John Alan Lee

John was born in Maxville, Ontario but has been a Torontonian since his boyhood days. John’s contribution to our gay and lesbian heritage spans four decades and encompasses many roles. He has been a pioneering activist, a tireless organizer, an inspiring writer, an out teacher, a dedicated volunteer and an articulate spokesperson for the community at a time when ‘going public’ was rife with risk.

In the sixties John published articles in the early Toronto gay periodical TWO and was the “gay sociologist” published in the Toronto Telegram, protesting their coverage of the gay “sick world”. He was the first Canadian professional to come out publicly on TV (The Judy LaMarsh Show, Valentine’s Day 1974)

John organized and was the first chair of the Gay Academic Union in 1975. Later the group changed its name to LGAS and ran programs at the U of T for the next decade . A Quaker, he has civil disobedience training, and organized a successful gay sit-in of the chief law officer of Ontario, and a gay Kiss-in in the Ontario Legislature . Following the notorious 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids, John served as chair of the Right to Privacy Committee.

For four decades John has been a prolific author of books ands scholarly articles on gay life. His works brought discussion of gay and lesbian issues to the forefront of mainstream media. He has published nine books and more than three hundred articles, and has appeared more than fifty times on television. His works range from The Colours of Love (A Psychology Today book) published in 1976, to his autobiographical Love’s Gay Fool (www.johnalenlee.ca)

John has run for office in Canada’s Parliament, and served on the executive of many organizations including trade union and socialist groups, anti-war movements, the Canadian Sierra Club, and the local Amnesty International. He is now retired from the University of Toronto where he was a professor of sociology.

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