Naches- Gay and Lesbian Jews of Montreal

Naches (1973-1986), meaning pride or joy in Yiddish, founded in 1973, was the first gay Jewish group in Montreal. This was not long after same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised in 1969, and the LGBTQ+ community still faced intense discrimination in Quebec and Canada. Naches’ pioneering multipronged approach at engaging Montreal’s gay Jewish community included social, intellectual, spiritual, and even political activities. Naches established itself as a safe space to share the experience of being gay and Jewish and draw support from others undergoing the same “problems which confront us all.” Individuals attended meetings, dances, monthly Shabbat services, and nights at the amusement park La Ronde. Other events of note included a brunch for members’ families and discussions with Reconstructionist rabbis, including Rabbi Ron Aigen of the Dorshei Emet.

Mark David Gerson, a long-time member of Naches and its organizing committee recalled that “it was a very open group, a pleasant group, and a great way to meet people, whatever your background.” Naches also engaged in activism, including writing to MNAs and MPs, and holding demonstrations. The group sent a delegation to the Fifth International Conference of Gay and Lesbian Jews in in 1980.

Naches also collaborated with other LGBTQ+ organizations, like Dignity (the group for Catholic gay people), Gay Friends of Concordia and Gay McGill, and distributed information for events like Gay Pride Week through their newsletter “Naches Notes,” later renamed simply to “the newsletter.” The newsletter not only listed events, but also printed news and resources for members. It reprinted articles or essay excerpts related to the gay and/or Jewish experience. It provided some political updates, such as federal Justice Minister Jean Chrétien’s historic acceptance of the inclusion of sexual orientation as a legally protected group. Another resource Naches provided was a lending library filled with gay literature. The library was advertised as useful in the case of “doing a term paper” or when “standing in a bar and worried that you’ll have nothing to do at 3:00 A.M.”

By 1977, the group had approximately fifty members. Naches submitted a request to rent a meeting room at the YM-YWHA (“the Y”) in the spring of that year, after the Y’s executive director extended a general offer of assistance to the group. Its chairperson Harvey Blackman’s letters to the Y reveal how the Y leadership subsequently ignored its multiple requests. Naches attempted to resolve the matter within the community through the Canadian Jewish Congress, who they found to be “sympathetic, but powerless.” The Congress rejected Naches’ request for a hearing before the Community Relations Committee, so Naches chose to pursue the matter elsewhere: it filed a complaint to the Quebec Human Rights Commission in 1979. The matter was finally resolved in October of 1982, when the Y agreed to rent a room to Naches after a lawyer from the commission ruled that the Y committed an act of discrimination by excluding Naches on the basis of its members’ sexual orientation. What Naches dubbed the “Y Wars” highlights the intra-communal tension within Montreal’s Jewish community regarding LGBTQ+ rights in this time. “The Jewish community had [a lot of] antipathy towards us,” according to Gerson. However, “we weren’t going anywhere.”

While the gender distribution within the group remains unclear, there were often women’s names featured in the newsletter as event hosts, and when the newsletter’s name changed in 1981, so did the description of Naches in the subtitle. Instead of “Montreal’s Gay Jewish Group,” it was henceforth known as the organization of “gay and lesbian jews of montreal.” Shortly after, they began holding regular meetings at The Yellow Door, near McGill. Naches ended operations in 1986 after many key members moved to Toronto and other cities. Its successor, Yakhdav, continued its legacy of creating a safe environment for gay Jews in Montreal.

Compiled by Romy Shoam

Sources

3625 Rue Aylmer, Montreal