Pride's request that police withdraw from the upcoming parade stems from decades of frustration
The community's frustration over the way that police have handled the investigation into alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur might have been the final straw, so to speak, but it's exacerbated by a decades-long struggle for fair treatment from police.
1978, William Duncan Robinson was found stabbed to death in his apartment. He was the 14th gay man murdered in Toronto since 1975. Including Robinson,
offence, or that they might be publicly outed. And members of the community had good reason worry about that.
On December 9, 1978, less than two weeks after Robinson was found dead, police raided Toronto's Barracks bathhouse.
The membership list for the Barracks, with over 800 names, was also seized.
In the weeks following the raid, a police staff sergeant notified the employers of six men charged.
Community activists rallied around the men and formed a new organization called the Right to Privacy Committee (RTPC). This group made various attempts to call out and correct police injustice.
Source: cbc.ca