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{{Short description|Women arrested in Canada in 1974}}
'''The Brunswick Four''' were four [[lesbian]]s involved in a historic incident in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]] in 1974. The four were evicted from the [[Brunswick House (Toronto)|Brunswick House]], a working-class beer hall on [[Bloor Street]], and subsequently arrested, and three were later tried in Ontario Court for [[obstruction of justice]].<ref name="Warner">Warner, Tom. ''Never Going Back: A History of Queer Activism in Canada'', 2002, [[University of Toronto Press]], {{ISBN|0-8020-8460-5}}.</ref> Two of those three women were acquitted in May 1974, but one, Adrienne Potts, served three months probation.<ref>''Brunswick Tavern Dykes'', ''Long Time Coming'', May/June 1974</ref>

{{TOC right}}

==Importance of the incident==
Gay historian [[Tom Warner (activist)|Tom Warner]] believes that the arrest and its consequences was a key incident ushering in a more militant gay and lesbian liberation movement in [[Canada]], much as the [[Stonewall Inn]] riot politicized gays and lesbians in the [[United States]]. Warner also notes that this was one of the first occasions that a gay or lesbian topic received extensive press coverage in Canada.<ref name="Warner"/>

==In the tavern==
On January 5, 1974, Adrienne Potts (now Adrienne Rosen), Pat Murphy, Sue Wells and Heather (Beyer) Elizabeth performed   a song at amateur night at the Brunswick Tavern. Their chosen song, "I Enjoy Being A Dyke" (a parody of "[[I Enjoy Being a Girl (song)|I Enjoy Being a Girl]]", a song by [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]] from the musical play ''[[Flower Drum Song]]'') drew the attention of the bar's owner.<ref name="Warner" /> Their version of the song challenged the unwanted male attention they were receiving at the bar that night, exemplified in this verse: “When I see a man who’s sexist and does something that I don’t like, I just tell him that he can Fuck Off, I enjoy being a Dyke!”<ref>Gay Almanac, “Today in 1974: The Brunswick Four Arrested in Toronto,” last modified January 5, 2018, http://www.thegayalmanac.com/2018/01/today-in-1974-brunswick-four-arrested.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229235416/http://www.thegayalmanac.com/2018/01/today-in-1974-brunswick-four-arrested.html |date=2019-12-29 }}.></ref> 

The four were asked by the owner to leave the premises. They refused to leave, and were arrested by 8 uniformed police officers. The lesbians alleged verbal and physical police harassment as a result of the incident.<ref>Fania Schwabel, [http://archives.xtra.ca/Story.aspx?s=1389301 "Our shocking past: Queer youth offer four quickie histories"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114140144/http://archives.xtra.ca/Story.aspx?s=1389301 |date=November 14, 2007 }}, ''[[Xtra!]]'', September 23, 1999.</ref><ref>"Three claim that police abused them in garage", ''Toronto Star'', May 28, 1975.</ref><ref>"Woman Guilty, Two cleared in disturbance", ''The Globe and Mail'', June 1, 1974.</ref><ref>[[Rachel Giese]], [http://archives.xtra.ca/Story.aspx?s=1387263&k=brunswick+tavern "Friends & Allies: Two generations make history together"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706213827/http://archives.xtra.ca/Story.aspx?s=1387263&k=brunswick+tavern |date=July 6, 2011 }}. ''Xtra!'', August 26, 1999.</ref><ref>"Brunswick Tavern Dykes", ''Long Time Coming'', May/June 1974, p6,</ref><ref>"The Other Woman", April 1974, p17, "Uppity Women", ''[[Body Politic (magazine)]]'', March/April 1974, p1</ref>

==Arrest and trial==
Although they were not charged with a crime, to protest their arrest they refused to leave the police station. The police forcibly ejected the Four from the police station, punching Potts in the back of the head and throwing her to the ground. <ref>“Uppity Women,” The Body Politic, no. 12 (March/April 1974): 1</ref> According to historian Kelly Phipps, "They returned to the Brunswick House hoping to find witnesses, but were met by two uniformed police officers, two bouncers, and two plainclothes detectives. Again, they were tossed in an unmarked car and taken back to the station. During the five hours of processing their paperwork, police officers amused themselves with remarks such as, “I bet you drive a tug boat” and “Did you ever put your finger in a Dyke?”<ref>Kelly Phipps, “Look over here, look over there, lesbians are everywhere”:
Locating Activist Lesbians in Queer Liberation History, PhD Thesis, Concordia University, 2019, pg.98.</ref> The arrest and subsequent trial received coverage in ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', the ''[[Toronto Star]]'', and a number of smaller community papers and magazines.<ref name="Warner"/> The three women, Pat Murphy, Adrienne Potts (now Rosen) and Heather Elizabeth were represented by lawyer [[Judy LaMarsh]], who was a former Liberal cabinet minister.<ref>"Lawyer former cabinet member". ''[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]]'', March 13, 1974.</ref> LaMarsh represented them ''[[pro bono]]'' because she was outraged by the treatment they endured at the hands of the police.

==Community response==
Warner describes the "anger and concern" of the Toronto gay community, and notes that a public meeting was called at which the "Brunswick Four minus One Defense Fund" (named so because only three people were arrested; Susan Wells was not) launched.<ref name="Warner" />

Three of the Brunswick Four were charged, and two of the women were acquitted in May 1974. One of the four; Adrienne Potts, served three months probation.<ref>''Brunswick Tavern Dykes'', ''Long Time Coming'', May/June 1974</ref>

==Toronto Police Officers Charged with Assault==
After the trial, Potts, Murphy and Elizabeth charged the arresting officers with assault.  The charges were laid by the Crown after the three women produced evidence in the form of doctor's notes and photographs of extensive bruising.
Unbeknownst to the women, the police officers had exchanged their hats and the badge numbers that established their identities were confused.  At trial, because of this trick, the women couldn't accurately identify the officers.
Murphy, Potts and Elizabeth refused to participate in the trial, calling it a scam and miscarriage of justice.
When the court clerk ordered everyone to rise for a recess the women refused to rise.  The clerk ordered the court to rise a second time.  They refused.  They were then charged with criminal contempt of court and led to the cells at Old City Hall.
Potts and Elizabeth returned to court hours later to apologize but Murphy refused earning 30 days in jail.
The officers were acquitted.
Later, The Royal Commission on Toronto Police Practices ordered the three to appear and Murphy and Elizabeth gave testimony.  Potts (now Rosen) moved to Vancouver and refused to participate.
Pat Murphy died in 2003.  Heather Elizabeth ([[Van Dykes|Lamar Van Dyke]]) lives in Seattle and Adrienne Potts (Rosen) lives with her family in Toronto.

== Toronto Police Services Apology ==
On November 2, 2024 Chief Demkiw of the Toronto Policy Service apologized to the Brunswick Four at a [https://www.servingwithpride.ca/about Serving with Pride] Gala.

==See also==
*[[Lesbophobia]]
*[[Homophobia]]
*[[Van Dykes]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{LGBT in Canada}}
{{LGBTQ culture in Toronto}}

[[Category:Lesbian culture in Ontario]]
[[Category:Lesbian history in Canada]]
[[Category:LGBTQ history in Toronto]]
[[Category:1974 in Canada]]
[[Category:Canadian LGBTQ rights activists]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:History of women in Canada]]
[[Category:Women in Toronto]]
[[Category:Persecution of LGBTQ people in Canada]]
[[Category:1974 in LGBTQ history]]