CBC article - Canadian LGBT2QA History - John Banks

CBC article in memory of John Banks, Canadian gay rights pioneer

Banks organized Montreal's first pride parade in 1979, among other things. He passed away on Monday.

Brief excerpt:

When Banks read a local newspaper article about Pride events that were held in different cities, he thought to himself: "Why don't we do it?"

"I was born in the 1940s, and it was illegal until 1969 to be gay," he recalled. "So I just thought, 'Yeah, let's have fun. Let's just do this and have fun doing it."