Gay Alliance Toward Equality

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The Gay Alliance Toward Equality, or GATE, was one of the first Canadian gay liberation groups.

Formed in 1971 in Vancouver, British Columbia, GATE was the first Canadian gay group to explicitly discuss and plan civil rights strategies for achieving gay and lesbian equality under Canadian law. Relatively autonomous groups were set up in cities throughout Canada.

One of the first high-profile cases launched for gay rights in Canada was launched by the Vancouver branch in response to the Vancouver Sun's refusal to allow for a paid advertisement for the GATE newspaper. This would become the first gay rights case to reach the Supreme Court of Canada.

Robert Douglas Cook, the first openly gay candidate for political office in Canada, ran as a GATE candidate in the 1979 provincial election in the electoral district of West Vancouver-Howe Sound.