To be read to the tune of Proud Mary, (Tina Turner version):
[murmur] is pleased to announce the launch of our latest Toronto expansion into the Church-Wellesley neighbourhood as part of this year’s Pride festival. Six new locations have been installed in and around the Gaybourhood, and include stories about: the Cawthra Park AIDS memorial; being gay & Muslim on September 11th; the bathhouse raids; guerrilla gardening by the Alexander Wood statue; 1990s queer activism; and what it’s like to grow up in the village and have drag queens put together your prom outfit. The six locations are:
1> Northwest corner Church and Wellesley (in front of Ho’s Place barbershop).
2> 538 Church Street by Cafe California & Zelda’s
3> 500 Church Street by Alexander Wood Statue
4> 519 Church Street (by Cawthra Park/519 Community Centre)
5> George Hislop Park (between Isabella and St. Charles St.)
6> Southeast corner of Yonge and Wellesley.
More locations and stories will be added this summer, stay tuned.
This iteration of [murmur] is sponsored by Pride Toronto and the Lesbian and Gay Community Appeal Foundation and is part of the Plot, Engage, Disperse program curated by Daryl Vocat. The project is a unique partnership for us as it was first initiated (and ultimately executed) by Chris Bentley, a researcher from York University looking into queer oral histories in the neighbourhood who thought it might be a good idea to do his recordings in the [murmur] format and make those stories accessible on the street, where the events occurred.
