Gay is Love

This is a life-size quilted recreation of a protest sign from the historic We Demand rally of 1971, Canada's first major 2SLGBTQ+ rights demonstration. On August 28, activists from across the country converged on Parliament Hill in Ottawa (with a simultaneous action in Vancouver) to present a brief demanding basic civil rights: an end to criminalization of homosexuality, equal age of consent, an end to discrimination in employment and immigration, and the right to serve in the military.

One protester held a sign that read, simply, "Gay = Love." It appears in Jearld Moldenhauer's photographs from the day, now preserved by The ArQuives, Canada's LGBTQ2+ archives. The equation was radical then. It remains radical now, because in much of the world, it is still contested.

About the Recreation

I wanted to translate that hand-painted cardboard sign into something more permanent. The quilted version uses the same text and roughly the same proportions as the original, but rendered in fabric, a material that carries warmth, that can be held and folded and kept. Cardboard deteriorates. Fabric, if cared for, lasts.

The lettering is appliquéd onto a canvas backing using repurposed quilting cotton. The construction is deliberately straightforward. Nothing flashy, no elaborate quilting patterns. The message does the work.

The We Demand Rally

The We Demand demonstration was organized in response to years of state surveillance, entrapment, and criminal prosecution of gay Canadians. The brief presented to Parliament that day outlined ten demands, including the removal of homosexuality from the Criminal Code (partial decriminalization had happened in 1969, but enforcement continued), equal treatment in employment and immigration, and an end to RCMP surveillance of gay organizations. Most of these demands would take decades to achieve. Some are still being fought for.

Moldenhauer's photographs from that day are among the most important documents of early Canadian queer activism. The signs were handmade, personal, direct. This recreation carries one of them forward in a more durable medium.

2023 · Canvas, repurposed quilting cotton · 60" × 40" / 152 × 102 cm

The We Demand Rally

The We Demand demonstration was organized in response to years of state surveillance, entrapment, and criminal prosecution of gay Canadians. The brief presented to Parliament that day outlined ten demands, including the removal of homosexuality from the Criminal Code (partial decriminalization had happened in 1969, but enforcement continued), equal treatment in employment and immigration, and an end to RCMP surveillance of gay organizations. Most of these demands would take decades to achieve. Some are still being fought for.

Moldenhauer's photographs from that day are among the most important documents of early Canadian queer activism. The signs were handmade, personal, direct. This recreation carries one of them forward in a more durable medium.

2023 • Canvas, repurposed quilting cotton • 60" x 40"

(Jearld Moldenhauer/The ArQuives Digital Exhibitions )