Queer on Montreal Counter-information

Trans day of vengeance W: quebecor trashed, cybertruck wrekt

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 12:03:00 +0000

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

In the spirit of Trans Day of Vengeance and April Fool’s Day, a cell of trans anarchists crashed the fuck out, targeting transphobe media and transphobe truck. Around 4:30 in the morning, angered by the police violence at the trans vengeance demo, armed and masked trannies took their vengeance to Quebecor, parent company of Journal de Montreal, TVA, and more. These media outlets have consistently spewed transphobic, bigoted and fascist poppycock into the news cycle. Around 5 windows of their square victoria headquarters were smashed to shit, light pink paint was sprayed on the windows and inside the entrance, and fireworks were tossed in.

Rad Pride 2024: How a Night Demo Defeated the SPVM in the Village

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 12:02:00 +0000

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

Sunday, August 10th was the second annual edition of Rad Pride. Over 250 people gathered at Papineau metro, pink balaclavas mingling with black bloc and our gayest demo attire. Under the rallying cries of “No pride in genocide” and “Queerness is resistance”, the march set off down Sainte-Catherine. Now, a couple weeks later, we want to offer a look back at this evening from a tactical perspective.

Reportback on the Disruption of Fierté Montréal’s Corporate Parade

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 13:09:00 +0000

From the F.A.G.S.

On Sunday, the F.A.G.S. and its queer and trans accomplices disrupted Fierté Montréal’s corporate, Zionist, colonialist pride parade.

We gathered at 1pm in drag bloc outfits and makeup in the spectator zone at Place Ville Marie. Nearly a dozen cops with SIS armbands mobilized to surveil our gathering, as clearly a group of queers at pride protecting each other from COVID is cause for suspicion. At around 1:30pm, towards the beginning of the parade, we took to the street as Helem, Mubaadarat, and Independent Jewish Voices’ Queer for Palestine float passed by. By marching behind their float as part of the parade for a short while, we managed to sooth the fears of the anxious piggies.

Queers, Are You Ready for the Backlash? Preparing for a Poilievre Government

Tue, 28 May 2024 12:25:00 +0000

Anonymous submission to North Shore Counter-Info

A zine version of this text is available.

I’ve always liked connecting with other queer people and talking politics, comparing notes on how we see society and what is affecting us. But lately, this has been feeling quite urgent. The countdown is on until we end up with a reactionary federal government — there will be a federal election no later than October 2025, and if current trends hold, there will be a Conservative landslide that brings Pierre Poilievre to power.

We Accuse Enquête and Radio-Canada

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 12:38:00 +0000

From P!nk Bloc

With its report Trans Express, Enquête gives above all else a platform to the discourses of transphobic groups, inviting discredited pseudo-experts such as Lisa Littman with her theory of “rapid-onset gender dysphoria .” We consider that the editorial decisions made by this show are clear, political, and dangerous. Enquête does not present a rigorous investigation, but an hour of sensationalist demagoguery echoing the far-right.

The CBC instrumentalizes specific detransition experiences to reinforce their transphobic discourses. However, detransition experiences are varied, and are often in opposition to the idea that gender must necessarily be stable. In any case, ease of access to transition care is a net positive. While the system is just beginning to take the voices of trans people an their experiential knowledge seriously, something this report seems to want to paint as a problem. We reaffirm that trans people should have the final say on our own medical decisions.

Radio-Canada has blood on its hands: a look back at the windows destroyed on the night of March 12-13th

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 12:37:00 +0000

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

On the night of March 12-13th, the windows of the Radio-Canada building were destroyed by activists, in response to Radio-Canada’s choice to use its broad platform to amplify transphobic rhetoric akin to that of the far right.

The TransExpress news report aired on February 29th, 2024 is an intellectually and scientifically dishonest attack on trans people and their access to healthcare. It represents an ideological shift that legitimizes the far right’s transphobic demands, and it will fan the flames of violence against trans communities, currently increasingly targeted. Radio-Canada and its journalists have chosen to feed into a moral panic that puts the trans community, and especially trans youth, in danger.

Call to Action Against the “Comité de Sages”

Mon, 12 Feb 2024 14:31:47 +0000

From We Will Not Stay Quiet!

The CAQ has shamefully given in to transphobic organizers and decided to appoint a “committee of wisemen,” who will decide the future of trans and non-binary communities. We demand the immediate dissolution of this committee, because:

This committee is made up exclusively of cis (non-trans) people, who don’t even have academic or outreach experience with trans people. The majority are also known to be affiliated with transphobic groups. All this is based on the presumption that trans and non-binary people are incapable of being “wise,” reasonable, and impartial. We demand the recognition of the lived experiences and academic knowledge of 2SLGBTQ+ communities; we demand our self-determination!

A Look Back at the “Defend Trans Youth” Counter-protest

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 13:11:00 +0000

From P!nk Bloc

On October 21st, more than a thousand people acted on a call to counter-protest for the defence of trans youth’s rights and inclusive sex ed, called by a coalition of queer and antifascist groups including the Pink Bloc. This call was officially endorsed by more than fifty organisations, including unions, student associations, teacher associations, feminist groups, militant collectives, community sector organisations, and more.[1]

The goal of this action was to block the path of a demonstration organised by the transphobic, homophobic “Ensemble Pour Protéger Nos Enfants” (“Together to protect our children”) group in response to a canada-wide call from 1MillionMarchForChildren. The political agenda of this demonstration and its associated groups includes censorship of queer and trans subjects in schools, forcing educators to out trans youths to their parents, and the broad removal of trans healthcare for young folks. Through their statements, they claim to want to protect children, but even the most basic research will show you that these groups want to reinforce parental control on youth, and to give parents the ability to prevent their children from expressing themselves how they want, and from being themselves.

Report-back from the October 21st Counter-demonstration in Defense of Trans Youth

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 12:34:00 +0000

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

Saturday, October 21 in Montreal saw a face-off between a shrinking coalition of religious conservative transphobes and a counter-protest in defense of trans youth. TL;DR: trans defenders won.

Called as a Canada-wide day of action by “1 Million March for Children”, with the group “Ensemble pour protéger nos enfants” (hereafter EPPNE; “Together to protect our children”) leading the Montreal event, it was the follow-up to the clashes on September 20th in front of McGill University. That day, an unexpectedly large crowd, mostly composed of Muslim families, with children holding signs reading “I belong to my parents” and shouting transphobic and homophobic insults, confronted an underprepared counter-protest and succeeded in marching through downtown Montreal, leaving trans defenders and their queer and antifascist comrades shaken.

Conspiracy Theorists and Neonazis: Who Are the Organizers of the July 8 Anti-LGBTQ+ Demonstration in Québec City?

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 12:04:00 +0000

From Montréal Antifasciste

Warning: this article contains explicitly homophobic, racist, and antisemitic elements

A demonstration “against LGBTQ+ propaganda in schools and institutions” is to be held in Québec City on July 8. The demonstration is part of a series of events that have been taking place in Québec for some time, with the apparent aim of demonizing LGBTQ+ communities and their allies. The pretext for holding the rally in front of the Musée de la civilisation in Québec City is a current exhibition examining “the multiple realities linked to gender identities.”

Bash Back! Is Back: Reviving an Insurrectionary Queer Network (An Interview)

Tue, 02 May 2023 12:28:00 +0000

From CrimethInc.

In 2007, in the course of preparations for actions against the 2008 Republican National Convention, an insurrectionary network of queer anarchists formed under the umbrella Bash Back! Over the following three years, this network participated in a vibrant array of confrontations, organizing efforts, and publications , expanding and intensifying the struggle against sex and gender normativity. Today, as fascists and other bigots renew their assault on queer and trans people and anarchists fight back , there is an urgent need for renewed coordination and innovation. In this context, participants in the original Bash Back! network have called for a new Bash Back! convergence in September 2023 .

McGill Wintemute Blockade Report & Analysis: A bloody nose for the TERFs, but where to from here?

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 12:04:00 +0000

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

The protest and blockade against the UK anti-trans campaigner Robert Wintemute at McGill on Tuesday 10th Jan 2023 is potentially a moment of polarisation for the queer and trans liberation movement in Montreal. It is also a serious blow against the ability for anti-trans campaigners to freely build support for their ideas in the city. Further, the militancy of the rally clarifies some of the current contradictions in our movement and demonstrates the movement’s interest in moving in a more radical direction.

Cancel Pride? We'd prefer not to.

Sun, 14 Aug 2022 13:12:00 +0000

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

At around 9am on Sunday, August 7th, Fierté Montréal informed the public via Twitter that they were cancelling the pride parade. While they initially claimed that there had been an impasse between organizers and the SPVM on questions of ‘security’ following early-morning negotiations, Fierté later retracted that statement, assuring the public that the SPVM had nothing to do with the decision. The current media line coming out of Fierté seems to be that the person responsible for making sure there were enough volunteers on the ground to block off the streets simply ‘forgot’ to do exactly that.

A War Against Queers

Tue, 02 Jul 2019 19:05:31 +0000

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

In the past few weeks, the state has once again revamped its war on queers. A few days before Hamilton police targeted Cedar for arrest, Quebec city police bragged online about using plainclothes cops to entrap 11 queer men who were consensually cruising. These targeted attacks will not be tolerated. Fuck the police.

Solidarity with Cedar and with all queers facing repression.

Solidarity Statement with Cedar Hopperton and the Radical Queer Community in Hamilton

Mon, 01 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

From Montréal-Antifasciste

Two weeks ago, the LGBTQ2 community in Hamilton, Ontario, was targeted for a unprecedented attack by a coalition of individuals from fundamentalist Christian groups and far-right groupuscules like the Wolves of Odin, the “Yellow Vests,” and the Canadian Nationalist Party.

Furthermore, the tense relationship between the radical queer and trans community and the police in Hamilton was exacerbated by the manifest indifference police showed to the far-right trolls, instead moving against the queer and trans folks who took measures to defend themselves… while giving the far-right attackers a free hand!

Solidarity with Pride Defenders, Free Cedar!

Fri, 28 Jun 2019 02:47:27 +0000

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

On June 15th, 2019 in Hamilton, “Ontario”, Pride was attacked by a group of far-right homophobes, christian fundamentalists, neo-nazis, and queer bashers. As they did in 2018, they arrived with massive homophobic signs and banners, and immediately began to scream insults and slurs. They aggressively harassed individuals, made jokes about rape, and threatened physical violence. Things quickly escalated as the bigots violently confronted people who were holding a fabric barrier in an attempt to block them from disrupting Pride. Initiated by the far-right activists a brawl broke out – queers who refused to allow their presence to go unchallenged were attacked, but fought back. Several friends were injured and required medical attention. The police did nothing during this hour-long conflict, and only stepped in at the end when there was nothing left to do. The haters knew they couldn’t sustain their presence any longer, and welcomed the police escort out of the park. After being kicked out of Pride, this same group chased and assaulted queer youth in the neighbourhood, and then went on to attack people at Toronto Pride the following week.

On Guilt & Innocence: A Response to Arrests Following Hamilton Pride

Mon, 24 Jun 2019 15:31:10 +0000

From North Shore Counter-Info

Statement by The Tower

It’s been a very intense and revealing week since Hamilton Pride. We helped our friends heal, debriefed our strategies, and circulated as much information about the people who attacked us as we could. The videos and statements have gone viral, the outrage is visceral. Homophobic white nationalists attacked Pride, they were confronted by a huge group of queers, the police did nothing and then took credit for stopping the attack, the mayor backed the police despite hundreds of witnesses, and the homophobes walk free. While the helmet-wielding maniac who smashed our faces continued his crusade in Toronto, posing for celebrity pictures with a new helmet and brutally attacking at least one more person (you can watch the video here: http://anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/2019/06/violence-after-pegida-march-northern.html) ), the police were busy banging on the doors of known queer anarchists in Hamilton, lurking in backyards, and shaking down our entire community.

Anti-homophobic Action at Parc Maisonneuve

Mon, 29 Oct 2018 13:39:45 +0000

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

The evening of the 15th, we redecorated a few installations at Parc Maisonneuve. In 2013, this park had been the site of Operation Narcisse, a police operation during which plainclothes cops placed charges of “indecency” against men, after having seduced them. Some placards against “indencency” - which have, for the most part, been stolen or vandalised - were installed in the context of this operation with the purpose of intimidating us. Through our actions, we want to denounce the role that undercover cops play in the absurd and useless production of “crimes” implicating queer people. We also wish to denounce the recent installation of a camera at the entrance of the bathrooms in the basement of the Parc Mausonneuve chalet. Sooner or later, they will meet their sad fate.

Homophobic Cops of Quebec

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 12:50:13 +0000

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

The following is a list of cops who have, near or far, participated in the development of police operations with the purpose of harassing queer men cruising in public spaces in the so-called province of Quebec. This list is not exhaustive.

Sébastien CHARRON constable│PDQ 15 │SPVM │ Opération Sentier

Geneviève PÉPIN constable│PDQ 15 │SPVM │ Opération Sentier

Jean-Ernest CÉLESTIN chief │PDQ 15 │SPVM │ Opération Sentier

Anti-homophobic Action at Parc Lafontaine

Fri, 28 Sep 2018 15:38:14 +0000

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

On September 25, 2018, we destroyed three cameras in the men’s washroom in the basement of the Calixa Lavallée building in Parc Lafontaine. We also smashed a peephole. These cameras were installed in the context of Operation Nirvana. This operation seeks to criminalize and arrest men who meet in these washrooms. Plainclothes police go there to seduce men and to incite them into so-called “indecency”. In the place where the cops stand to cruise men, we tagged “RIP Nirvana”. These provocations fit within a long history of morality policing that aims to purge public spaces of all visible queer desire. As such, we affirm that the liberation of our desires is incompatible with the existence of the police.

From Embers: Cruise Control

Fri, 07 Sep 2018 17:29:40 +0000

From From Embers

An interview with a member of a Montreal-based collective that is researching and raising awareness about police crackdowns in gay cruising areas.

Links:

Cruise Control collective page (facebook link)

Ultra Red audio activists, Los Angeles, USA

Politician attacked during vigil for queers killed in Orlando

Sat, 25 Jun 2016 00:09:40 +0000

Submitted to MTL Counter-info

On the afternoon of Thursday, June 16, some respectable gay organizations held a ‘vigil’ in Montreal’s Gay Village for the victims of the recent shooting at a gay club in Orlando. The Collectif carré rose (CCR), which campaigns for more cops and security in the Village to counter ‘homophobic attacks’ (read: rich people getting mugged), disgustingly invited a slew of local and provincial politicians to speak to the crowd, including Quebec premier Philippe Couillard. While the politicians pretended to not be complicit in violence against queer and trans people, mining the crowd’s grief for political capital, the CCR and their buddies salivated at the promise of new lobbying possibilities for their pro-cop bullshit.

Solidarity with trans and queer prisoners!

Sat, 06 Feb 2016 01:35:06 +0000

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

In response to the International day of solidarity with trans and queer prisoners, we roamed our streets leaving messages of solidarity in french, english, and spanish.

Because war against the existent begins with the reappropriation of our lives and the deconstruction of established norms.

The struggle is individual, collective, but especially daily.

Against domination, fire to the prisons!

The Parties Over : If we’re not gonna fight for Queer Space we may as well go back to the village

Fri, 28 Aug 2015 19:20:22 +0000

The following flyer was distributed during the Trans March of Pervers/Cité (the “radical queer pride”) which had its route approved by the SPVM:

In the last two weekends in Montreal, two of the summer’s bigger queer parties have been shut down by the police (July 18th Cousins and July 25th fundraiser party for perverse/cite). In the first case, a large number of filth conducted an operation against La Vitrola forcing the organizers to finish the party and violently dispersing partygoers - there were numerous beatings and several arrests. In the second case (perverse/cite), one car with two officers successfully ended the fun by threatening people with individual tickets; the response by queers at the party was dismal, lacked solidarity, and in the writers of this article’s opinion was ‘unqueer’ (we’ll explain what we mean by this later). Despite the efforts of some agitators to hand out face masks, the party was swiftly shut down and people drifted off into the night. These attacks by police are only one of many forms of violence against queers, but they are one of the most easy to fight back against since they are attacks on large groups of people; if we take collective action, we can resist and we can win. Below are some reasons why we cannot sit back and let these things happen, we hope they will encourage you to take a mask next time someone offers you one.