GAY PRIDE- PUSSY PALACE RAID

We may have thought that the Compton Cafeteria Riots and the Stonewall Riots and numerous bath houses were the last of the huge police driven raids, but they weren't. The Pussy Palace Raid occurred on September 14,2000, when Toronto police raided a lesbian bathhouse known as the "Pussy Palace" during the "2000 Pussies" event. Two undercover female police officers attended and investigated the event prior to the raid. Five plainclothes male officers then entered and searched the club, including private rooms. There were around 350 women in attendance at the time, many of whom were nude or semi-clad. While no charges were laid that night, but weeks later, two volunteers were charged with Liquor License Act violations. The charges were dismissed by the Ontario Court Justice in 2002 stating the search was carried out in an unreasonable manner. The Women's Bathhouse Committee filed a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission in 2001 which was settled with Toronto Police Services Board in 2004. As part of the settlement the Toronto Police Service were required to enhance their efforts to recruit gay officers and adopt a "gender-sensitive" policy. For many the raid was frightfully similar to the Toronto Bathhouse Raids of 1981, also called Operation Soap, in which over 250 were arrested. The community was so outraged after the Pussy Palace raid, that two weeks after that raid, hundreds of the community showed up and protested back called Pussies Bite Back.  They also raised over $10,000 in only 10 minutes to pay for the court case fees. The criminal charges were eventually dropped against the organizers of the Pussy event, and they won a $350 thousand settlement, which they in turn donated to LGBT charities. So tonight, raise your glass to the Pussy Palace.

Happy Pride🌈