Assiniboine Park Bridge: When the Municipality of St. James was formed in 1921, Assiniboine Park was accessed from the north by a temporary wooden bridge that was built and removed every year. Before the temporary bridge was installed in the spring, and after it was removed in the fall, John Wilson ferried park visitors across the river in a row boat for a price of 10 cents. Prior to 1912, a ferry was required to enter the Park from St. James. The current footbridge was opened in 1932.Bruce Park 1967 and 2021: Bruce Park is named after Peter Bruce (1836-1928) who lived on this plot of land. The land was donated to the city by his family in 1933, with the condition that it remained a public green space.Deer Lodge CentreDeer Lodge Centre: The name “Deer Lodge” has been shared by many buildings and businesses over the last century. First it was the name of the impressive home of HBC trader and politician, James McKay (1828-1879). After the house was destroyed in a fire, it was rebuilt as the Deer Lodge Hotel (second picture; ca. 1910). In 1916 the hotel became IODE (Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire) Mackenzie Home, a military convalescent home. Today, Deer Lodge Centre sits on this same site.Deer Lodge CentreDeer Lodge Shopping Centre 1956 and 2021: Pictured is the “Deer Lodge shopping district.” Deer Lodge Centre can be seen in the background of both photos.Ferry Road 1956 and 2021: Pictured: Portage Ave., northwest from Ferry Rd. In 1956, Safeway, the post office, the St. James Leader building, and Perth’s were located west of Ferry Rd.King’s Theatre 1956 and 2021: The original King’s Theatre was built in the 1930s on the corner of Berry St. and Portage Ave. A renovation in 1954 added a new entrance, lounge, refreshment bar, and offices.Roseberry Shopping Centre 1956 and 2021: Shopping centre on Portage Ave. at Roseberry St. Silver Heights Apartments 1956 and 2021: Now called the New Mount Royal Apartments. In the city of St. James, apartment blocks were restricted in height and location to ensure that residential areas all had access to direct sunlight.Silver Heights Shopping District 1956 and 2021: The Silver Heights neighbourhood takes it’s name from the house and estate of Donald A. Smith (Lord Strathcona), which was located on the Assiniboine River in this area.St. James City HallSt. James Collegiate 1956 and 2021: St. James Collegiate opened in 1951 to ease the over-crowding in the school division. High school students who had previously attended Britannia and Linwood Schools were transferred to the Collegiate to make room for new students. Prior to housing the school, the land was an experimental farm run by the Hudson’s Bay Company (early 1800s); Bourkevale, the home and farm of the Bourke family (including MLA for St. James, Edwin Bourke); a developed area with bungalows (1920s); and Bourkevale Park Golf Course (1920s-40s).St. James Hotel 1928 and 2021: In 1928, the Fowlie Hotel company constructed the St. James Hotel, a Tudor style building that mimics British pubs and country inns, for a price of $75,000. The first hotel manager, Alex Petrie, lived on site. The establishment featured 24 bedrooms on the second floor, a beer parlour, and a restaurant. The building was damaged by fire in 2017 but was restored and is the current home of Barstool Pub & Eatery.
In 1987 Manitoba passed the Human Rights Code, protecting against discrimination based on sexual orientation. This decision prompted the first official Pride March in Winnipeg. A celebration that has continued throughout the years.
1974 Winnipeg Gay Pride March (Manitoba Gay and Lesbian Archives/University of Manitoba)
On August 2, 1987, a group waited outside the Manitoba Legislative Building to hear the results of the vote on whether to include sexual orientation in the Manitoba Human Rights Code. It was decided that if they voted in favour they would march in celebration, if not, they would march in protest.
In the decades leading up to this decision, Winnipeg had developed a rich queer history. An important part of Winnipeg’s queer culture was the creation of queer meeting places. Queer meeting places were essential to early queer culture because being discovered could have you attacked or arrested. One of these queer meeting places developed at the bottom of the hill behind the Manitoba Legislative building with a view of the golden boy, which became a symbol to the community. Read more about this by checking out CBC’s podcast The Secret Life of Canada: The Golden Boy.
In 1973 Chris Vogel and Rich North became the first gay couple to apply for a marriage licence in Canada. Although the Manitoba government denied their request, Reverent Norman Naylor of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Winnipeg officiated their wedding. When the provincial government refused to register their wedding, they began a long legal battle to have their marriage recognized.
All this lead to the decision in 1987 when Manitoba passed the Human Rights Code, protecting against discrimination based on sexual orientation. (It wasn’t until 2012 when Manitoba’s Human Rights Code Amendment Act was passed, that gender identity was added to the list of protected characteristics.) This Code replaced the Human Rights Act passed in 1970. This decision prompted the first official Pride March in Winnipeg. A celebration that has continued throughout the years.
Although this was a moment that marked great progress for the LGBTQ2SIA+ community, there was still a great deal of prejudice and, according to Pride Winnipeg, a few people in the first march wore paper bags over their heads to conceal their identity.
The fight for equality continued and in 2004 Manitoba became the fifth province in Canada to legalize same-sex marriage, doing so almost a year before the federal government legalized it across Canada. (Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first outside Europe to legalize same-sex marriage.)
Header Image: A still shot from CBC’s documentary, ‘One Gay City: A History of LGBT Life in Winnipeg.’
