knew about Arthur (who would pay for Bob’s plane tickets to New York). His parents did not have much response. One night, while Bob was living in City Park, and his father was visiting Toronto for a convention at the King Edward Hotel. Bob ran into him. Bob was heading to Letros with a younger man with bleached hair and ‘man tan’ - a spray tan - and tight clothes at the time. His father was very surprised by this man, and confused about the men Bob associated with. Bob was in New York for more than three summers, while in high school.
Dates and locations discussed: Toronto, New York, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s
Access Restrictions
N/A
Location - Original
CLGA only in possession of digital copy. Cassette tape retained by Lionel Collier
