Montreal Sex Garage LGBT party raid, 25 years later

On a hot night at the height of the summer of 1990, hundreds of gay and lesbian Montrealers faced off against police duringa raid at the Sex Garage loft party.

The events of that nightwould later be recognized as a watershed moment for the LGBT community in the city.

Photographer Linda Dawn Hammond was snapping photos insidethe Sex Garage at the corner of De La Gauchetire and Beaver Hall, near Old Montreal, when police entered the party around 4 a.m. on July 16, 1990.

I just sort of slid the camera along the ground and yelled, "Grab the camera! Run!"and hoped that someone would hear me- Linda Dawn Hammond

The party-goers were forced out onto the street, where they were met by a few dozen police officers. Hammond told CBC Daybreak on Wednesday that some of the officers were shouting homophobic slurs and making lewdgestures at the Sex Garage patrons.

The revellers replied by chanting "Gay rights now!" and other slogans.

Hammond said police officers huddled together in consultation, after which theyremoved their nametags.

"To let us know they were about to do something they didn't want to be recognized for,"Hammond told CBC's Mike Finnerty.

Hammondwas equipped with only a wide-angle lens, a flash with dying batteries and three rolls of film.

"I had a wide-angle lens, and so with a wide-angle lens everything always looks a little further away than it actually is. So Iwas about five feet away from them for the most part while I was shooting and they were very, very angry at me," Hammond said.

Daybreak Montreal11:2825th anniversary of Sex Garage: exhibit of never-before-seen photographs

This summer marks the 25th anniversary of the Sex Garage police raid. Daybreak spoke to photographer Linda Dawn Hammond, who documented the party and the raid. Her photos are on exhibit as part of Montreal's Pride week.

She'd pop out, snap a photo and then retreat to allow her flash to charge. The brightnessof the flash made her an easy target; knowing that, she handed off the two rolls of film she'd already shot.

"I was photographing [the police] with and without ID badges, so I knew they would come after me," Hammond said.

"My friend Darryl was there on a bicycle and I gave him the two rolls of film I had already shotall I had was the roll in my camera."

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Hammond said a police officer hit her in the back of the knees, forcing her to the ground.

As she fell, she pivoted to land on her arm rather than damage the camera or the film inside of it.

"I knew they would be after the camera, so I just kind of braced myself and said, 'OK, this is no longer a camera. This is a box with something really important in it' and I threw it up the hill. I was lying there on the ground and I could see feet. There was commotion and people yelling. I didn't even know who was up ahead, but I just sort of slid the camera along the ground and yelled, 'Grab the camera! Run!' and hoped that someone would hear me and hoped someone I knew would get it," Hammond said.

Luckily, a journalist had heard her cry for help and scooped up the camera, unbeknownst to the police.

He made eye contact with Hammond as she lay on the ground and pointed tothe Mickey Mouse camera strap.

Hammond breathed a sigh of relief. She wiggled away frompolice and took her pictures to La Presse and The Gazette, who published the photos the following day.

Her catalogueof the violent confrontation will be on display at Placemilie-Gamelin as part of Montral Pride's events this week leading up to the weekend pride parade.

Sex Garage:The photos you weren't meant to see runs from Aug. 1216, with the vernissagescheduled for Aug. 12 at 5:30 p.m.