Posted on 05/29/2005 10:51:20 AM PDT by Loyalist
TORONTO (CP) - A bronze statue of one of Canada's first gay public figures was unveiled in the heart of the city's gay village Saturday.
Hundreds of people were on hand to witness the first glance of the 2.5-metre monument of Alexander Wood, a 19th century city magistrate.
"Two years ago, we decided we wanted to do a public art project," said Dennis O'Connor, chair of the Church-Wellesley Village Business Improvement Area, the organization that decided to honour Wood as a forefather of the gay community.
"We chose him because he has a connection to our community, and this particular spot."
In 1827, Wood purchased a parcel of land in what is now Toronto's gay neighbourhood.
The statue is located in the area, on the corner of Church and Alexander streets, the latter of which is named after Wood.
At the time, many mockingly referred to the flamboyant Wood as Molly Wood, Molly being one of the era's derogatory terms for homosexuals.
"(The statue) is an important lesson to show people that there has been prejudice and homophobia historically," said Kyle Rae, a gay Toronto city councillor. "Often queer youth don't understand the struggle it took to get to where we are today."
Those at the ceremony said Wood's statue and accompanying plaque provide an important history lesson for the gay and straight communities.
"I don't know much about him," said Diane Whitehead, a Toronto-based designer, who attended the event with her two-year-old daughter Olivia.
"Having this kind of exposure (to) the different kinds of lifestyles in Toronto, and in Canada, is important," she said.
There are gay rights monuments in Amsterdam, Holland as well as New York City and Cologne, Germany.
"It took me ages to find (the Amsterdam monument) because it's very small," said flight attendant Gerry Leblanc, 40, and member of Toronto's gay community.
"This is huge compared to what that is ... it has a presence."
Wood's place in Canadian history is relatively unknown.
He emigrated from Scotland prior to the beginning of the 19th century.
He established himself as one of Toronto's leading merchants and was appointed as a city magistrate in 1800.
Wood became the centre of a gay sex scandal 10 years later when he was accused by several young men of fondling them during a rape investigation.
A woman who claimed to have been attacked by a group of men told Wood she had scratched the penis one of the assailant, so Wood took it upon himself to investigate the suspects' genitals.
He was soon forced to flee to Scotland in order to avoid potential sodomy charges. At the time, homosexuality was an offence punishable by death.
Wood returned to Canada two years later, without charge.
With the unveiling of the $200,000 statue, many members of the gay community hope Wood will become a more widely recognized figure in Canadian history.
"People who have lived in this neighbourhood have known and heard about him over the years and about the scandal, but it's never been mainstream," said Rae. "This now becomes part of all of everyone's knowledge."
This statue is politically correct historical revisionism gone wild.
That is so unfair to the poor man. Perhaps, just perhaps, he wouldn't have wanted to make his sex drive the center of his public identity. What arrogant jerks those gay activists are.
Proud to be queer. Sheesh.
They are an offense to Islam. And to many others.
Call it art and be done with it... heh...
At one and the same time, on the same Planet - Removal of the Ten Commandments from an Alabama Court House and the erection (?) of a Gay worshiping statue. The World is indeed turned upside down - Hope it rights itself before the edge is reached.
Is it possible that the gay community in Toronto is purposely erecting (no pun intended) this statute for exactly this intention?
The only actual accomplishment I see here is that he was a leading merchant. If he wasn't gay, he'd be a forgotten figure in Canadian history and rightfully so.
Regards, Ivan
I'd heard this statue was, um...erected.
Thank goodness the "queer youth" have an opportunity to gaze upon a molester of male genitals before it's too late.
Did they carve it out of pink marble?
toronto might as well have built a statue to honor child molesters.
So he's really a pedophile!?! So what is the statue? a guy in a car holding candy out the window to a little boy?
Funny, I didn't think statues had sexual preferences. So the next time a statue is erected in honor of a man who happens to be straight, will the headline read "Toronto Unveils Straight Statue"?
Looks like a Molly to me.
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