Gay Village, Montreal

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A partial view of Montréal's Gay Village, with Métro Beaudry (subway) station at left

Montréal's Gay Village (French, Le Village gai) is located on rue Sainte-Catherine Est, downtown, centred on Beaudry metro station, in the Ville-Marie borough of the city. The Village runs approximately from rue Berri to rue De Lorimier, a distance of nearly two kilometres, making it the largest in North America in terms of scope of the complete area.

Formerly a poor working-class neighbourhood, part of the Centre-South area of the city, the area was occupied by the gay and lesbian community after the huge expulsion of many gay businesses from an area closer to boulevard Saint-Laurent (or "The Main" as the locals call it). The area has been considerably brightened up, thanks in part to recent investment from the various levels of all governments.

Indeed, despite repression as late as the early 1990s, recent government support of "Le Village" cannot be overemphasized. All three levels of government are aggressively promoting the Village, and with the accepting climate of Québec, and gay life in Montréal as a tourist attraction. In recognition of the Village's importance to the city, the borough of Ville-Marie recently hung a rainbow flag in its council chambers, and recently redecorated the entrance to the Métro Beaudry subway with rainbow pillars. The Village is specifically marked on official city maps as "Le Village".

Finally, the government lent their support in securing the Gay Games. The city later lost the right to hold the Games under that name because the Federation of Gay Games considered their plans too ambitious. Instead, Montréal Rendez-Vous 2006, the first edition of the World Outgames, took place in Montréal, with the 2006 Gay Games been moved to Chicago.

Gays and lesbians live all over the highly accepting city, so their residential density in the Village is only slightly higher than elsewhere. However, the Village contains a variety of shops and services targeting the community, and so serves as an entertainment and tourism centre rather than as a gay neighbourhood strictly speaking. A wide range of local media, radio and TV stations are located in the same area as the gay community.

The Village contains a wide variety of nightlife: bars and discotheques catering to all tastes (Montréal has more gay bars and discotheques than Paris, and as many as San Francisco or New York), including three very large entertainment complexes, one of which is the largest of its kind in the world. There are also a wide range of boutiques, restaurants, cafés, bed-and-breakfasts, and major chain-style hotels.

The Association des Commerçants et Professionels du Village (Village Businesspersons and Professionals Association) represents the businesspeople of the Village. The Centre communautaire des gais et lesbiennes de Montréal (Montréal Gay and Lesbian Community Centre) through the Mario-Racine Foundation http://www.fondation-mario-racine.qc.ca/, is currently planning on constructing an important community complex in the heart of the Village.

The city also contains a number of gay establishments outside of the Village area, particularly in areas that are historic gay neighbourhoods (see below).

[edit] History

Originally, Montréal's gay community was centered in the western end of the downtown area of the city, with bars on rue Stanley and rue Drummond, and with Shaughnessy Village west of rue Guy as its residential neighbourhood. This was seen as the mostly anglophone gay village.

As is traditional, until the 1980s, gay life was centered around bars and taverns, and some restaurants, who tolerated a gay clientele. Other bars and taverns were located on rue Sainte-Catherine Est just east of boulevard St-Laurent (known in English as Saint Lawrence Boulevard), the area known as "the Main", the mostly francophone gay village. One or two establishments were located in what is now the Village gai.

The businesses in these two areas came under regular repression, especially just before Montréal's Expo 67 World's Fair and the Olympic Games in 1976.

In the early 1980s, some bars opened along rue Sainte-Catherine Est, between rue Berri and avenue Papineau, in the Centre-Sud area. Eventually, a new generation of gays also moved into the neighbourhood, both anglos and francos. Many came from other parts of Québec. This was encouraged by the creation of a "Quartier Latin" (Latin Quarter, area of schools and students, like in Paris) dominated by the new campus of the Université du Québec à Montréal.

The phrase "Le Village de l'Est" (the Eastern Village) was a vision by one of the original bar owners from K.O.X. in Montreal East after living in New York City. It was his intention to create a strong vibrant gay community similar to the East Village in New York. The phrase was coined as a way to refer to this new concentration, referring to its eastern geographical location from downtown, as opposed to the traditional west end. Eventually the name shortened to simply "Le Village" by the gay community itself. The sucess reflected the disappearance of gay businesses from the west of downtown. The Village has continuously thrived, gaining popularity, the area beautified, the housing renovated. Almost all gay businesses in Montréal are now situated in this area.

A couple of businesses survive in the traditional western end of downtown. However, many gays reside and are also very present in the Plateau Mont-Royal and Hochelaga districts of Montréal. There they mix completely in with the community at large.

The Gay Village remains the heart of, and service centre for, Montréal's LGBT community.