What We Did And Why We Did It. Early TAG Files in the Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives

WHAT WE DID AND WHY WE DID IT
(from the cheap seats at the revolution, a monologue on TAG in the 1970's)

The TAG Files
(1975-83)

an inventory

Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Zorzi/Dobie
Accession 88-071
Boxes /01-/03
Files (01)-(24)

STARTING TAG

The typed minutes, the Experience/81 file, and the annual work schedules (Rota) were obtained by Charlie from Bill Hassall a number of years ago.

The 1977-78 log book comes from Tom Stewart.

The TAG T-shirt was donated by Dave Wickett who suggests he has perhaps outgrown it.

PRE-PHONELINE
88-071/01 (01)
(July/Aug. 1975-Jan/76)

The majority of this is handwritten scraps left over from the first half year. Taken as a whole and with the explanation given below, they provide some hint of how TAG was pulled together.

A) The first attempts to state our aims in print

1) The Community House-Aug. 1975

2) The Gay Meeting Place-Sept. 1975

3) a handwritten note mentioning the name TAG

(See STARTING TAG for specific discussion of 1 & 2)

B) Meetings (of the group, and with individuals)

I've tried to place some sort of dates on these and think they're reasonably close to the mark.

4) TAG meeting (Oct. 1975)

a) listing of days and hours of operation--Thurs., 7-10:30 etc....an initial decision on the hours for the phoneline. We did in fact do the Saturday afternoons listed here for quite a while. Other than that experience the line has always been a nighttime venture.

b) list of topics for a next meeting

— "accomodation" (i.e. hotels, hostels etc.) and "TYPIE" (a youth services network; by coincidence we moved into the same bldg. as them in 1977)--these subjects would have been prepared by individuals for presentation.

— "logging calls" would have been a major group discussion of whys and hows.

c) list of upcoming TAG meetings, and at whose home. Also for a couple of them, topics for those dates. I'm not sure what the hours are for, since we started our meetings earlier than this.

5) Chris Lawrence-from the Women's Counselling Referral and Education Centre, (Counselling Collective). I met with her to talk about their work, and what programs they had to which we could refer people; also to let them know what we were planning. We did this with many groups around town before and after the lines opened. It was an ongoing thing to give people confidence in us and keep up to date on their capabilities. A discussion like this would be reported on at a TAG meeting (as above in 4(b) re TYPIE).

6&7) — meeting with Rhoda Matlow of Huntley Youth Services who was involved in the setting up of the the discussions leading to the Gay Youth Group (George Hislop, Mark Whitehead, Ralph Lesser et al). This was the beginning of our contact with professional social service agencies. Family Services Assoc. conducted several joint training sessions with TAG, CHAT and MCC in 1976. See the Family Services folder-this sort of thing was aimed at making people aware of us. While being rather anti-professional as a group, we were conscious that the connections we made were useful to us on various levels including in any confrontation we might have with the powers that be. (In TAG itself there were more often than not, some people who were associated with social agencies.)

— Transition House, this is probably something we inspected.

8) an agenda for a TAG meeting in Nov., 1975.

— "answering device": Harvey Hamburg handled this. He was the accountant at Little David's Big Idea, a clothing store out in Scarberia, in the days before he discovered law. The machine came from out there and everytime something went wrong, which was frequently, it would have to be trundled off to the 'burbs to fix.

— "Bell Tel." : Doug Ferguson, Charlie Dobie and I...the telphone ended up in Doug's name but listed at Langley Ave., Charlie's and my place. It had something to do with him guaranteeing the bills and our house being a more permanent address.

— "P.O.Box" : it took until the spring to settle this for some reason. Charlie handled the post office and mail pickup for most of the first eight or so years.

— "advertising" : generally Charlie dealt with the Star and Harvey with the Globe. The rest depended on who it was convenient for.

The TAG stickers were done through Alternative to Alienation. Just for gossip's sake the story is that after many years of gay loverdom the person at Alternative who handled these stickers decided to become heterosexual, marry and move to Mississauga. Considering the people involved in the original relationship this was about as probable a turn of events as George Hislop doing the same. With our stickers though, we probably liberated more from the suburbs than they did from us.

— "article" : somebody was supposed to be preparing a story to get us into the BP when we were ready.

— "fund-raising" : pledges to be called for at this meeting. I looked after budgets and banking and warning people we were about to go bankrupt. Actually we tried to keep 3-6 months ahead in our bank account.

— "weekend" : our first weekend took place in January, 1976 at ever-accomodating 108 Langley.

9) lease : from the mention of the furnace this would mean 819 Pape Ave.

10) from a meeting in Nov. or Dec., 1975 indicating who was looking after various things at that particular moment.

— "weekend" : some of the people who planned on going to the first Weekend.

11) indicating a discussion with CHAT over listings in the telephone book.

12) list of upcoming meetings in 1975.

13) notations from a meeting in 1975

— raising money

— contacts to be made with various organizations

14) contact with the 519, probably to try it out for our internal meetings. We didn't find it worked very well.

15) call for money at a Dec./75 meeting.

6-19) meeting of Nov. 21(?)/75

16-17) agenda and discussion

(18) discussion of 819 Pape, where this meeting took place. This is prior to the date on the unsigned lease. The closest we ever came to a vote in TAG in the seventies, this is actually only a notation of feelings in the first round. Probably more were willing to stay than wanted to leave but those who disliked the place did so with intensity so we departed. In fact that was a smart move, hindsight says financing Pape Ave. would have absorbed too much energy. See the Leases file.

— Susan : the first woman to show an interest in TAG. One of the more conservative Tagettes responded to something she said at this meeting with "My dear girl", and a lecture (not totally undeserved). Shocked silence and uneasy sideways glances at this. It seemed there were times when we were not all operating in the same decade! But we managed.

(19) a conference we sent somebody to? Put two movement queens together in the seventies and whether they had sex or started planning a conference depended only on the decor. Actually I think people fucked more at the beginning of the decade and conferenced more as time passed. Maybe conferences were a sign of boredom with the same old faces; and international gatherings a further evolution of this.

20) Notations from a discussion of CHAT activities

22-23) odds and ends

(23) An estimate for Feb./76 budget that would have been done several months before. After we got going we tried to be six months ahead in the bank and in pledging by members.

C) The first Weekend

24) (proposed?) agenda for the first TAG Weekend, Jan. 9-11, 1976, at 108 Langley.

D) Looking for a location

25-32) various places we looked at; what we were looking for; discussion of what to put in our written offers. (see Leases file)

E) The telephone

an example of the way we handed work from one to the other--Charlie and I got all the information and options from Bell, it was discussed at a meeting, then Doug Ferguson made the actual arrangements.

33) discussions with Bell

We discovered the "measured line", a cheaper service in which you could have unlimited incoming calls but only a certain number of outgoing.

4-38) TAG discussion of phone book listings

9) Bell had a habit of putting our address in the phone book, which we didn't want. This happened at the beginning and every time we moved.

40-41) The phone was in Doug's name rather than TAG's (a demand of Bell's since TAG wasn't a corporation; they relented later) at Charlie's and my address.

MEETINGS, MEMBERS

MINUTES
88-071/01 (02)

These were recorded by various people and most of them were typed up by Bill Hassall.

— handwritten minutes by Charlie Dobie, Nov. 21, 1982 and Dec. 5, 1982

— minutes of TAG regular, Marathon and Weekend meetings Nov. 2, 1980 through to Dec. 5, 1982

— TAG meeting agenda, Jan. 15, 1989

— GCDC minutes Sept. 2, 1981 through Oct. 21, 1982 . . . TAG was a member of the GCDC and these are its copies

TAG WEEKENDS AND RETREATS
88-071/01 (03)

The majority of TAG Weekends of 1976-79 were held at Charlie's and my place (108 Langley Ave. and then 243 Seaton St.) because we had the most space. Weekends were more frequent in the seventies than later, but little record of them exists. There are details in the MINUTES file of some from the eighties.

A) Jan. 9-11, 1976

— photostat of (proposed?) agenda for 1'st TAG weekend held at 108 Langley Ave

B) 1979?

— (proposed?) agenda for TAG weekend possibly held at 243 Seaton St.

C) May 2-4, 1980

— general info sheet and transportation lists

D) Oct. 3-5, 1980

possibly at Paul Endicott's old place in Napanee

— general agenda

— housekeeping schedules

— shopping lists

— transportation list

E) June 13-15, 1981

at Minden; see the MINUTES of this Weekend

— housekeeping schedule and agenda of discussion topics

— general info sheets

— shopping list

F) Oct. 16-18, 1981

possibly at Buckhorn Lake; see the MINUTES of this Weekend

— transportation list

— general instructions from Buckhorn people

— shopping lists

G) July 23-25, 1982

possibly at Minden; see the MINUTES of this Weekend

— agenda items

— shopping lists and menus

H) Maps for Napanee Weekend

I) Shopping lists and menus for various weekends ...couldn't be bothered matching them to a date, sorry. Maybe when they make the movie, these will be of historical interest: what did community activists eat?! I'm told I should junk these, but what the hell!

TAG MEMBERSHIP FILE
88-071/01 (04)

These lists were prepared by Bill Klein for years, and then by Bill Hassall. (Bill Klein was ahead of his time and our resident campaigner, along with Denise Hudson, for a smoke-free meeting environment. He stuck out his neck for the rest of us on this sort of thing, for which I always admired him.)

1-58) membership lists from August, 1975 through to August, 1983

the first ten have no dates and I've put them in the order which seems right, pencilling in which are 1975 and which 1976. Many lists have the same date but with names added or deleted by hand, or a phone number changed etc..Again I've arranged these in the order which makes most sense.

59-67) splits lists from May, 1979 through August, 1982

Also included is a partial set of duplicates

THE WORK

LOGBOOKS
88-071/02

Records of the telephone conversations

[RESTRICTED]

— logbook for Sept. 21, 1977 to March 3, 1978

— logbook for June 25, 1981 to April 29, 1982 (phone # 1)

— logbook for May 3, 1982 to Dec. 2?, 1982 (phone # 1)

— logbook for Feb. 2, 1981 to July 29, 1981 (phone # 2)

— logbook for Aug. 3, 1981 to May 13, 1982 (phone # 2)

— logbook for May 11, 1982 to Dec. 22, 1982 (phone # 2)

MAILBOX #1
88-071/01 (05)
Organizational Mail

This is a sampling of the kinds of things that arrived, other than the personal type filed in #2. I haven't included the many newsletters and routine announcements which constituted the bulk of our mail. Some of this is just here for amusement value (e.g. the application form sent to us by the Better Business Bureau), some of it just because I'm a packrat and can't bear to throw things out. Anyways when combined with the major list of correspondents that is the first entry it gives an overview of what we received.

A) Partial list of organizations from which TAG received mail. For 95% of these we were on their regular mailing lists and received information on a continuing basis.

B) 1976

— info mailing from Gay Women of Montreal-Labyris

— Homosexual Counselling Journal advert. brochure

— letter from Harbinger Community Services requesting TAG info

— form letter from 4'th Nat'l Gay Conference Committee (TAG helped run a workshop at this conference)

— handwritten letter telling about gay AA meetings-signature cut off before it was posted in our office

— form letter Toronto Dept. of Public Health

— form letter from John Damien Committee-Chris Bearchell

— notice from Gay Community Centre of Saskatoon looking for a director

— letter to Harvey Hamburg re gay course at Humber College

— form letter NDP Gay Caucus re 4'th Nat'l Conference-John Argue

— form letter Gay Comm. Centre of Sask. re 5'th Nat'l Conf.-Doug Wilson

— another from them on same topic

— Harbinger Comm. Services, from Chuck Wheeler (Chuck became a TAG member)

— info enquiry from Gay Social Services Project in Montreal

— reply by Harvey

— note from Ken Popert at BP re American Library Assoc. gay books for blind

— letter to American Library Assoc. from Harvey

— reply by Barbara Gittings at ALA

1977

— postal cover addressed to Toronto Transvestite Group, (i.e. Transvestites in Toronto) illustrating their use of TAG's box as a mailing address

— form letter from GATE Toronto-Tom Warner

— hand-written letter re gay beauty pageant (in Hamilton)

— Gayline in Hamilton seeking advice from TAG

— form letter from Gayellow Pages asking us to vet Toronto info

— form letter from Gayellow Pages re TAG entry

— form letter from James Fraser introducing the first Cdn. Gay Archives newsletter

1978

— Cdn. Project For Crisis Intervention re an upcoming conference

— form letter from TYPIE re joining their network. We sent representatives to their meetings, so must have joined at some point. We had contact with them as early as 1976; possibly earlier via Michael Arkin?

— form letter announcing Ontario Gay Teachers' Caucus, Terry Phillips

— Michael Lynch re a Damien display at our dance

— form letter from Brent Hawkes announcing formation of Parents of Gays, Toronto

— form letter from Tri-Aid. We received many mailings from them over the years. I used to wish we had some of the money they spent on this stuff.

— handwritten letter and press clippings from "John Taylor" at Acadia Univ. mentioning a Friday Night Group meeting led by Stan and asking for material to use at the university

1979

— Better Business Bureau application!?!

— notice from 7'th Nat'l Conference Committee

— form letter from "In Touch" soliciting subscriptions from our group (special rates!)

— change of address from FACT

1980

— form letter from Gayellow Pages

— "Reincarnated From Outer Space"

— invitation from Community Self-Help to Married Men's sub-group

— letter from Gay Alliance for Equality, Halifax asking for info and material useful for their own phoneline

1981

— Pamphlet? from David Kelley (former Tagette) re opening of Gay Counselling Centre of Toronto

1982

— The Grapevine re TAG's ad

— Minutes of 519 Centre Fundraising Committee, on which TAG sat; includes mention of TAG rummage sale

1983

— from Social Planning Council, Eilert Frerichs. Bill Dwyer, former Tagette, mentioned in this, which is probably one of the reasons TAG was on the mailing list

— Community Self-Help organizational letter

— University Microfilms pamphlet of available gay material

— Gay Social Services of Toronto, meeting minutes

— Baltimore Gay and Lesbian Switchboard seeking material and info

— Gay Switchboard Houston re conference

— Guelph Gayline Committee seeeking material and info

— Dunhill International List offering to sell TAG a gay mailing list

— The Summer of 58, soliciting ticket sales to George and Ron's anniversary party-Peter Maloney

MAILBOX #2
88-071/01 (06)
Personal Mail To TAG

[RESTRICTED]

There are two files, the available one contains photocopies with names, addresses, etc. removed; there is no access to the originals (Mailbox #3) for seventy-five years. Like all files this is not complete, just what Charlie and I saved.

— A TAG community info sheet, this, or a variety of, was sometimes inserted when answering letters (Oct/76)

— Draft of a TAG form letter, by Charlie Dobie, there are doubts this was ever used (1977-78?)

1976

— donation letter from mysterious "Mark Blair"--only Barry Blackburn was allowed to know his real name; he gave us periodic small sums of money (Apr/76)

— another of the same--$20- (May/76)

— letter urging destruction of Club Bath membership lists (May/76)

— letter from Chuck Wheeler in Virginia, where he was director of a telephone counselling organization (pamphlet included); he eventually became a TAG member, and also started some programs at York Univ. when he came up here (June/76)

— letter from Chuck (June/76)

— anonymous donation letter (June/76)

— part of a letter from Barry Blackburn on his way to Peru to work for the Catholics (July/76)

— anonymous donation letter--$5- (July/76)

— "Dear Mr.(?) Faggot", crank-letter (Aug/76)

— "Dear Sweetie....I could just see myself parading in front of you in my baby dolls", not-a-crank letter (Aug/76)

— letter from gay group in Thompson, Man. that had asked us for advice (Aug/76)

— "Everytime I dial your number I always hang up before it starts to ring", counselling letter with notation re contact made (Aug/76)

— donation letter from "Mark Blair"--$40- (Sept/76)

— info inquiry with notation re contact made (Sept/76)

— 5 page counselling letter (Sept/76)

— draft answer to this letter by Denise Hudson (as Dennis)

— donation letter, "Mark B."--$20- (Oct/76)

— donation--$50- (Oct/76)

— counselling letter, "...I think a gay person could spice up my life a lot" (Dec/76)

— answer to this letter, by Harvey (Jan/77)

— letter to Charlie containing info on Trent Homophile Assoc. (Dec/76)

1977

— donation letter--$10- (1977)

— info inquiry from H re our "Club for Gays", with notation of answer (Jan/77)

— info inquiry from Calgary re pen pal clubs (Jan/77)

— 4 page counselling letter from Oshawa, "I know you must be tired of hearing the same old problem over and over but I must tell someone" (Jan? 1977)

— 2 drafts of an answer to this by Charlie Dobie (Feb/77)

— letter seeking a companion (Jan/77)

— answer by Charlie (Feb/77)

— a further to Charlie from H (see six entries above), volunteering and offering free accomodation (Feb/77)

— donation letter, "Mark Blair"--$20- (Feb/77)

— another letter to Charlie from H (Mar/77)

— donation (Apr/77)

— G...."I'm a nineteen year old, gay male, new to Toronto and I'd like some advice on how to meet others like myself"; notat. re answer (Apr/77)

— looking for a friend, "Sometimes I want to run up and start necking with a cute guy when I see one"; notat. re answer (Apr?/77)

— another letter from G to Charlie (May/77)

— a woman seeking another woman, "...I have been living in Canada for two years, I was gay before I came here, its been almost one year since I have been trying to get in contact with someone gay..." notation of answer (May/77)

— info inquiry from Oshawa (May/77)

— counselling letter from F in eastern Ontario (June/77)

— another from F (June/77)

— covering letter to TAG and copy of a letter to the editor of the Toronto Star (June/77)

— counselling letter from Sarnia (June/77)

— answer from Stan (July/77)

— 2 page counselling letter from Guelph (June/77)

— reply by Stan (July?/77)

— interesting 3 page inquiry from M in Sudbury signed "Your sincere homo friend" (June/77)

— another letter from M (July/77)

— answer from Stan (July?/77)

— a donation letter from a person attending the Married Men's Group--$40- (Aug/77)

— another letter to Charlie Dobie from F in eastern Ontario, and a card (Aug/77)

— a 3 page letter to Jan Grygier from the same F; Jan wasn't a TAG member but came out via TAG and was commandeered into helping Charlie with this person (Aug/77)

— a 5 page letter to Charlie from F (Aug/77)

— an offer to volunteer, notation of answer (Aug/77)

— an offer to volunteer, notat. of answer (Aug/77)

— 2 page letter to Jan from F (Aug/77)

— donation letter from "Mark Blair"--$20- (Sept/77)

— offer to volunteer, notation of answer (Sept/77)

— info inquiry..."have been necessarily in the closet for years but.." (Oct/77)

— info inquiry (Nov/77)

— offer to volunteer (Nov/77)

— inquiry letter (Dec/77)

1978

— letter from Midland with notation of answer (Feb/78)

— seeking friends (Apr/78)

— referred by BP, wants name of a Jewish "lambda lawyer"..(Harvey where are you?!) (June/78)

— info inquiry (Aug/78)

— from Stratford seeking weekend visitors..."wait at the phone booth" (Aug/78)

— another letter, 3 pages, from same Stratford person (Aug/78)

— Barry Blackburn with his pledge (Dec/78)

1979

— 2 donations--$10- & $5- (Jan-Feb/79)

— Tony Farebrother turning in his keys (Mar/79)

— info inquiry (Mar/79)

— info inquiry from "Lonesome in Burlington" (May/79)

— Barry with his pledge (July/79)

— donation from a caller (Aug/79)

— Paul Endicott with his pledge (Aug/79)

— Barry again (Sept/79)

— postcard from Barry on holidays (1979)

1980 +

— letter to the BP from Brazil with covering letter from them, inquiry re sex change operation (Jan/(80)

— an invite to a party (1980)

— wanting to employ a companion cum houseboy (May/82)

— inquiry re After You're Out group (July/82)

— inquiry re After You're Out..."I've had no luck in getting any answer. I have been persistent for two weeks"...presumably couldn't get through on the lines (Aug/82)

— postcard from Bob Stout on holidays (Sept/82)

— inquiry from Sudbury re starting a group (Apr/83)

MAILBOX #3
88-071/03

(this contains the originals of Mailbox #2)

[no access until Jan. 1, 2064]

two sealed envelopes

SUB-GROUPS
88-071/01 (07)

A) odds and ends

1) photostat of a TAG handout sheet circa 197?

2) photostat of notes from TAG Retreat, July/1982

3) photostat of an InfoPac insert circa 1982, detailing TAG sub-groups

B) Coming Out Group (Ian's Group)

4) notice re group...from the TAG office, 1976

5) notice re group...from the TAG office, 1977

C) Friday Night Group

6) — letter from 519 Programme Committee

— 519 Programme Policy draft

— evaluation of the 519 as a facility vis-a-vis the Friday Night Group

7) handmade sign for the FNG...a genuine artifact!

8) "some suggestions for the FNG" dated May 31, 1979...suggested procedures; author unknown

9) "Friday Night Coming Out Group-Notes" dated Friday, July 27, 1979...presumably procedural notes from the coming-out group section of the FNG, author unknown (2 copies)

D) Women's Group

10) flyer-poster

OPERATING TAG

TAG DOCUMENTS AND PAPERS #1
88-071/01 (08)
(items for internal use)

(These shouldn't be taken out of context but interpreted in the light of comments in my essay on TAG.)

1 "The Gay Community House", dated August, 1975

2 "The Gay Meeting Place", dated September, 1975

3 "Clearness Process--a suggested agenda", dated 1980 (a carbon copy and a printed sheet)

4 "Expectations---By TAG from its members"--photostat of 2 pages of handwritten, numbered thoughts, author and date unknown (?1980+)

5)"Guidelines for TAG Members"....5 sets of documents showing the evolution of proposals, including handwritten adjustments, from early 1981 on into a final approved set dated January 1982

a) 7 sheets

b) 9 sheets

c) 4 sheets

d) 2 sheets

e) 5 sets of 4 sheets; plus 1 sheet on Clearness Process

(Although these guidelines read as though the law is being laid down, at the same time they disclaim it via TAG's rule against rules. Make what you will of them...I'd suggest a grain of salt.)®PG¯

TAG DOCUMENTS AND PAPERS #2
88-071/01 (09)
(items for external use)

A) mail reply

1) a community information sheet used in mail replies, also used as a handy reference in the office...(October, 1976)

2) a draft of a form letter to help with the personal letters TAG received; Charlie made this up but he can't remember if it got beyond this stage and was actually used..(probably 1977-78)

B) the TAG sticker

3) there is a discussion of this in ADVERTISING (Chap. 2) and in the Pre-Phoneline file, item #8; it was printed at Alternative to Alienation...(a bundle of these is included in the files elsewhere)

C) Flyers, handouts, form letters -- (1976-82)

...these were generally designed to familiarize the community with us and our activities, and to attract volunteers and money

4) flyer dated August, 1976...I think this was the first information sheet we prepared for public distribution (although the Sept./75 Gay Meeting Place may have circulated--see internal items file)

5) 1976 flyer...we had this made up from our display ad in the June/76 Body Politic, possibly in late 1976 and no later than 1977

6) a form letter for a mailing to attract lesbian members, this was accompanied by the flyer dated August, 1976 (#4, above)...it was probably sent out in later 1976

7) another flyer handout, this time from late 1977

8&9) two versions of a flyer, with slightly different layout...the yellow one seems likely to have been issued before the purple...(my guess is 1978, possibly around Gaydays for the first and possibly 1979 for the second)

10) a draft of a form letter dated Feb. 18, 1979 seeking new members...I don't recognize it

11) flyer prepared from a Body Politic article of Nov./79, so it's probably from 1980

12&13) drafts for a flyer and drafts for classified ads...Charlie made these up but can't remember anything about them...the flyer mentions approval by the GCA of a grant to TAG for 1980; it also mentions the Married Men's Group, which the Nov./79 BP article doesn't, so possibly this could be dated by tracing the ups and downs of the MMG. A puzzle!

14) draft of #15

15) TAG handout---3 page description of TAG and its workings (1980?)

16) sheet which went with #15, describing "Clearness Process" (1980)

17) TAG flyer cum poster (1980+)

18) "Answer the following questions True or False"...looks like something used at the Friday Night Group circa 1980

19) Women's Group flyer/poster, early 1981

20) Infopac insert for August, 1982 Infopac #3, including draft and note from Ray Brillinger to Charlie

D) TAG T-shirts

21) TAG T-shirt order forms

The T-shirts were red, with white lettering. A few other colors were available initially.

E) fundraising events-posters, tickets, etc.

22) 2 tickets for each of the 1978, 1979 and 1980 dances (the 1980 tickets are earmarked Charles Dobie and Peter Zorzi)...a bundle of 1978 tickets is included in the files elsewhere

23) the draft of the display ad in the Sept., 1978 BP for the first dance...also the ad in the Economist from which I lifted the bird ...also the ad as it appeared in the BP

24) form letter dated Nov. 10, 1981 soliciting a door prize from the BP for the 1981 dance

25) fifteen flyers cum posters for the 1978 dance, some in each of the 8 colours we used

26) poster for the 1979 dance...more of these are included elsewhere in the files

27) posters for the 1980 dance

28) posters for the 1981 dance

29) posters for TAG bazaar, 1982

30) poster for the 1985 dance

31) poster for the 1986 dance

ADVERTISING, PR, PRESS CLIPPINGS & COVERAGE, ETC.
88-071/01 (10)
(not complete...a sampling)

A) a list of regular Tag advertising circa 1980

B) 1979 "Self Help in Toronto" booklet, with entries on Married Men's Group and Transvestites In Toronto (see GROUPS THAT HAD SOME ASSOCIATION WITH TAG)

C) 1976

1) letter to Globe & Mail March/76, by Barry Blackburn

2) article in Body Politic, April/76

3) Community Page listing, Body Politic, April/76

4) large display ad in BP, June/76. TAG had flyers made up from this for distribution at events etc.

5) Community Page, BP, June/76

6) interview by Joe Szalai with Charlie Dobie printed in Kitchener-Waterloo Other Voices, Sept./76. Done on tape and also broadcast on gay radio in K-W

7) ad in York University Excalibur

8) Gayellow Pages, Fall/Spring, 1976-77

D) 1977

9) Directions, Vol. 1 #2

10) Directions, Vol. 1 #4

11) article in BP, Apr./77

12) 519 News, Nov./77

13) Directions, Vol. 1 #5

E) 1978

14) Gayellow Pages, Spring/78

15) script for Gay News and Views (cable TV), Apr. 20/78

16) 519 News, May/78

17) display ad for our first dance, BP, Sept./78

F) 1979

18) business letter to Harvey Hamburg from the Globe, March/79

19) Harvey, & Jim McNeil participate with others in a sit-in at the Ontario Attorney General's office on King St., Apr./79

20) 519 News, Fall/79

21) article on Gay Community Calendar in BP Oct/79

2) Community Page listing, BP, Oct./79

23) display ad for our 2'nd dance, BP. Oct/79

24) article in BP, Nov./79...this also was reprinted by TAG as a flyer

G) 1980

25) Phoenix Rising, Resource Page, Spring/80

26) RTPC pamphlet, 1980...following the raids TAG formed an RTPC counselling group with MCC and others (see separate file)

H) 1981

27) BP, Coming Events, April/81

8) BP, Community Page, April/81

I) 1982

29) Gayellow Pages

J) 1983

30)519 News, Jan./Feb. 1983

K) Miscellaneous

31) Gayellow Pages, Nat'l Edition, Fall/Winter, 1976

32) tearsheet for Gayellow Pages ad, date?

FINANCES #1
88-071/01 (11)

Also in files--deposit books and cancelled cheques 1975-80. See Finances #2. There is a financial records book for this period but I gave it back to TAG when I left.

(see also the Fundraising Events file)

A) members pledges -- a sampling that shows how they were made...see Funding for an explanation.

B) detailed statements of monthly income and expenses

1-2) October/75-May/78

3) August/75-August/78

C) details of sources of income

4) October/75-March/77

5) August/75-August/78

D) budgets

6) 1975

7) 1977 (6 months)

8) 1977-1979 (monthly)

9) 1979 (November)

9a) 1988-89 (annual)

E statements of income and expenses for various dances. See also the Fundraising Events file re these dances

10) 1978

11) 1979

12) 1980

13) 1981

F) bank statements

14) October/75-March/80

G) letters re bank account

H) duplicates of B-E

I) originals of B-E. The photostats used in the above sections were manipulated for easier comprehension

FINANCES #2
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— cancelled cheques Nov/75-Feb/80

— deposit books Nov/75-Dec/79

FUNDRAISING EVENTS
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Other than these events, donations (mainly members') were our source of income (see Finances File).

— All dances were held at the 519 (519 Church St. Community Centre), in the second floor auditorium. There's a little extra personal history involved for me, this being the room where my parents first met. With the 519 functioning as a semi-official gay community centre over the past decade, I could be said to have Born To Be Gay stamped all over me.

A) 1978 dance

This was the dance I was most involved in. We hoped to make money, but we wanted it organized as a celebration of ourselves and the community. Our first aim was for everyone to have a good time. We termed it a "dance party", had lots of tables (with real tableclothes, no less) filled with snacks, decorated the entire hall, kept the beer and admission very reasonable. We hustled about during the evening greeting people, trying to be hospitable, trying to make it more a village get-together than the usual events. The only thing missing was a Community Bake Sale, and maybe a gossip-worthy church scandal or two.

For this dance we had something called the Gay Cafe in the front room overlooking Church Street. This was more or less my chief project. Small tables draped with red and white checkered cloths, to sit at. Many candles in wine bottles; we spent hours dripping wax onto them for the scenic effect (Charlie and I still have one, an old Mount Gay Rum bottle that we use to prop windows in the summer.) Mozart and Piaf in the background. No smoking. And an enormous layout of free foods of all kinds--vegetables, dips, snacks, meats, breads, cookies, cheeses of all sorts. Both the dance and the cafe were a great hit. There seemed to be a lot of goodwill towards us, of which we felt quite proud, and I think this dance helped create even more.

1) statements of expense and revenue

2) the dance poster-these were done in four or five different colours and distributed and left at bars as flyers as well as being posted. Also a dance ticket.

3) the display ad in the Sept./78 Body Politic. I made this up, traced the bird from an ad for an Austrian bank, with a few feathers changed its homburg into a party hat.

4) contract and receipt from the 519

5) liquor licence

6) various bills, receipts, scribblings

B) 1979 dance

I didn't have much to do with this other than dealing with the money, making up the profit statement, etc.

7) statement of revenue and expenses

8) dance poster

9) display ad from the BP, Oct./79

10) contract and receipt from the 519

11) various bills, receipts, scribblings

C) 1980 dance

12) statement of revenue and expenses

13) dance poster

14) work schedules

15) varous planning scribblings

D) 1981 dance

16) statement of revenue and expenses

17) dance poster

18) work schedules

19) form letter to BP soliciting a door prize

E) 1982 bazaar

20) poster

21) display ad in BP, May/82

F) 1983 dance (January)

21) a letter to Liquor Control Board sorting out their confusion of TAG with the GCDC

G) 1983-6 miscellaneous

22) 1983 Gay Pride Day--refreshment stand...sorry all I've got here is a combination shopping list-work schedule

23) 519 Community Centre meeting minutes, June 28, 1982...TAG offers to run a fundraising bazaar for the Centre

24) 1984 Gay Community Appeal brochure...mentions a grant to TAG; not a fundraising event of course

25) 1985 dance...photostat of poster

26) 1986 dance...poster

BILLS & RECEIPTS
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— telephone 1976-79
— Toronto Star 1976-79
— Globe & Mail 1977-79
— P.O.Box 1976/77/79
— bills & letters re 819 Pape
— The Body Politic 1976/78/79
— Various :: — Glad Day re the hydro we shared at 4 Collier; — Alternative Printing (re stickers); — answering machine; — Gay Community Calendar: receipts for TAG contributions & a phone bill; — note from me to Charlie....Bell puts our address in the phone book again!; — etc.

LEASES
88-071/01 (15)

Missing from these files is anything to do with 357 College or the Selby Hotel, 592 Sherbourne

A) 74 St. Clair Ave. W.

1) offer to lease this basement apartment dated Oct. 29, 1975...the offer was not accepted

B) 4 Collier St., 2'nd floor

2) offer to lease dated Nov. 17, 1975...an offer on two rooms, the larger was going to serve as a drop-in---we couldn't come to terms with the landlord on the rent

C) 819 Pape Ave., 2'nd floor

This place represented our plans for a larger facility, with public visiting rooms, etc....our little adventure here cost us 500 bucks.

3) details of a telephone conversation between myself and the landlord

4&5) drafts of an offer to lease

6) sketch of the premises, a second floor flat with an outside staircase leading to it

7) the lease dated Nov. 27, 1975...never signed by us

8) photostat of agenda of meeting at 819 Pape...this flat was above a fish market and smelled throughout of said item. Ian Turner and I had found this place, we thought the odor was not too bad, the space suitable and the location a block north of the Pape subway station, accessible. Some people thought it was okay, some didn't. Some didn't like the smell, some didn't like the area. The second sheet gives an indication of feelings expressed in the rounds we had on this. If it were a matter of a vote we would probably have stayed but we didn't vote in TAG. The intensity of those who didn't like the place persuaded the group to keep on looking.

9) -landlord's card

— registered letter receipt dated Dec. 29, 1975

— handwritten copy of letter informing landlord we were vacating

D) 4 Collier St., 2'nd floor

(We occupied a tiny inner room with one barred and irreversibly grimy window. This room had been part of a body rub parlor that was still in business down the hall. Eventually we transferred to a larger space on the same floor with a picture window overlooking Collier St.. Glad Day, which had been across the hall, was now next door, at the corner.)

10) two drafts of an offer to lease dated Jan. 12, 1975...for the smaller of the two rooms mentioned in the offer of Nov. 17, 1975

11) offer to lease dated Jan. 12, 1975

12) photostat of letter of March 8, 1977 vacating 4 Collier St. as of the end of the month

E) 651 Yonge St., 3'rd floor

This was rented from a theatrical agency. The door let off of their office, so you had to walk through that to get in.

13) tenant-landlord agreement (original and copy) dated Oct. 2, 1979

14) tenant-landlord agreement (with change in TAG representative) and amendment dated March 7, 1981 extending the lease...(4 copies)

15) doorkey agreement form initiated by the landlord

357 College St., 2'nd floor

We were located here between April, 1977 and October, 1979, on the second floor. This was a windowless room halfway down the hall, and was panelled with cheap veneer. The building itself was better kept than Collier St., the previous office. I don't have any papers for this place.

The Selby Hotel, 592 Sherbourne St.

TAG moved here in mid-1982, after Yonge St.. On a ground floor that was almost at second floor level, this was a large hotel room with its own bathroom. Halfway down the hall and looking down on the south courtyard, it was also above the beer parlor of a gay bar. The dance floor was not directly below but it still made for talking to a disco beat. So they tell me. Further atmosphere was supplied by the sex sales (mostly hetero) for which this place was a traditional furnisher of privacy.

OFFICE FILE # 1
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A) answering machine

1) a script for the answering machine with a note from Charlie

B) the Rota

2) the work schedule for--

a) Jan.-Mar. 1977 (for myself only, with a list of my partners)

b) February, 1977

c) Dec. 1978 - Jan. 1979

3) the work schedule for 1979

4) the work schedule for 1980

5) the work schedule for 1981

C)

6) some pages from the information files circa 1976-77

D)

7) some cards from the information rolodex files circa 1979-81 including photostats

E) miscellaneous

8) division of responsibility for review of info files circa--

a) 1978

b) 1981

9) division of duties at January, 1981

10) list of frequently requested telephone numbers

F)

(11) analysis of nights the phoneline in service for 1980

G) Monthly info

12) monthly community information sheets for the office...Dec. 1979 thru August, 1981

OFFICE FILE #2
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A sort of time capsule from the office® in the 70's; I can't bear to throw thing out....for some Tagettes this file will be evocative, to other people it possibly says little. It does suggest community activity, how information circulated, the dearth of much in the way of compiled resources.

— odds and ends, scribbled names of people interested in joining, notes left in the office for each other etc., Stan's TAG 2'nd anniversay party;...some of the posters and info pamphlets etc. used in the office, posted on the walls, and all that

BUTTONS, TICKETS, STICKERS, T-SHIRTS, NAME-TAGS
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— TAG stickers "Homosexual, Feeling Isolated etc..."

— tickets from 1978 dance

— TAG T-shirt, white on red...the T-shirts were first made up for Gaydays in 1978....a few other colours may have been available at the beginning

— TAG button, white on black...circa 1979, I think

— AG name-tags...circa Gaydays or the 1978 or 1979 dance, and probably the latter; I have an allergic reaction to anything approximating a name-tag

TAG and OTHER GROUPS and EVENTS

FAMILY SERVICES ASSOCIATION
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A few people from TAG went to 5 joint training sessions for TAG/MCC/CHAT run by Family Services in 1976. I don't know that they actually had much to give us, the benefit lay in making them aware of us and our abilities; and in supplying us with a further connection for referrals. This sort of thing could be useful for credentials. Repeating a comment in Pre-phoneline file item #7, "While being rather anti-professional as a group, we were conscious that the connections we made were useful to us on various levels including in any confrontation we might have with the powers that be." The actual people we had contact with were very competent and well-liked by us.

1) the agenda for the sessions

2) covering letter and notes by Karen Kaffko at Family Services, who conducted the sessions. She played herself in Bruce Glawson's film "Michael, A Gay Son". Bruce was in TAG as were many of the cast, Harvey Hamburg, David Kelley, Terry Dunn, Andrew Mullin, etc.

1976 FOURTH NATIONAL CONFERENCE WORKSHOP
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— Draft of letter to Saskatoon group from Charles Dobie re joint workshop with TAG

— photostat of some notes for TAG's presentation by Charlie

— photostat of 3 sheets from the conference agenda listing TAG

GAY COMMUNITY CALENDAR
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from its beginning 923-GAYS had its equipment in TAG's office

— GCC financial statement of 1977 with a note from Harvey Hamburg

— GCC financial statement of 1978 listing donation from TAG

— CC financial statement of 1979 listing donation from TAG

GAYDAYS
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Harvey Hamburg, a TAG member, was a prime mover behind Gaydays. At this event in Queens Park in August, 1978, TAG had a booth which included an enormous mockup of a telephone.

— letter from Gaydays listing a donation to TAG

— Carl Bognar, TAG member, on the cover of The Body Politic for Gaydays

RTPC SUPPORT GROUP
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Brian Clarkin was TAG's representative. Charlie was also part of this group but not as a TAG member since this was at a point before he rejoined.

— 1980 RTPC pamphlet outlining support group run by CGRO, MCC & TAG

— RTPC Support Group statement

— RTPC Support Group guidelines

EXPERIENCE/81
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Bill Hassall went to this conference for TAG. These are odds and ends he picked up there. Some of the information here makes it seem likely TAG would have been a part of a workshop or two, so I've included this file.