Remembering lesbian bars: Montreal, 1955-1975

This essay retraces the development of lesbian bars in Montreal between 1955 and 1975. It analyzes this process as a form of appropriation of urban public space which reveals the repressive elements confronting lesbians in their pursuit of the right to exist socially, and examines the key-role played by working-class lesbians in struggling against them. It also describes class-related divisions in the way these places are remembered, which may be paralleled to the opposite positions in the current debate about the role of bars in the development of a lesbian culture. Finally, it suggests explanations for class-related differences in bar-going habits and ways of expressing lesbian identity.